What to see and do in Belfast

1. 6 June 25, 2017 The Sunday Times
Travel
penny of its £50. See tasteandtour.co.uk
for more information.
With my photographer friend Mary —
conveniently of Irish descent — we hopped
over to Belfast on Flybe from Edinburgh,
where we were met by the ebullient Billy
Scott for our black cab taxi tour of the city.
He whisked us round all the key
quarters and, to keep up with the likes of
the Dalai Lama and Bill Clinton, we
inscribed our messages on the famous
Peace Wall.
Murals remain on both the Shankill and
Falls roads, but there are far fewer Union
Jacks and Irish tricolours in evidence than
in years past and, thankfully, the tension
is palpably reduced.
On that topic, the Troubles section of
the history zone of the Ulster Museum is
an excellent way for those who did not
live through those awful decades to learn
the facts.
The sight of Belfast today is Titanic,
now Europe’s top tourist attraction.
Located next to the last remaining White
Star vessel, the SS Nomadic, its entry
charge of £30 may seem high but the
quality of the experience makes it good
value. Its nine interactive galleries are as
informative as they are moving. Go early,
as the crowds descend by 11am, and allow
SCOTTISH
NEWS
l Fred Olsen Cruise Lines has
announced the 2018 schedule for
trips aboard Brabant, the company’s
360ft-long riverboat which caters
for 156 passengers. The programme
features 30 departures and takes in
some of Europe’s most beautiful
rivers, with voyages lasting from five
to 25 nights. The itineraries include
Dusseldorf, pictured, to Amsterdam,
Nuremberg to Budapest, Dusseldorf
to Nuremberg, Budapest to Hirsova
in Romania, Dusseldorf to Basel, and
Hirsova to Dusseldorf.
fredolsencruises.com/river-cruises
l Maison de la Belle Vie, a little B&B
run by Perthshire expats, is ideal for
sightseeing in the Dordogne. Enjoy
the town of Mareuil en Périgord as
well as Angoulême, Brantôme and
Cognac. The house has double
rooms, good wi-fi and an attached
restaurant. An English or French
breakfast is included. Fly from
Edinburgh or Glasgow to Bordeaux
or from Edinburgh to Bergerac.
Sunday Times readers can take
advantage of a special offer:
a seven-night stay for two people
costs €395, saving €70.
maisondelabellevie.com
l Touch of Class Travel has a great
offer at the five-star Aria Resort and
Casino in Las Vegas, flying from
Edinburgh. Three nights cost from
£499pp between November 11 and
December. Atol protected. 0843 216
0451, touchofclasstravel.co.uk
lThe easyJet sale of winter flights is
on. Scots can jet from Edinburgh to
Geneva from £32.49 or to Tenerife
from £34.49. Fly from Glasgow to
Alicante from £30.49, to Faro from
£30.49, or from Aberdeen to London
Gatwick from £26.49.
easyjet.com
for a minimum of 2.5 hours — and best
pre-book tickets.
The only five-star hotel in Belfast is the
Merchant in the vibrant Cathedral
quarter. Back in the 1860s the building
housed the Ulster Bank, and today it’s
glam and gilded, and boasts a dining room
of stucco, cherubs and stained glass. I was
delighted with my art deco bedroom —
one can choose from that or opulent
Victorian decor.
The public areas have some nice
touches such as a perennial log fire in the
opulent cocktail bar; Bert’s jazz bar, with
music seven nights a week; and, in
addition to the spa, a rooftop hot tub. A
dinner in its two-AA Rosette Great Room
was another highlight.
On eating out, I can recommend the Ox
restaurant, which offers fabulous, modern
Michelin-starred cuisine in a bare-brick
whitewashed environment. It’s £50 for
the tasting menu. For seafood, try the
popular Mourne Seafood Bar
with its great range of
ales. Last,
Hadskis in cool
Commercial
Court — home to
the city’s
buzziest bars —
has a terrific daily
menu and lunch
for £6.50.
