www.visitbelfast.com Archives - Jim Murty’s TravelTravelTravel

Ice in your drink on the Titanic

20th September 202520th September 2025 funtime65

Well, what else would you do than put ice in your drink on the Titanic?

Which is not us delving the depths but our merch mates l selling Titanic-shaped ice for your glass.

Lest it be forgotten, of course, Titanic was, first and foremost a pleasure cruise, where passengers wined and dine in fine style.

And Titanic Belfast, which tells and retells the story of the world’s most famous cruise liner every day, is showcasing the foods and beverages on board.

With Flavours of Titanic: A Journey Through Taste, Seasoned with Stories.

And a calendar of festivities in Belfast every weekend from October 4-November 2.

Flavours of Titanic

The cruise crew: Titanic Belfast

It features the best fare from Belfast, the city where the great ship was built from the early 20th century.

From free talks and tastings to family trails and themed food specials, Flavours of Titanic will link food culture to the ship’s story.

Local suppliers stepping up include Irish Black Butter, Maine Soft Drinks and Burren Balsamics.

Every week will have a different theme including First Class Flavours, Clangers and Craft and Port to Plate.

Wine and dine

Bespoke dishes will also be available to enjoy in The Pantry and Galley cafe, as well as retail exclusives in the Titanic Store.

While Titanicphiles will welcome the return of Titanic by the Glass on Saturday, October 11 and Friday, October 17.

With cocktails crafted by The Spirit Circle.

Titanic by the Glass will take guests on a guided immersive journey through part of the Titanic Experience.

Where they will hear about stories of Belfast, its people, its past and its drinks.

All served with four accompanying alcoholic or non-alcoholic cocktails.

Crews on the cruise

Crew Talks will take place across the weekends.

Exploring Titanic’s food stories from provisioning and cargo to dining across the ship’s classes.

And there will also be a dedicated pop-up exhibition highlighting the ship’s menus, cargo and culinary contrasts.

Offering visitors to Northern Ireland a fresh perspective on Titanic’s history through the lens of food.

Families can take part in a specially designed trail over the half-term break from October 25-31.

Leading younger visitors through food-themed touchpoints across the experience in a fun, engaging way.

Countries, Ireland, UK

The epic Titanic in Belfast

9th September 20249th September 2024 funtime65

It must be an Irish thing, a word that means the opposite of itself, like grand and tragic, the unique, epic Titanic in Belfast.

The workmen in the yellow-vis jackets are clanking on the gantries on the Queens Dock the day I visit.

Close your eyes and for all intents and purposes you could be back in the Belfast of 1911, only it was a bit noisier then.

And these workers are putting up offices.

Belfast’s Titanic story was, in truth, not inside but here on the docks.

Yard that built the Titanic

No passenger ever got on the Titanic in Belfast (they maybe knew better).

With Southampton the departure point for New York.

But 100,000, half the population of the city today, attended to see the ship slip into the water on its completion in 1911.

And that number and more have been coming to the Titanic Quarter, which includes a hotel, a film studios and distillery.

Since 2012 when it opened on the centenary of the pride of the White Star sinking off Canada with the loss of 1,517 lives.

Get into Titanic character

Time, cash, and a far more important appointment with an old pal precludes me.

From taking the hour and a half tour.

Which, to be fair, is award-winning, with visitors (£25pp online) invited.

To adopt the character of real-life passengers on board.

Fun for all the family then, as long as that family is not the Sunaks.

And who can forget his ill-timed visit during the election.

When his keystone policy was ‘to stop the boats’?

Hello and Welcome

The sheer scale of the Titanic is perhaps best mapped out.

By the metal posts that map out its size all the distance of the quay.

While the display boards and indexes explain who went where and who survived… First Class mainly.

And the history of Belfast as a shipbuilding and maritime hub and latter-day Game of Thrones centre.

The H and W of the yellow Harland and Woolf cranes, locally named Samson and Goliath, are an iconic reminder.

Of that yard’s place in the Belfast story.

Celebrated too by air pilots as passengers fly into Belfast.

And they announce that the H and W means Hello and Welcome.

