4 Best Sights in Northern Ireland

Next door to the Botanic Gardens, the rejuvenated Ulster Museum is a big hit with visitors for its spacious light-filled atrium and polished steel. The museum's forte is the history and prehistory of Ireland, using exhibitions to colorfully trace the rise of Belfast's crafts, trade, and industry. In addition, the museum has a large natural history section, with a famed skeleton of the extinct Irish giant deer and a trove of jewelry and gold ornaments recovered from the Spanish Armada vessel Girona, which sank off the Antrim Coast in 1588. Take time to seek out the Girona's stunning gold salamander studded with rubies and still dazzling after 400 years in the Atlantic. The museum includes a first-rate collection of 19th- and 20th-century art from Europe, Britain, and America. The Modern History gallery tells the story of Ulster from 1500 to 1968 and shows a remarkable range of objects from the history collection, many on display for the first time. A permanent exhibition installed in 2018 presents a somber look at the history of the civil and political conflict in Northern Ireland. "The Troubles and Beyond" recounts in a graphic way the story of three decades of communal violence covering the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s. Through a wide variety of images, including reproduction of wall murals, maps, photographs, and propaganda ephemera, as well as videos, listening posts, and screens, the harrowing story of the conflict, which claimed more than 3,000 lives, is told in an engaging way. Look out for two poignant wall exhibits: the Peace Quilt, a red fabric with white birds representing the dove of peace and a teddy bear as a reminder of the children who suffered the loss of loved ones; and a powerful oil painting by the artist Jack Pakenham, Peace Talks, completed in 1992 as Northern Ireland moved slowly towards a resolution of the Troubles. In 2020, the museum received six etchings by the Dutch master Rembrandt which were gifted as a major acquisition by the Arts Council of England. The delicate etchings, which are on permanent display, date from 1630 to the 1650s. They include Dutch landscapes such as Six's Bridge which Rembrandt made in 1645 while visiting the country estate of Jan Six, a wealthy Amsterdam merchant who was his friend and patron.

The art, history, and nature discovery zones are packed with hands-on activities for children. Kids enjoy the Peter the Polar Bear exhibit and the famed Egyptian mummy, Takabuti.

Sunday morning is the quietest time to visit, but go early before the crowds. Afterward, lay out a picnic in the Belfast Botanical Gardens next door.

In the Victorian heyday it was not unusual to find 10,000 of Belfast's citizens strolling about here on a Saturday afternoon. These gardens are a glorious haven of grass, trees, flowers, curving walks, and wrought-iron benches, all laid out in 1827 on land that slopes down to the River Lagan.

The curved-iron and glass Palm House is a conservatory marvel designed in 1839 by Charles Lanyon.

Inside, the hot "stove wing" is a mini-jungle of exotic plants such as the bird-of-paradise flower and heavily scented frangipani. In the main grounds you can wander around the arboretum and the 100-year-old rockery, or in summer savor the colors and scents of the herbaceous borders. On the last Sunday of August each year more than 30,000 people converge on the grounds for the Belfast Mela, a program of music, dance, food, and arts. Stalls and stands are laid out, and street theater, drummers, and choirs from many countries take part in the festivities alongside global cuisine in a world-food market, while tastings and tea-leaf readings are held in a tea emporium.

A fun challenge is to follow the Tree Trail, which leads you around 20 trees, many planted in the 19th century, with specimens such as the tree of heaven, Japanese red cedar, and the wonderful ginkgo biloba from China.

Belfast has so many churches you could visit a different one nearly every day of the year and still not make it to them all. The oldest house of worship is the Church of Ireland Knockbreda Parish Church. This dark structure was built in 1737 by Richard Cassels, who designed many of Ireland's finest mansions. It quickly became the place to be buried—witness the vast 18th-century tombs in the churchyard.

Dominating University Road is Queen's University. The main buildings, modeled on Oxford's Magdalen College and designed by the ubiquitous Charles Lanyon, were built in 1849 in the Tudor Revival style. The long, handsome, redbrick-and-sandstone facade of the main building features large lead-glass windows, and is topped with three square towers and crenellations galore. University Square, really a terrace, is from the same era. The Seamus Heaney Library is named after the Ulster-born, 1997 Nobel Prize–winning poet who died in 2013. The McClay Library in College Park features a multistory open atrium, 1.5 million volumes, and the Brian Friel Theatre, named in honor of one of Ireland's most illustrious playwrights. The C. S. Lewis reading room on the first floor has a replica of the wardrobe door used in the film The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. The Queen's Welcome Centre hosts a program of exhibitions and serves as a visitor information point. Guided tours are available but must be booked in advance.

With a student population of 25,000, the university has been making waves internationally for its research in many fields. In 2020 Queen's appointed Hillary Clinton as its new chancellor to serve for a five-year term. It is the first time that a woman has taken on what is a largely ceremonial role and has boosted the university's prestige. The Clintons first came to Northern Ireland in November 1995 when Bill, as U.S. president, was a key player involved in talks leading to the Northern Ireland peace process. In 2018 Hillary received an honorary degree from Queen's and a scholarship was set up in her name for postgraduate study in politics, human rights, and peace-building.