Commercial Court
A narrow lane under a canopy of umbrellas with hundreds of old photographs on its walls, one of the most photographed corners in Belfast.
In a lane called Commercial Court, barely a few metres wide, the walls are stacked with hundreds of old photographs and paintings and a canopy of umbrellas hangs overhead, so that you feel you have stepped into an open box of the city's memory. This is the Cathedral Quarter, Belfast's oldest merchant district, where linen warehouses and newspaper offices of the 18th and 19th centuries now hold cafés, galleries and studios. It sits wedged between Royal Avenue and the Dunbar Link, with St Anne's Cathedral at its heart and the slender steel needle added to its roof in 2007, the Spire of Hope, marking it from across town. The pleasure here is walking without a plan: cobbled Hill Street, Donegall Street, and the side lanes where the murals change from one year to the next, so what you photograph today may be gone on your next trip. The MAC, the modern stone-clad arts centre opened in 2012 a short walk from the cathedral, opens its galleries free from Tuesday to Sunday, 11:00 to 17:00, and has a comfortable café, toilets and a lift, which makes it an excellent pit stop with children. The cathedral itself admits visitors Monday to Saturday, 10:30 to 16:00 (last entry 15:15), for £5 per adult, with under-16s free. An honest word for our readers: this is also Belfast's main pub and nightlife district. After about 18:00, and especially on Friday and Saturday nights, it fills with noise and bar crowds and is no place for a family. Plan a daytime visit, the cathedral, the murals, the MAC galleries and a coffee, and leave before dusk. The ground is flat and pushchair-friendly apart from some rough old paving, and the quarter is ten minutes on foot from City Hall and roughly ten from Lanyon Place station. In summer, an hour or two folded into a city-centre day is enough; it does not justify a trip on its own. In winter the light is gone before 16:00, so start early if you want the murals on camera. The annual arts festival in May fills the lanes with daytime performances and music and is the best moment to see the quarter at its brightest, before it turns into something you would rather skip after dark.
A narrow lane under a canopy of umbrellas with hundreds of old photographs on its walls, one of the most photographed corners in Belfast.
The street art on Hill Street and the lanes around it changes from one year to the next, so each visit looks different.
The steel Spire of Hope above the cathedral, and free galleries with a comfortable café at the MAC next door.
Hill Street and Donegall Street, Belfast BT1
No. From about 18:00 it becomes a bar district, loud and crowded, especially on Friday and Saturday nights. Visit by day and have dinner elsewhere in the city centre.
A pass-through of an hour or two on a Belfast city-centre day is enough; the murals, Commercial Court and the cathedral are all minutes apart, and nothing here needs a full day.