The sight too of a Stena ship tells us that as absorbing as the epic Titanic in Belfast is this is an operational dock.

And that Michael, who helps promote my go-to ferry from Ireland to Scotland, is waiting for me in the Titanic Hotel bar.

Although at £259 per night my largesse only stretched to coffees!!!

MEET YOU ON THE SEAS

Countries, Europe, Ireland, Music, UK

Our deal of two Irish music cities and beyond

20th May 202424th May 2024 funtime65

In best gigging tradition today we’re greeting you with Hello, Belfast, Hello Dublin… with our deal of two Irish music cities and beyond.

Now the northern and southern powerhouses of Ireland have given us some of the most enduring acts of our lives.

Stiff Little Fingers, Rudy, Christy Moore, Gary Moore, and, of course, Van ‘The Man’ Morrison.

Dublin’s Fare City

While Dublin has boasted The Dubliners, Phil Lynott, U2, the Boomtown Rats, Aslan, Kodaline, The Script, Imelda May and Sinead O’Connor.

All of which have been a joy to see live and even better if they’re on your doorstep.

The same of which can be said for artists beyond Ireland who rave about playing for an Irish audience.

And I swear fellow Scots The Proclaimers were speaking right to me at Dublin’s best music venue Vicar Street.

But what of the musicgoers who part with their hard-earned to see their favourite stars?

Well, whisper it down in the Fair City but going to see your favourite musicians in Dublin is a considerably dearer night out than if you head north.

Even taking into account the cost of travel.

And even more galling for the Irish music fan, or those of a different blood, who live there but Britain is cheaper still.

If you stay out of London which we all know is its own country.

Our friends at luggage company Radical Storage, who regularly provide us with relevant travel insights, have compiled this information for you giggers out there.

The bill of Belfast City

Say it with Flowers: The Killers’ Brandon Flowers

And they have discovered that Britain’s regional towns and Belfast, the pride of the north of Ireland, are a giggers’ go-to.

With Nottingham (£58) in the English Midlands topping the list for concertgoers with Birmingham (£78) third.

And Antwerp (£76) sandwiched in between in second and Belfast (£81) fourth.

We had hoped that Continental concerts would be akin to European football prices but alas not.

With only Assago (£81) in Italy and Madrid (£81) featuring.

Milan is the most expensive city in Europe with (£322), ouch, Dublin (£143) in fifth.

All of which you’d think would mean that you would squeeze as much music out of your concert as you can.

And not as is the way of the concertgoers I literally bumped into at anyone from The Killers in Marlay Park to Paul Simon at the RDS turn your back on the artist.

And push past you with rounds of drinks while shouting at each other through the lyrics.

Now, granted, we can’t all get hospitality at the Europa Hotel in Belfast for a jazz cabaret night and dinner to see Van Morrison (guilty!)

But there is value and craic out there.

Perhaps not if you’re a Swiftie (average £375) or a Coldplay (£229) or Stevie Nicks fan (£185).

But Take Me to Hozier (£48) proud Bray native and one-time neighbour of ours when we lived for 13 years in Greystones, Co. Wicklow.

So our advice, and that of Radical Storage, is to do your homework on your favourite acts, and destinations.

And it all starts here with our deal of two music cities and beyond.

Countries, Flying

The Best airport in the UK

13th April 202413th April 2024 funtime65

And when you call yourself the Best then you need to follow through and be named the Best airport in the UK.

Belfast was early to the party in the UK to follow the global convention of naming airports after hometown heroes.

Belfast City’s being football great George Best.

With only John Lennon in Liverpool and Robin Hood in Doncaster Sheffield (a steal from Nottingham surely?) participants.

Of course that’s a different subject which we’ve been tracked before, championing Billy Connolly for Glasgow and Sean Connery for Edinburgh.

And Bono for Dublin in the Republic of Ireland.

Belfast boys

For the week that’s in it though we’re celebrating another Irish city, Belfast and its airport.

Which we were only too happy to divert to from Edinburgh at the start of our 13 years odyssey in Ireland.

For our family holiday to Mallorca.

And if those circumstances arose again, and we can only hope, then we’d gladly swap airports from Edinburgh to Belfast.

