A simple city by day and lively one by night, Belfast is one of the last few stops on my Europe trip. By now, I’ve realized that the typical tourist sightings no longer do it for me. In search of authenticity and local flavor, I’ve been meeting, chatting, and attempting living with locals. Although Belfast doesn’t have the polished attractions that pull in the same number of tourists that Dublin or Edinburgh does, I found its mixture of Titanic history, religious conflict, and Northern Irish culture very interesting. I spent a whole morning learning about the clashes between the Catholic and Protestant communities, an entire afternoon visiting the docks that gave birth to the famous and tragic Titanic, a beautiful sunset on the Belfast lough overlooking the coast, and a fun night enjoying live music in one of the city’s historical pubs.

For a small city, Belfast sure has a lot to offer.

St. George's MarketThe original drawing room in H&W