Time for a pint or two

Time for a pint or two

I recently read an article arguing that women in their late 20s or early 30s should stop trying to hang onto their youth by going clubbing. Instead, they should leave the club scene to the young ‘uns and grow old with dignity.

But despite being almost 29, I wasn’t going to turn down the chance of a weekend checking out Belfast’s club scene.

Our first night in Belfast started off at Ta Tu, arguably Belfast’s trendiest restaurant – the décor is all concrete, wood and brushed steel and the food “cosmopolitan”. After a three-course meal with plenty of good Chardonnay, we were ready to hit the dancefloors of Belfast and headed to the Fly.

In keeping with its name, the décor in the Fly is pure gothic but the music is a mix of ’80s and ’90s hits and took me back to my student days.

By contrast the hyper-trendy, newly opened Milk Bar is where Belfast’s hip young things come to see and be seen.

I liked the Milk Bar because it was so self-consciously cool, but 90 minutes was enough trendiness for us, so it was on to Thompsons club.

Little more than a bare room, it makes no effort to keep up with modern décor trends – but the music is funky and the crowd is more interested in dancing than posing.

The opening of hip restaurants and clubs have helped Belfast’s transformation into a cosmopolitan European city.

But no visit would be complete without a visit to a traditional pub – or five.

There are two ways to do this: at your own pace, allowing at least a pint at each watering hole until you can drink no more, or on an organised tour.

We took the sensible option and took the Baileys’ Historical Pub Tour, starting in The Crown Bar, Belfast’s most famous pub.

With its cosy cubicles, ornate stained-glass windows and excellent Irish fare, the Crown is the sort of place you could easily while away a whole afternoon

However, we managed to limit ourselves to a bowl of Irish stew and a pint of the black stuff before moving on to the city’s oldest licensed premises, Whites Tavern, which dates back to 1630.

The Morning Star, the Kitchen Door and Bittels, famed for its links with Ireland’s literary figures, including Joyce and Wilde, were next.

After two days spent drinking, a visit to the pretty coastal village of Portaferry helped cure our hangovers.

We were there to watch the Galway Hookers Regatta, although bad weather meant that only one boat had made it up to Strangford Lough in time for the race.

Despite the no-show, the journey was worthwhile just to take in the sea air and have lunch at the Narrows, a seafront restaurant boasting an old fireplace and modern cuisine – the perfect way to round off a weekend.

Isabel Choat finds Belfast offers the perfect mix of trendiness and tradition in its pubs and clubs

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BELFAST

What to see

City Hall, Ulster Museum; Belfast Castle, Belfast Zoo and the Great Opera House. The Odyssey is set to be its biggest visitor attraction. It will feature a 10,000-seat indoor arena, an Imax cinema and Science Centre, plus shops and restaurants. Phased opening starts in December.

Tour operators to Northern Ireland include: Cresta Holidays, Stena Line Holidays, Shearings Holidays, Wallace Arnold Holidays, P&O European Ferries, Drive Ireland, Bridge Travel Services and Superbreak

Sample product: Cresta’s lead-in price for Belfast is £190 for three nights’ bed and breakfast at the three-star Holiday Inn Express for arrivals on Fridays. The price includes flights with British Midland and is valid for departures between November 1 and December 31.

Region draws UK visitors

The number of holidaymakers visiting Northern Ireland from mainland UK has yet to reach the record level achieved in 1995, but the Northern Ireland Tourist Board says the outlook for tourism in the region is very positive.

Last year, it attracted one million visitors from the UK mainland for the first time, a 25% increase on 1998. But of that one million, 100,000 were holidaymakers, compared with 112,000 in 1995, the year after the ceasefire was declared.

General manager, Britain, Jim Paul, said changing perceptions about Northern Ireland is still the NITB’s biggest hurdle. “People still associate Northern Ireland with the troubles. Our biggest challenge is to get people to see Northern Ireland as a tourism destination with beaches, golf and beautiful scenery.”

But he said the recent violence between rival loyalist factions had not had a detrimental effect on tourism. “The fighting was very localised.”

&#8226 Belfast is the best-selling city out of seven new additions to Cresta’s Cities and Short Breaks 2000 programme. The operator features three properties in the city: The McCauseland, the Posthouse Belfast and Holiday Inn Express.

Ireland brand manager Chris Barker said: “The number one appeal of Belfast is access because there are so many seats available from almost every regional airport.”

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BELFAST

Getting there: Belfast is well served by carriers

including British Airways, British Midland, British Regional Airlines, Maersk Air, British European, Gill Airways and EasyJet.

Accommodation: there has been a significant rise in bedstock over the past three years. The 60-room McCausland Hotel, which opened in 1998, is styled as Belfast’s first boutique hotel; this month saw the opening of the Posthouse Belfast; the Rooms at Donegall Square, another boutique-style hotel with just 23 rooms, will open early next year; the Hilton Belfast on the Laganside riverfront is the city centre’s only five-star hotel; President Clinton has stayed at the Hastings Europa Hotel.

Cost of living: a pint of Guinness, £2.05; a10-minute taxi ride, £3; a pub lunch, £4.50;three-course dinner with wine, £25; entrance to night club: a lot of late bars/clubs are free, others like the Milk Bar cost between £8 and £10 at the weekends

One for the road? The Crown Bar is Belfast’s most famous pub and a good place to begin a night on the tiles