Because Belfast’s average delays (12 and a half minutes) are the shortest of any in the UK.

With Liverpool John Lennon 13 minutes and 24 seconds.

From Edinburgh to London

My local airport, Edinburgh’s (21 minutes and 48 seconds) are among the longest.

The worst culprit is Gatwick at 27 minutes behind schedule last year.

Where I have suffered with Ryanair.

Although there is recourse for financial and/or accommodation compensation with all airlines if delays become too lengthy.

Of course, all delays disrupt your travel plans, particularly if you’ve onward flights.

Texan travels

Spare a thought then for the poor couple beside me on in the queue on the flight back from Dallas, Texas to London.

With the American Airlines flight delayed so long that the couple lost their connection from London.

And the onward flight from London to Glasgow and on to Austria.

What made it worse was that it was their honeymoon.

Little help from our friends

Of course, we are all fellow travellers on this life’s journey and where you see someone in trouble then you should help out.

And so I advised the couple who were thinking of hiring a car from London to Glasgow.

To consider a National Express coach instead.

We exchanged details so I could hear how they got on but never heard back.

I trust they got over to awesome Austria and back to Texas.

All things considered my odyssey to get back to Edinburgh and then the last train to North Berwick was small beer.

My travel being disrupted by a Harry Styles concert at Murrayfield which brought my aircoach to a standstill.

Best in the business

All of which brings us back to the airports that keep delays to a minimum.

And maybe I’m being a bit too ethereal here but there has to be something in the fact that the airports that score best have a guardian angel looking over them.

With the Best airport in the UK named after the fleet-footed Belfast boy George Best.

Who ironically was known for his lateness which I experienced in my own time in Aberdeen, and no-shows.

But that was another story and George was well worth the wait.

Countries

Titanic sails again

7th February 20237th February 2023 funtime65

More than 111 years on from when it sunk the world’s most famous cruise ship is still giving up its secrets… and we are excited to announce that Titanic sails again.

Titanic Belfast is reopening its doors on March 4 with four new themed galleries.

The reimagined Titanic Experience introduces The Pursuit of Dreams as a new theme.

And it will use immersive technology combined with the authentic Titanic Story.

Ship of Dreams

In its refreshed spaces called Never Again; Ballard’s Quest; The Ship of Dreams and The Lasting Legacy.

One of the centrepieces of the new experience will be an illuminated 7.6m long scale model of RMS Titanic suspended from the ceiling.

It will fully rotate, taking approximately 90 seconds to complete, promising to provide a true wow factor for visitors.

Guests will delve deeper into the lives and stories of the passengers who had dreams of starting a new life in America.

As we did in Dublin on a Titanic tour of Ireland during our 13 years in Ireland when we were each given a character on the ship.

She’s a Model

You’ll also hear about those who built the ship in Belfast and those who discovered her wreck.

The illuminated 7.6m long scale model of RMS Titanic replicates some of the main features of the iconic ship.

The model includes the lifeboats, propellers, engine, cranes, bridge, main staircase and chimneys.

And fitted with 300 metres of LED lights that are programmed to highlight different areas of the ship.

It took six months to build and will take a further three weeks to install and programme in Titanic Belfast.

Of course the once-in-a-lifetime Titanic trip was alas just that.

But this is the closest you can get.

Miniature wonders

And having checked out the world through the eyes of Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg then I’d always recommend seeing things from knee-height.

For further information as Titanic sails again. Or to book tickets for the new Titanic Experience from Saturday 4^th March visit titanicbelfastw.com

Countries, Ireland, UK

A tale of two new cities Belfast and Derry

22nd January 202222nd January 2022 funtime65

It’s a tale of two new cities Belfast and Derry 50 years on.

The two powerhouses of Northern Ireland are marking 50-year milestones just now, for different reasons.

Belfast’s name is up in lights, on billboards as award-winning luvvie Kenneth Branagh celebrates the city of his birth on film.

While Derry too is looking back too, but to the saddest episode in its modern history.

To Bloody Sunday when British soldiers shot dead 23 unarmed civilians.