Coffees and brunch
are great at Root &
Branch and
General
A TITANIC TIME IN BELFAST
A hop across the Irish Sea is great value,
writes Scottish travel editor Katie Wood
C
ities continually flit in and out
of fashion, and this year the
noise is about Belfast — which is
good news for Scots, as we can
get there cheaply. I’d visit
regenerated Belfast any time, if for
nothing else than to listen to that
gloriously rich accent, but these days,
with world-class sights and a vibrant food
scene, there are plenty of other reasons to
hop over the Irish Sea.
It had been 15 years since my last visit,
and if you’d told me then that on my next
trip I’d enjoy a city with a vibrant cafe
culture, excellent cuisine, cool bars and
amazing delis, I’d have questioned how
many Bushmills you’d quaffed.
Back in the day, Belfast’s idea of tapas
would be champ, black pudding and
Guinness; now it’s delicious artisan
charcuterie, handmade Irish cheeses and
some of the best seafood in the world —
washed down with Armagh dry cider or
one of the many local craft ales.
You can sample all of this, and more, on
an excellent food tour which starts at the
wonderful St George’s market.
Taste & Tour is four hours of visiting
the best food and drink spots around
the city centre. With more than 25
samples along the way, it’s worth every
The Dark Horse
pub, St George’s
market and
Belfast City Hall,
above; Titanic
Belfast, below
Merchants, especially on Sundays.
Belfast is punching well above its
weight for a city of fewer than 300,000 in
terms of eating out. The emphasis is very
much on local, seasonal and organic
produce and friendly service.
For our last night we checked into a
very different hotel: the Bullitt, a
quirky 43-room establishment with a
lovely courtyard.
Belfast has some wonderful old pubs,
none better than the Garrick. In my
opinion, the top venue is no longer the
Crown Liquor Saloon which, despite its
National Trust status and attractive ornate
tiles and wooden booths, is so full of
tourists that it’s lost its atmosphere.
Fabulous food, great craic, and Belfast
is very much a place that’s flourishing for
the 21st-century tourist.
For more on Ireland and
Northern Ireland, visit
discoverireland.
com and
discovernorthe
rnireland.
com. For
accommodation,
rooms from £160
are available at
the Merchant
hotel
(themerchant
hotel.com) and
from £100 at the
Bullitt (bullitt
hotel.com)

2. The Sunday Times June 25, 2017 7
T
he Algarve — it even sounds
alluring. Blessed with miles of
rugged coastline, sandy
beaches and an enviable
climate, this rustic region on
Portugal’s southern tip is bursting with
character, not to mention record-breaking
numbers of visitors.
Last year, about 18m tourists flocked to
the Algarve — and more than 1.3m rounds
of golf were played there. Those numbers
are expected to be eclipsed this year, with
sun-seekers from Britain to the fore.
If you happen to live in Scotland, the
jewel in Portugal’s crown is closer than
you might think. With regular flights from
Glasgow Prestwick, Edinburgh and
Aberdeen, you can land in Faro within
four hours and be on a sun-kissed beach
or golf course within five.
The region is enjoying unprecedented
growth and there’s no shortage of well-
established resorts where peace, calm and
gold-standard service are the order of the
day. Take, for example, the five-star
Quinta do Lago resort.
Much like Kevin Costner’s character in
Field of Dreams, the 1989 flick in
which a farmer creates a full-
size baseball pitch in a
cornfield, one suspects that
the Brazilian entrepreneur
André Jordan had a
similar epiphany when
he clapped eyes on this
pristine, pine-clad corner
of the Algarve: build it and
they will come.
Fast-forward almost 50
years and the word on the
orange grove is that Quinta, a golf
resort Jordan created from scratch,
might just be the best of the bunch.
