The best bars and cafés Belfast

21 Social is a former pottery workshop from the early 18th century that has been rehabilitated to provide the spacious setting for this popular address. It features a downstairs bar and grill, a dance floor (made of translucent glass) and a soap bar guest room. This complex restored in a modern style of concrete, glass and lights is one of the most stylish of the capital and everything is done to ignite the night owls on funky rhythms or house and disco beats. In short, everything to spend a good evening.

The Belfast Empire occupies a former church, which has been refurbished into a large and cosy space. In the basement, there is a large room with a music hall stage and a bar for concerts. The public can also sit on a mezzanine terrace. Upstairs, the configuration is almost the same, but a little more kitschy, with seats to follow the artists on stage. Check out the venue's website to see the lineup of different events on the bill.

Better known as The Bot, this beautiful example of Northern Ireland's Victorian architecture is a popular place for students, locals and tourists who want to enjoy a lively evening. Here, everyone will find his happiness between the different atmospheres that reign in the Front Bar, the Main Bar or the Nightclub. Giant screen for sports, live music on Thursdays and, upstairs, DJs from Tuesday to Saturday to get the crowd dancing... The atmosphere is always there and there is something for everyone.

Hidden in one of the famous entries, vestiges of old Belfast, this tavern exists since 1630 and claims to be the oldest in the capital of Northern Ireland. A terrace at the front allows you to stay outside when the sunny days are coming. The pub is extremely warm, dark and with low ceilings but with a good atmosphere carried by the music and the fire. The room upstairs is more kitsch. Traditional music almost every night. Also serves good Irish food.

Entirely dressed in black wood, warm with its fireplace and its collective games, the John Hewitt belongs to an association that defends the interests of the unemployed. The place is relaxed and informal, known for its painting or photography exhibitions and for its jazz, folk and traditional music concerts. The profits of the bar are entirely used for the benefit of people looking for work. It's a place like no other where you can enjoy a pint at the end of the day.

Robinsons is a indéboulonnable pillar of the Belfast night scene. Its particularity is to have five rooms with very different atmospheres. The Fibber Magee's plays in the evening during daily concerts and charm with its ambience of tavern full of antiques. On Friday and Saturday you can also dance to BT 1 during karaoke sessions. But if you prefer quiet conversation, friends, the saloon and bistro parts offer comfortable alcoves with large sofas. A loft pool is also available for billiards enthusiasts.

The area north of High Street was Belfast's oldest, but was almost entirely destroyed in the bombing raids of the Second World War. What remains between High Street and Ann Street, however, is a series of narrow alleys known as "Entries", home to some very old pubs such as The Morning Star in Pottinger's Entry, Henry's in Joy's Entry, and one of Belfast's oldest pubs White's Tavern, in Winecellar Entry. Entries were passageways most often used for trade.

This small, simple and warm pub is located in the northwest of the Cathedral Quarter, on the corner of a quiet street in the neighborhood. It is one of the iconic pubs of the city. Behind its green and white storefront, you can come and listen to the bands that play live every night of the week. There is also a beer garden to enjoy the outdoors, and it is also possible to accompany your beer with a pizza. It is really the ideal place to feel like you are stepping back in the Belfast of the 1980s.

Dirty Onion is one of the most famous terraces in Belfast, in the heart of the popular Cathedral Quarter. Its long tables fill up at the end of the day, especially when the weather is fine. The interior of the establishment, darker and typical of a large modern pub, gives a nice atmosphere to the place, especially during the live music sessions that take place every day. Upstairs, a restaurant specialized in chicken allows to eat before continuing the evening.

A genuine tavern atmosphere in this black and white pub, both inside and outside, located on a typical Belfast square. The place remained as the United Irishmen experienced in 1798 when they were preparing the insurrection… A clientele of people who used to live here, forming a friendly spirit of complicity that did not prevent the visitor from passing to feel welcome. Musicians often get their instruments ringing. One of the most authentic places in Belfast.