Love letter to Belfast

This weekend has been about Belfast and the 50th anniversary of a much-loved institution and survivor, Europa Hotel.

Where the cream of Irish Travel, my old muckers, Big Jim Gallagher and Muriel Bolger among them, were taking in Branagh’s love letter to Belfast.

From the Europa Hotel which was extending its 50th anniversary celebrations of last year by putting on a special showing of the film.

The Europa holds a special significance for Belfastians as the-then most-bombed city in the world.

But which the bombers never did level.

A tale of two hotels

Today it is a shining gem in the city, alongside the Grand Central Hotel, with its distinctive seahorse symbol.

And visitors can enjoy the charms of both as we did on our Belfast Chilled tour.

When we stayed at the Grand Central and took in Van Morrison at the Europa.

This week past met present as Guinness flowed and they drank in the nostalgia of the crossroads year of 1972 in Northern Ireland.

Van’s the man: Van Morrison at the Europa

Seventy-one miles north-west in Derry the locals set out on a Civil Rights march on a sunny Sunday.

At the end of it 13 lay dead and 15 wounded, the story of which you can follow at the Museums of Free Derry.

The history of those times may be a foreign country to those of us not from the Walled City.

Derry Girls

But it is being played out in a more uplifting fashion in the glorious Derry Girls, the tale of an English boy thrust into a girls’ school.

With a muriel (sorry mural) of the Fab Five main characters a beacon of what Derry is now post-Troubles.

Near the border too of my Dear Old Mum’s beloved Donegal in the Republic, Derry is a delightful destination for tourists.

And yes Hastings as everywhere in Northern Ireland is where to stay.

Yes, it’s tale of two new cities Belfast and Derry

Where, you say to stay in Derry? The Everglades Hotel.

Ducks on parade: And Hastings to the fore

How do I know? Well, a little Hastings duckie told me.

Countries, Ireland

Liam Neeson promoting Ireland and he will find you

9th December 2021 funtime65

I have a very particular set of skills I have acquired over a very long career. Not me (well, yes me) but another superstar.. Liam Neeson promoting Ireland and he will find you.

The big Ballymena man has that distinction which all the greats possess…

You can instantly recognise that it is him as soon as you hear his voice.

And he also possesses the gravitas and charisma which means that he can act as an ambassador both for his native Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

Heck, he sees it the way he feels it, very Bryan Mills, as an Irishman and he wants to promote the island on which he was born and which developed him.

Because for as much as we on these islands know about the challenges and divisions that the two parts of the island of Ireland have had.

The rest of the world doesn’t want to make a traveller’s distinction.

They want to visit them both… and why not?

Taken star Liam has lent his voice to a new giant-screen documentary film.

It’s called Ireland which is produced by McGillivray Freeman Films and is sponsored by Tourism Ireland.

And it will go on release in select IMAX and giant-screen theatres across the US in February.

This is your pilot Liam talking

In another’s tongue it might sound cliched to talk of emerald islands and paradise but when it comes from Liam Neeson.

The Neesonathon celebrates the island’s rich history, culture, arts and music, as well as Ireland’s spectacular scenery.

It takes its American audience across Ireland.

Following writer Manchán Magan and others on an action-packed journey from Dublin to Belfast.

And from Kilkenny to Cong.

Viewers will see breath-taking footage of places like the Cliffs of Moher, the Giant’s Causeway and the Skellig Islands.

Ireland’s call

The Big Man and big-time Ireland rugby fan said: ‘There is a movement in Ireland to reconnect with our heritage, to rediscover what it means to be Irish.

“And I am delighted to help bring the joy and diversity of all that Ireland has to offer.

“Both the old and the new, to IMAX and giant-screen audiences worldwide.

‘As viewers experience Ireland’s great beauty and humanity on the world’s largest screens, they will fall in love all over again.’

And

A previous film produced by MacGillivray Freeman Films for Brand USA (destination marketing organisation for the US), called Natural Parks Adventure, was seen by around 8 million people in IMAX and giant-screen theatres.

And a sneak preview

And for those who want to get a flick of the vid and drown in Liam’s voice here’s a taster.

So here it is Liam Neeson promoting Ireland and he will find you.

