Belfast was the last of the capital cities of Great Britain that we visited, and our visit in March 2017 left us with mixed feelings about the city. The city centre itself is small and our excellent guide book (the Insight Guide’s Great Breaks: Belfast) had self-guided walking tours around the different areas or quarters of the city with the River Lagan a useful orientation point. As we walked around there were obvious signs of “euro money” being spent on restorations and new builds and as only 9 months’ ago Great Britain as a whole had voted to leave the EU, we were acutely aware that this funding would in due course dry up.

Our hotel, the Belfast Holiday Inn, was a short walk away from the city centre at Donegall Square, with City Hall in its centre, and we followed the recommended walks in the guide book, mostly…