The Limelight Lounge (formerly Kary's Bar) is part of the lively and festive Limelight complex. It's a Belfast bar that's particularly well known and renowned for its music programming, both local and international. On important concert days, all three venues are open at the same time. Otherwise, on a normal day, the music floods out to the sidewalks. In short, the ideal place to have a few drinks and listen to some great music. The program can be found on the Limelight website. Calling all music-loving night owls!

Laverys is a real institution in Belfast and you're bound to hear about it. It's located in the Queen's Quarter and attracts people from all over the world to come and have a bite to eat, a drink at the end of the day or to spend the whole evening there. It has always been run by the same family and includes 4 bars under the same roof as well as a beer garden, which completes the charm and diversity of the place. Each space has its own style, with a pool room and live or DJ concerts (folk, funk, reggae, electro, classical...).

This 1861 pub is housed in a red brick horseshoe-shaped building. The walls are covered with paintings that tell the story of the city and the Troubles, or represent celebrities such as Joyce, Oscar Wilde, Beckett, Che Guevara, or Salvador Dali.... The space is occupied by small terraces with tables that have no trouble finding takers. One sits there to enjoy the spectacle of the paintings and to savour a Guinness, or one of the many whiskies (and whiskeys)which make the reputation of the bar.

This beautiful Victorian pub exudes all the charm of the old days. The black wooden ceiling is highlighted by a row of glass lanterns and the whole is complemented by elegant furniture and colonnades, as well as mirrors and arched openings... You can come here to enjoy a beer or a good traditional dish. At the end of the day, a formula allows you to have a dish and a pint at a reduced price. Traditional live music and DJ, usually on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

A small bar with a Spanish atmosphere that spreads over 3 floors and where you can hardly move. Maybe that's what all the people who live there like, you feel relaxed as if you were at home with the old-fashioned tapestries and objects. In any case the place has been elected several times best bar in Belfast. We drink strong spirits such as old Cuban rum or Martin Millers gin while listening to an eclectic selection of old vinyls. A warm address which changes a little of the traditional pubs.

It's hard to find a more Irish place than this famous pub in the city center. The walls are covered with musical instruments and always evoke the past of the city... We are still assured not to meet too many tourists and it is a typical place. A small space where we crowd happily, a Guinness in the hand. The Maddens is hidden in a quiet street and when you enter inside, you think you find all Belfast huddled here. Live traditional music sessions are scheduled every night and the quality is there.

The big room of this trendy pub, a stone's throw from the university, looks a bit like a saloon, with its green ceramics on the walls, its lanterns, its Skye armchairs, its chairs with bars and its worn wooden floor... The Parlour is an all-day student hangout. The food is good value, there's a floor with carpeting that feels "like home" and quiet corners for seclusion, conversation or work. It's also a good starting point for an evening pub crawl, with the Botanic Inn not far away..

Henry's is one of Belfast's most famous pubs, the first address that all Belfasters recommend for an authentic experience. Open since 1798, and named after Irish industrialist Henry Joy McCracken, it is located in one of Belfast's famous entries. It offers a wide range of cocktails, Guinness and a long list of whiskeys, including the most famous in the area, the Bushmills. Some evenings, bands will entertain your ears with traditional Irish music.

The Perch is Belfast's highest rooftop bar, located in the heart of the city on the^5th floor of a historic building. Tropical cocktails and sangria in summer, hot cider and a blanket in winter, to enjoy the bar and its view in all seasons. In summer, resident DJs liven up weekend evenings. Located not far from the Grand Opera House and Ulster Hall, it's a great place to stop off before or after a show. A trendy place to enjoy cocktails on the rooftop terrace, with the sun shining when it wants to.

Granny Annies Kitchen is a gourmet pub. It offers on-site and takeaway meals, but does not offer a delivery service. Granny Annies is also renowned for its live music, with traditional and modern bands performing throughout the weekend. The pub offers seasonal cuisine prepared from fresh local produce, as well as an extensive wine list, classic and signature cocktails, and a selection of locally distilled gins and draught beers. The pub's atmosphere is unique, relaxed and eccentric.