Asia, Countries, Food & Wine

Cocktail Millionaire Hour

22nd November 202122nd November 2021 funtime65

We’d been seduced by a rooftop viewing over Cannes but I baulked at a $16.50 Aperol Spritz… before I learned this week about Cocktail Millionaire Hour.

They must have heard about me at Pay Day Loans because why else send me news of a $22,600 cocktail, Diamonds Are Forever?

And so if you’ve got that down the back of a sofa then get yourself over to Ritz-Carlton in Tokyo.

What a sparkler

We’re told the DAR in the skyscraper hotel is a Grey Goose vodka and a twist of lime…

And a $16,000 diamond on the side of the glass, and helpfully they advise not to swallow the diamond.

Not wanting to stymie any future chances of a stay at the Ritz-Carlton but that’s one expensive voddie and lime at $6,600.

Vegas mixers

Now you pay for the celeb watching in Vegas too.

Although thankfully I had the good services of my hosts the Las Vegas Convention Board to thank for introducing me.

The Ghostbar in the Palms Casino is where you’d find everyone from Matt Damon to Paris Hilton.

But you always had to take your passport to The Ghostbar, Palms Casino to get in… they’d want verification that it’s really you.

Or you can check in at the XS Nightclub, Encore for a $10,000 Ono.

Which is a Charles Heidsieck Champagne Charlie 1981 and Louis XIII de Remy Martin Black Pearl cognac.

Plus the drink comes with a pair of men’s silver cufflinks and a woman’s 18k white-gold chain.

Playboy of the Cocktail World

Now us playboys need a drink that best reflects our lifestyles.

And the $9,000 Salvatore’s Legacy at the Playboy Club in Mayfair, London, does just that.

It is made from a 1778 Clos de Griffier Vieux Cognac, 1770 Kummel Liqueur, Dubb Orange Curacao circa 1860 and two dashes of Angostura Bitters circa 1900s.

We don’t know what the tip is here but at 10% that’s $700 so be prepared when you hit the Big Smoke.

And the others

We’ve just extended our knowledge of Connecticut following our trip to Dublin for the VisitUSA Thanksgiving get-together.

And they were keen to flag up their rich casino tradition.

Usually if you’re gambling you’ll be offered a comp drink, but not alas a Sapphire Martini at the Foxwoods Resort Casino.

Now Hemingway sure loved his cocktails and the Bar Hemingway in Paris channels the Great Man.

Through its $1,670 Sidecars.

And one we made earlier: With my Cocktail Girl

When I go high set in Belfast I head for the Grand Central Hotel and the highest bar in Ireland, the Observatory.

Alternatively the Merchant Hotel will keep you in maraschino cherries.

They do an Original Mai Thai at $1,270.

While as coral and atoll islands have been in the news with COP26 et al we’ll finish off in the Maldives.

It’s a favourite place and I’m glad to see some Irish friends who had yet to have sampled its charms are over there now.

At $312 for a Hennessy Cognac it’s to be sipped and swirled around the mouth.

Yes, you’ll feel like a high-roller In Cocktail Millionaire Hour.

Countries, Deals, Ireland, UK

Fifty years of Belfast’s Europa Hotel

7th September 20217th September 2021 funtime65

Once the world’s most bombed hotel, after being targeted 33 times, it’s metamorphosed in the Fifty years of Belfast’s Europa Hotel.

Part of the fixtures and fittings of the daycent old town they call Belfast.

It has been a favoured hangout for journos all that time.

Back in the day the Irish Times Belfast office relocated there (to work!) after their offices were gutted following a car bomb.

While there have been a pantheon of celebrated journalists who have frequented the Europa.

And those who reported on The Troubles are Trevor McDonald, Kate Adie and John Sergeant.

And yours truly and a group of journos from south of the Border.

Your only man

The Penthouse Poppets: Belfast’s bunny girls

We got bombed too (drinks!).

And don’t get all PC on me as our Nordie pals are all about the gallows humour.

The night was a Van Morrison cabaret dinner and the drink was flowing.

While there was also the obligatory stumble across to Belfast institution the Crown for a nightcap or two.

