With a buzzing cultural life, beautiful scenery and world-class museums and hotels, Northern Ireland’s capital is shaking off its troubled history and reinventing itself as a lively tourist destination. Tim Hughes found out more

KEN Harper turns around, brings his black taxi to a halt on the pretty cobbled street, and breaks into a smile.

“This is a city on the change,” he says. “And nowhere more so than here. What’s happened here is a work of art. It’s incredible.”

Bars and cafes sporting old-fashioned signs advertising Guinness, Murphy's and Double Diamond line the street, strings of lights and a smattering of revellers giving it a carnival atmosphere.

Belfast’s redeveloped Cathedral Quarter is the hub of Northern Ireland’s nightlife and rivals anything in Dublin. It’s also a tangible symbol of how the city is changing.

“Forget the old divisions,” Ken says proudly. “Everyone has a good time here; nobody cares where you’re from.”

Forget the outdated images of bombs, security gates, watch tower and soldiers on the streets, Belfast is a city reborn. The city may not be out of the woods just yet – sectarian divisions remain, and tensions can and do boil over – but this is a city transformed and, to those who lived through the dark days of the Troubles, what has already happened is nothing short of a miracle.

Ken is one of a clutch of drivers reaping the benefits of peace by offering black cab tours of the city to a burgeoning number of tourists, eager to soak up the city’s culture, nightlife and nearby natural splendour. There’s nothing he doesn’t know about his home town – from the gothic splendour of Queens University to the edgier streets of West Belfast, where Republican and Loyalist murals line, respectively, the Falls and Shankhill Roads – transforming drab streets into open air art galleries.

“I suppose you want to see the murals?” Ken asks dryly, “Everybody does.” And while he admits he’d rather show off the brighter sides of the city, he does not shy away from telling it as it is, with scathing criticism for the extremists on both sides, but a burning optimism that a younger generation will turn the tide – given the right chances.

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Grand: Belfast City Hall from The Europa Hotel

Signs of the renaissance are everywhere, but nowhere more than along its waterfront, where the Lagan empties into Belfast Lough.

Here in the shadow of Harland and Wolff shipyard’s twin yellow gantry cranes, Samson and Goliath, sits one of the UK’s most striking pieces of architecture.

The Titanic Belfast is a six-floor museum telling the story of the most famous ship to have been turned out of the city’s once flourishing shipyards. Looking like a huge grounded ship, this four-hulled aluminium and glass construction is doing for Belfast what the Guggenheim did for Bilbao. More than a museum, it takes the visitor on a hi-tech multimedia journey through the history of shipbuilding, the construction of the Titanic, its fateful maiden voyage and subsequent discovery on the seabed.

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Back in black: Traditional pint at The Europa Hotel

Along the way visitors are transported on a theme park-style ride through the half-built hull, and a wrap-around cinema tour through the ship. It’s fascinating and moving, leaving one with a deep sense of sympathy, as much with the men who built it as for the passengers and crew.

Another sign of the city’s reversed fortunes sits right in the heart of town. The Europa Hotel has the dubious honour of being the most bombed hotel in Europe – suffering 28 attacks.

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Ulster fry: Causeway Chips at The Europa Hotel

Taken over as a bombed-out wreck in 1993 by local hotelier Sir William Hastings, it has been transformed into a four-star tourism and business centre and a Belfast landmark. It is unquestionably the best place to stay in the city centre, embracing its troubled past with stoicism and with pride in its glamourous present. Its restaurant, overlooking bustling Great Victoria Street, is a popular foodie haunt. Don’t miss its Causeway chips – fries cut into the hexagonal shape of the nearby Giants Causeway’s basalt columns.

Head along Belfast Lough to Hollywood, and you reach a quite unexpected scene of luxury. The Culloden Estate and Spa is another Hastings hotel, but this one feels a million miles front the busy city.

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Taxi! Cabbie Ken Harper

Among lawns studded with modern sculpture, the five-star turreted gothic mansion is famed for its beautiful modern spa, fabulous food and lavish suites – the best place to stay in Northern Ireland; so smart, in fact, that songsmith Van Morrison has a place here. Pulling up at its majestic entrance, Ken emptied his heart. “I almost emigrated,” he confesses. “Belfast was so bad in the past I couldn’t see any way out. But I’m glad I stayed. It’s a fantastic city now. Everyone who comes says the same thing. And they all come back.”

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Factfile

  • STAY AND EAT: Hastings Hotels www.hastingshotels.com (028 9047 1066) offers nightly rates at the 5* Culloden Estate & Spa from £82.50 per person, and at The Europa Hotel from £55 per person (both based on two sharing) on a b&b basis.
  • VISIT: Harpers Belfast Taxi Tours: Tour the city with Ken Harper. www.harpertaxitours.com 07711 757178. Titanic Belfast: Queen’s Road, Titanic Quarter, Belfast. www.titanicbelfast.com
  • INFORMATION: For more information on Ireland, visit Tourism Ireland, www.ireland.com

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Stunning: The Titanic Belfast