Belfast, Ireland

Introducing Belfast

Northern Ireland’s capital city, Belfast is the driving force behind the region’s economic, cultural, and political development. Following an extensive restoration project, Belfast has come into its own as a dynamic cultural center with world-class museums, boutique hotels, great shopping and eclectic restaurants.

The city’s heart is Donegall Square which is lined with handsome Victorian, Edwardian, and Art Deco buildings, including the Grand Opera House and the grandiose City Hall. The interior of Romanesque St Anne’s Cathedral, on Donegall Street, is awash with Celtic mosaics. It also sports Ireland’s larger Celtic cross—hardly a mean feat. Just south from the bustling commercial center of Donegall Place is the tree-lined Queens Quarter, home to the eponymous university. Within the university’s graceful confines, the Lanyon Building provides a serene backdrop for the Naughton Gallery which exhibits paintings and sculptures from the 19th century onwards.

Belfast also happens to have some of the best pubs in the world (notably around pedestrian-only Donegall Place) where you can merrily put the world to rights over a few pints. Belfast’s calendar is packed with all manner of festivals and events, from the Belfast Film Festival to the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival and, of course, one of the world’s most impassioned St Patrick’s Day Festivals.

Belfast is no longer marred by the violence that engulfed the city in the 1970s and 1980s. Visits to protestant Shankill Road and Catholic Falls Road—streets emblazoned with political murals and Republican and Loyalist iconography—provide keen insights into Ireland’s sectarian violence.

Airports within a 50-mile radius of Belfast:

• Belfast City Airport (BHD)
  • Belfast (Aldergrove) International Airport (BFS)
  • Londonderry Eglinton Airport (LDY)

Popular aircraft charters* in the Belfast area include:

• Citation Excel (super light)
• Learjet 45 XR (super light)
• Citation CJ3 (light)
• Learjet 31ER 400A (light)
• Learjet 60 XR (midsize)
• Citation III (midsize)
• Gulfstream G200 (super midsize)
• Citation Sovereign (super midsize)

*This is just a sample. Zephyr provides access to aircraft at every end of the spectrum, from luxurious VIP airliners, to ultra long range business jet, helicopters, and economical turboprops.