In this instant orange stout, and I kid you not.

The Europa has been owned by the inimitable Hastings family for the past 30 years..

And as you would expect they’re laying out the red carpet for the big 50th anniversary celebrations.

Hastings the last word

Former US President, Bill Clinton with concierge Martin Mulholland.

They have invested over £40m in renovations and have added 88 new luxurious bedrooms to the existing 184.

A new renovation programme is currently underway.

It will see the 90 front-facing superior bedrooms, 85 classic bedrooms and six suites redesigned and upgraded.

Of course, there will always be some rooms which are kept for Presidents (and Travel Editors of the Year).

Clinton fits the bill

And as well as yours truly, Bill Clinton has been a visitor, in 1995.

He booked 110 rooms for his entourage. He returned to stay in 1998.

The Europa story was told in a book published ten years ago called In The Headlines because it always was.

Julie noted

And CEO Julie Hastings proudly recalled: ‘My father had the courage and optimism to buy it when nobody else wanted to.

‘He invested heavily at the time despite the bombings that followed over the next three years.

‘It was his confidence and that of many others that led to Belfast, and Northern Ireland, to begin its journey, to become the well-loved tourist destination that it is today.’

The Europa has launched a Golden Moments package from £115 per room which includes a plush stay, full Irish, signature cocktail in the Piano Lounge, signature truffles and exclusive golden Hastings duck.

And for those of you who haven’t stayed in a Hastings hotel, and if not why not, then you’ll know that rubber ducks are their signature.

Eider expect Julie will have one lined up with a typically punny name to join the likes of her others in the past such as Rory Quackilroy.

Countries, Culture, Ireland, Music, UK

Song for Ulster

12th July 202112th July 2021 funtime65

The 12th of July means something in Northern Ireland and its hinterland so today it’s Rainy Days and Songdays Song for Ulster.

No, not the songs you would hear on the marches and matches but the best of Ulster from the charts.

Alternative

SLF: Belfast bravado. http://www.imdb.com

Stiff Little Fingers (Alternative Ulster): And first up is the pride of Ulster punk.

Belfast boys SLF used the backdrop of The Troubles for material and recorded the first single Suspect Device disguised as a suspect bomb.

The producer thought it was real and contacted the band for a real one. Instead we give you the brilliant Alternative Ulster.

Get your kicks

Call them up on the telephone: The Undertones

The Undertones (Teenage Kicks): It is the stuff of punk legend that SLF and Derry’s finest The Undertones did not get on.

The Undertones accused SLF of sensationalising The Troubles and the violence.

Teenage Kicks famously initially had the line: ‘I wanna hold it, hold it tight’.

An Ode to Derry

Phil Coulter (The Town I Loved So Well): When a composer speaks with honesty and experience about his world (Derry)then the results are memorable.

Phil, of course, had musical pedigree before this, his signature song, having written Eurovision classics Congratulations and Puppet On A String.

Comedy classic

The Divine Comedy (National Express): And you’ve got to love a band with a lyric: ‘And it’s hard to get by/when your arse is the size of a small country.

Derry’s Neil Harmon also penned an album The Duckworth Lewis Method. Geinius.

Van the Belfast Man

Van Morrison (Madame George): The poet laureate of Belfast, Van may be a grumpy old sod but he’s never forgotten his roots.

You can still see him at one of his legendary cabarets at the Europa Hotel although, alas, characters like Madame George are long gone,

And a special mention too to the three Ulster counties in the Republic of Ireland…

The Republic Counties

Donegal and Clannad and Harry’s Game over Daniel O’Donnell.

Hipsters Cavan and The Strypes and Blue Collar Jane.

And Monaghan with their history of Country music and ‘Big Tom’ McBride and his Gentle Mother. And my Country Roads.

Raff, you handsome prince

Can I be in your band: Michael and Travel set

But the last word goes to the North’s finest… my pal Michael Rafferty who has been playing covers of our favourites every night through lockdown.

And Michael is locking it down, deservedly at 500.

Check out his Handsome Princes and Michael tells me he’s the handsomest of them all.

It’s my Rainy Days and Songdays Song for Ulster.