BELFAST STUDENT SCENE – SECOND TO NONE!
The city of Belfast welcomes thousands of students every year. Many social, leisure and sporting facilities are geared specifically toward students and student budgets.
ENJOY THE NIGHTLIFE
Belfast has many clubs, theme bars and traditional pubs in and around the vibrant city centre. Pub culture is part and parcel of Belfast life, and you can’t ask for more than a well poured pint down at your local. Favourite student areas include the Botanic Avenue ‘student corridor’, the cosmopolitan Lisburn Road, and the Bot – Egg area of the lower Malone Road.
No night out in the city centre would be complete without visiting Lavery’s in Bradbury Place, one of Belfast’s most popular student pubs, or the Crown Liquor Saloon in Great Victoria Street, which is one of the best preserved Victorian gin palaces in the United Kingdom, and still visited by a fine mix of eclectic people, students, business executives, young and old.
If your tastes are a little more adventurous, you can choose from the numerous pubs and bars that are springing up all over the lively city centre.
The Odyssey Centre is a must for top entertainment. Now Ireland’s premier visitor attraction, Odyssey is home to the Pavillion, where you will find a completely new leisure and entertainment experience including top class restaurants and nightclubs. Experience W5, an amazing exhibition area which contains over 100 interactive exhibits!
Think big at the Sheridan IMAX cinema, Ireland’s only 2D and 3D large format cinema, which features a towering 6 story screen and a six-channel surround system. Marvel at the sheer size of the Odyssey Arena, a 10,000 all seated state-of-the-art venue and home to the Belfast Giants Ice Hockey team that puts Belfast on the international map for major league sports and live entertainment.
If this is your first time in the city, then a Belfast City Bus Sightseeing Tour may be right up there for ‘must’ things to do. There are special discounts for students and the tour will give you an insider’s take on Belfast. For information on times and prices of the tours,
Tel: 028 9062 6888
GREAT MUSIC SCENE
Over the last few years, a massive level of investment, hugely talented local DJ's and a natural flair for having fun, have led to Belfast’s club scene becoming one of the most enjoyable in Europe, with favourites such as Milk, Thompson’s Garage and Shine giving you the opportunity to ‘dress to impress’.
Belfast is also a great venue for live bands. Venues like the Limelight, Spring and Airbrake, Katy Daly’s, Black Box, Auntie Annie’s, and the Empire in Botanic Avenue are a must for music lovers. In addition, the Odyssey Arena and the magnificent Waterfront Hall host large international acts along with numerous smaller venues dotted around the city.
For those with a more classical interest, then Friday nights at the Ulster Hall will be your port of call, as the highly regarded Ulster Orchestra regularly performs to packed houses throughout the season.
LIKE EATING OUT?
As with many aspects of Belfast, the cuisine is diverse and multi-cultural. The city has an increasing number of ‘Fusion’ restaurants and now boasts an ever-expanding China Town, located around the Dublin Road, Donegall Pass and Botanic areas. The Odyssey Centre boasts superb eateries such as the Indian Ocean, La Tasca, and the Red Panda. Belfast city centre is packed with affordable fast food outlets, or why not chill out at one of the many pavement cafes that have opened over the last few years.
CINEMA - OVER 50 SCREENS
The opening of the Odyssey Centre has added a new dimension to the extensive range of cinema screens that you can already find in Belfast, including Ireland’s only IMAX theatre with its giant screen, and shortly the famous Odeon Cinema group will be opening a luxury eight cinema complex in the flagship Victoria Square complex.
GREAT THEATRE
Belfast theatres include the magnificent and recently extended Grand Opera House, designed by Frank Matcham and the Lyric Players’ Theatre, which welcome major national and international productions, along with many smaller theatres housing amateur productions.
BELFAST FESTIVAL
The annual Belfast Festival at Queen’s is now 44 years old and celebrates arts and cultures from around the world, and over the years nearly every major Irish artist in every art form, from theatre to visual arts, has been presented to the public. It is Ireland’s largest arts festival and is second only to the world famous Edinburgh Festival.
SUPERB SHOPPING
It’s not just the record levels of investment that have created superb shopping in Belfast, with new shops merging with traditional favourites on the thoroughfares of Royal Avenue and Donegall Place.
The really exciting development has been the re-emergence of the city as a font of creativity, in fashion, crafts and all kinds of design.
The city has all the top stores you’d expect, plus a variety of specialist shops. Castlecourt is a focal point for the dedicated shopper, ideally located in Royal Avenue, and with the massive Victoria Centre due for completion in early 2008, it is expected that the city centre will become a twenty-four/ seven attraction for many visitors outside Ireland.
SPORT FOR ALL
Belfast has a tradition of sporting excellence with famous names like Ulster and former Ireland International rugby out-half David Humphreys and European Ryder Cup golf player Darren Clarke bringing a tingle to the spine. Experience the passion and fervour of International football, Gaelic games, European Rugby football and International Ice Hockey that form part of the sporting line-up in Belfast.
You can be sure that, as a Belfast Metropolitan College student living and studying in Belfast, you will be able to experience the vibrancy of the city first hand.