Sprawled across 1,600 acres in the
Algarve’s fabled Golden Triangle, Quinta
is a mere 20-minute drive from Faro
airport and occupies an enviable position
on the edge of the stunning Ria Formosa
Quinta do Lago resort is top of the
beautiful golf courses Portugal
has to offer, writes Mark Macaskill
BEST SHOT ON THE ALGARVE
lagoon, a natural wonder of coastal
barrier islands where flora and fauna
thrive under 300 days of sunshine a year.
Perhaps it’s all that sun, but Quinta is so
highly polished that everything, even the
road, seems to gleam and sparkle. It
almost feels too perfect, which
might be a problem for those
who want a more rugged
taste of the Algarve, but
once inside the gates
Quinta has a charm that
is hard to resist.
Rory McIlroy, the
Northern Irish golfer,
recently spent a fortnight
at Quinta recovering from a
rib injury, and gushed about
its “first-class” facilities and
service. The rental villas and
townhouses are spacious, immaculate and
well-appointed. The food at Quinta’s
restaurants and bars is uncomplicated,
fresh and delicious, and the overall
service is indeed top notch. The little
things — like being handed mosquito spray
A golf academy endorsed by the Irish
golfer Paul McGinley can iron out the
flaws in your game with technology. It’s
also home to Europe’s only TaylorMade
performance centre. (I’m pining for a set
of M2 clubs after using them at Quinta —
I’m sure I played better.) A 50-minute
session with the head pro costs £90.
Away from the undulating fairways and
manicured greens, there’s much to keep
the entire family entertained. Aside from
watersports, the finishing touches are
being put on the Campus, a sports arena
consisting of a professional full-size hybrid
sports pitch, 10 tennis courts (six hard
court and four clay) and four padel tennis
courts — padel is a cross between squash
and tennis. New gymnasiums, a pool and
cycling amenities are also in the pipeline.
And if all that sounds like too much
hard work, you can lounge around your
private pool — most rental properties have
one — browse the resort’s boutique shops
or go property hunting; a new collection
of plush residential homes have just gone
on the market from about £2.2m.
THELOWDOWN
Where to stay: Quinta do Lago has
plenty of villas and townhouses to rent
but, as you might expect, prices vary
greatly and it’s wise to shop around on
the internet. At the time of going to
print, two-bedroom villas for one week
were available from £1,300.
quintadolago.com
Where to eat: Koko Lane is a popular
lunch venue where anyone can hit a
few golf balls from a practice area.
Try the Bovino Steakhouse for a
mouth-watering selection of meats.
Fresh seafood is served up daily at
Casa do Lago (try the turbot for two),
then relax outside with a cocktail and
get in some chipping practice to a
floating platform on the lake.
How to get there: Ryanair flies direct
to Faro five times weekly from
Edinburgh and Glasgow Prestwick,
and twice weekly from Aberdeen.
Lead fare is £21.99 (one way in July).
ryanair.com
by a waiter who sees that you’re eating
with one hand and fighting off the little
blighters with the other — go a long way.
And, of course, there’s the golf.
The North and South courses are
championship venues — the latter has
hosted the Portuguese Open eight times —
and boast some exquisite holes. The
South’s 15th, a par 3 protected by a lake
and bunkers, is said to be the most
photographed of the Algarve but, in truth,
all three of the resort’s courses are blessed
with holes that often deserve a few extra
seconds on the tee to absorb the views.
Laranjal, named after the orange groves
that populate the course, is the most
recent addition to the QDL stable. It’s also
the most forgiving, with fewer trees plus
fairways that make finding an errant shot
more likely. The courses are regarded as
among the finest in the region, so playing
them isn’t cheap, but you’re unlikely to
feel short-changed. Green fees range from
about £80 to £135, depending on the
season (quintadolagogolf.com/en/golf/
rates/item/138-green-fees).
Golf at Quinta do
Lago, above, on
the edge of the
Ria Formosa
lagoon, left
Quintaisso
polished
eventhe
roadseems
tosparkle