Belfast's Cathedral Quarter: A Self-Guided Walking Tour

Overview

Belfast's Cathedral Quarter has been many things over the centuries a Victorian commercial hub, a no-go zone during the Troubles, and now the city's undisputed party district. On this self-guided audio tour, you'll trace how Belfast reinvented itself after the peace agreement, through its pubs, murals, architecture, and the stories locals still argue about over a pint. The tour starts beside the Salmon of Knowledge on the River Lagan, where you'll hear the Irish myth of Fionn Mac Cumhaill before spotting the iconic Harland and Wolff cranes on the skyline. You'll stop outside the Merchant Hotel, once home to a £1,000 cocktail made with whiskey salvaged from a shipwreck, and pass the Watson Building nicknamed the smoothing iron whose furniture once fitted out the Titanic. The tour also takes in Writers' Square, the Assembly Rooms where Ireland's last traditional harpers performed in 1792, and White's Tavern, Belfast's oldest pub, before ending at the First Presbyterian Church.