Travel by Numbers: Belfast
Two of the landmarks of Northern Ireland's capital reopen this month, adding to the city's allure
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Airports serving the city. While the international airport at Aldergrove is a base for easyJet and Jet2, George Best Belfast City (named after the Manchester United football legend) is much closer – three miles east of the city centre, and served by Flybe, BMI and Ryanair.
348
Height in feet of Samson, the larger of the giant cranes at the Harland & Wolff shipyard, which dominate the city skyline. The Lagan Boat Company offers one-hour tours on the water that offer excellent views.
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Millions of pounds spent on rejuvenating Belfast City Hall, where the re-opening festivities begin today. The 173ft dome is a highlight.
320
Price in pence of a pint of Guinness at the Crown Liquor Saloon at 46 Great Victoria Street. This National Trust property is a preserved Victorian drinking den, with gleaming tiles and elaborate mirrors.
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Days remaining of the Belfast Festival, which began yesterday and runs until 31 October at Queen's University. It is Ireland's biggest international festival and this year includes a production of Macbeth, featuring stormtroopers on motorbikes.
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Years since the Ulster Museum opened in the Botanic Gardens. It re-opens next Thursday after a three-year refurbishment, with a retrospective of the Irish painter Sean Scully, the mummy of Takabuti, buried in Egypt about 2,600 years ago, and the new Window on the World exhibition.
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Ranking as the UK's leading tourist attraction in 2007 by The Independent of the open-air gallery of political murals of the Catholic Falls Road and the Protestant Shankill Road. For a deeper understanding of the causes and effects of the Troubles, take a Black Taxi tour.
1912
Year the Belfast-built RMS Titanic, at the time the largest and most luxuriously appointed liner, began the fatal maiden voyage that claimed 1,517 lives. A memorial to the White Star ship stands in the grounds of Belfast City Hall.
discovernorthernireland.com/titanic2012
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Counties in the North and the Republic, each of which supplied stone to St Anne's Cathedral, where you can find the largest Celtic cross in Ireland. The choir sings on Sundays at 11am.
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