Ireland (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Fionn Davenport [511]
Outside the Centre
CAVE HILL
The best way to get a feel for Belfast’s natural setting is to view it from above. In the absence of a private aircraft, head for Cave Hill (Map; 368m), which looms over the northern fringes of the city. The view from its summit takes in the whole sprawl of the city, the docks and the creeping fingers of urbanisation along the shores of Belfast Lough. On a clear day you can even spot Scotland lurking on the horizon. For information on climbing to the summit, see the boxed text, Click here.
The hill was originally called Ben Madigan, after the 9th-century Ulster king, Matudhain. Its distinctive, craggy profile, seen from the south, has been known to locals for two centuries as ‘Napoleon’s Nose’ – it supposedly bears some resemblance to Bonaparte’s shnoz, but you might take some convincing. On the summit is an Iron Age earthwork known as McArt’s Fort where members of the United Irishmen, including Wolfe Tone, looked down over the city in 1795 and pledged to fight for Irish independence.
Cave Hill Country Park (Map; 9077 6925; Antrim Rd; admission free; 7.30am-dusk) spreads across the hill’s eastern slopes, with several waymarked walks and an adventure playground for kids aged three to 14 years.
To get there, take buses 1A to 1H from Donegall Sq W to Belfast Castle or Belfast Zoo.
BELFAST CASTLE
Built in 1870 for the third Marquess of Donegall, in the Scottish Baronial style made fashionable by Queen Victoria’s then recently built Balmoral, the multi-turreted pomp of Belfast Castle (Map; 9077 6925; www.belfastcastle.co.uk; Antrim Rd; admission free; 9am-10pm Mon-Sat, to 6pm Sun) commands the southeastern slopes of Cave Hill. It was presented to the City of Belfast in 1934.
Extensive renovation between 1978 and 1988 has left the interior comfortably modern rather than intriguingly antique, and the castle is now a popular venue for wedding receptions. Upstairs is the Cave Hill Visitor Centre with a few displays on the folklore, history, archaeology and natural history of the park. Downstairs is the Cellar Restaurant and a small antiques shop ( noon-5pm Sun-Fri, to 10pm Sat).
Legend has it that the castle’s residents will experience good fortune only as long as a white cat lives there, a tale commemorated in the beautiful formal gardens by nine portrayals of cats in mosaic, painting, sculpture and garden furniture – a good game for the kids is getting them to find all nine.
BELFAST ZOO
Belfast Zoo (Map; 9077 6277; www.belfastzoo.co.uk; Antrim Rd; adult/child Apr-Sep £8.30/4.40, Oct-Mar £6.80/3.50, children under 4, senior & visitors with disabilities free; 10am-7pm Apr-Sep, to 4pm Oct-Mar, last admission 2hr/90min before closing in summer/winter) is one of the most appealing zoos in Britain and Ireland, with spacious enclosures set on an attractive, sloping site; the sea lion and penguin pool with its underwater viewing is particularly good. Some of the more unusual animals include tamarins, spectacled bears and red pandas, but the biggest attractions are the ultra-cute meerkats, the colony of ring-tailed lemurs and ‘Jack’, the blue-eyed white tiger.
MALONE HOUSE
Malone House (Map; 9068 1246; www.malonehouse.co.uk; Upper Malone Rd; admission free; 9am-5pm Mon-Sat, 11am-5pm Sun) is a late-Georgian mansion in the grounds of Barnett Demesne. Built in the 1820s for local merchant William Legge, the house is now used mainly for social functions and conferences, with art exhibitions staged in the Higgin Gallery. The surrounding gardens are planted with azaleas and rhododendrons, with paths leading down to the Lagan Towpath (see boxed text, Click here).
The house is about 5km south of the centre; take bus 8A or 8B to Dub Lane, Upper Malone Rd.
SIR THOMAS & LADY DIXON PARK
This park (Map; Upper Malone