Belfast Photo Gallery - City Centre Highlights

Donegall Square is the city's core with a nice park around City Hall and grand buildings lining it. This location used to be the Castle's cherry gardens.

Cleaver House opened in 1888 as the Royal Irish Linen Warehouse. At the time, 6 storeys was considered a huge building compared to the short Georgian houses it replaced. The area's nature was undergoing change from a residential area to commercial district. Inside was the Robinson and Cleaver's department store which closed in 1984.

Great Victoria Street is home to a few grand attractions, including the Europa Hotel, dubbed the "most bombed hotel in the world". It opened in 1971 and hosted many international journalists who came to cover the Troubles. Despite so many bombings, it stayed open during the violent period and it was bought by William Hastings in 1993, who turned it into a 4-star hotel.

The Crown Liquor Saloon was originally a Victorian gin palace and remains a pub today with intricate details. Inside, it has 10 different-sized snugs, which are wooden boxes to give a more private drinking environment. Customers will ring bells inside each snug to call the staff for more drinks.

The Grand Opera House is the work of Frank Matcham, one of the best theatre architects of the time. Opened in 1895, it is the only remaining Victorian theatre in Northern Ireland.

The Assembly Buildings Conference Centre originally was completed as the Presbyterian Church headquarters in 1905. Designed to mimick a Scottish castle, the Gothic building boasts a 40m high clock tower and stained glass windows.

The Linen Hall Library was founded as the Belfast Library and Society for Promoting Knowledge in 1788, and is the city's oldest. It previously sat across the street where City Hall is now, moving into the current Victorian-era linen warehouse a century later. With over 350,000 items, it is a great resource to study local history and politics.

Custom House was built in the 1850s by Sir Charles Lanyon, who designed many of the city's best buildings. Over the years, it has hosted the post office, government revenue department, and even a contraband vault. Today, it is an office building.

Just a few steps away, the 43m-tall Albert Memorial Clock was built in the 1860s to commemorate Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert. As it sits on reclaimed land and the wooden piles beneath it have sunk, it now leans slightly.