The Girona treasure
Gold and jewellery salvaged from the Spanish Armada galleass wrecked off the Antrim coast in 1588.
In a quiet gallery here lies Takabuti, a woman from Thebes who died some 2,600 years ago and became, in 1835, the first mummy ever unwrapped in Ireland. A few steps away glints Spanish gold hauled up from the seabed: jewellery and coins from the Girona, a galleass that smashed onto the Antrim coast in 1588 while fleeing north after the Armada's defeat. Those two treasures alone justify the trip, and the trip costs nothing. This is Northern Ireland's largest museum, and it does under one roof what other cities spread across three: natural history with dinosaur skeletons and Ice Age beasts that children run to first, local archaeology, a fine-art wing, and then the part that makes it matter, the Troubles and Beyond gallery, which tells the story of the conflict from the late 1960s through the peace agreement and after in a voice that takes no side. Anyone who wants to understand why Belfast looks the way it does should start here, not on a mural tour. The building is an odd, memorable thing: a classical stone front from 1929 fused to a hulking concrete extension opened in 1972, with split levels inside that you negotiate by lifts and several staircases. Pushchairs manage most of it, but the Deep Time geology gallery is not suitable for buggies or wheelchairs. Lockers on the ground floor cost £1 for small items and £5 for large bags, there is a baby-change room just off the main atrium, and the in-house café does soups, sandwiches and cakes, so ask about ingredients if you eat carefully. A full visit runs one and a half to three hours, and the museum shuts on Mondays except Northern Ireland public holidays. Getting here is easy: a 20 to 25 minute walk from the city centre through Queen's University, the Metro 8 bus from Howard Street, or a train to Botanic station and ten minutes on foot. There is no visitor car park, and Stranmillis Road outside becomes a no-stopping clearway from 16:30 to 18:00 on weekdays, so drivers should use the paid car park at Queen's Sport, eight minutes away. Make it a morning, then walk out into Botanic Gardens and the Victorian Palm House next door if the weather holds.
Gold and jewellery salvaged from the Spanish Armada galleass wrecked off the Antrim coast in 1588.
A woman from Thebes some 2,600 years old, the first mummy unwrapped in Ireland, surrounded by objects from ancient Egypt.
An even-handed account of the Northern Ireland conflict from the late 1960s to the present that unlocks the whole city.
Stranmillis Road, Botanic Gardens, Belfast BT9 5AB
They are different things: Titanic Belfast is a paid, pre-booked spectacle, while the Ulster Museum is free and the dinosaurs, animals and mummy fill a happy hour with children aged roughly five to twelve. Younger ones will flag in the art and history galleries, so keep it to the ground floor and natural history.
No. An hour covers Takabuti, the Girona gold and the dinosaurs if you walk with purpose, but the Troubles gallery alone needs forty minutes to an hour if you read the panels. Allow two hours, and if time is short start with the Troubles, because it is the part you will not find anywhere else.