Belfast Stag Do

A Belfast stag do is a cracking shout if you want a city that’s easy to reach, small enough to walk and full of pubs where somebody is always playing a fiddle in the corner. The locals are famously friendly, the Guinness is poured with care and the craic is very real. Your stag will be adopted by a table of strangers within the hour. Let it happen.

It’s also handy for the best man. It’s in the UK, so it’s pounds, and you don’t need a passport, though airlines will still want photo ID. That’s one less thing for the lad who always loses his.

The Cathedral Quarter is where I’d start. It’s a tangle of cobbled lanes and old pubs, with trad music sessions most nights and beer gardens for the rare sunny evening. Kelly’s Cellars, dating from 1720, is one of the oldest pubs in the city and a perfect first pint.

Make time for the Crown Liquor Saloon on Great Victoria Street, a Victorian gin palace looked after by the National Trust, all carved wood, stained glass and snugs. From there, the stretch towards Dublin Road and Bradbury Place (the old Golden Mile) heads into the Queen’s University area, which is livelier and younger. Try an Irish whiskey somewhere along the way, and note that it’s spelt with an e here. Somebody will tell you if you forget.

Titanic Belfast, in the regenerated docks where the ship was built, is genuinely excellent, even for lads who think a museum is somewhere you shelter from rain. A black taxi tour of the city’s murals is a good way to understand the place, and the drivers are a show in themselves.

For something more stag shaped, the usual suspects are well covered, with paintball, go karting and some superb golf within reach. If you’ve got a spare day, head up the Causeway Coast to the Giant’s Causeway and the Bushmills whiskey distillery tours, providing your stomach is up to it after a night on the Guinness. In winter, catch the Belfast Giants ice hockey at the SSE Arena. It’s loud, fast and full of fights you’re allowed to cheer.

• Getting there. Fly into Belfast City or Belfast International from plenty of UK airports, or take the ferry from Cairnryan or Liverpool if the lads want to drive.
• Drinking in public. Belfast has byelaws against drinking in public places, so keep it in the pubs.
• Door policies. A few bars run older age policies at the weekend, so check if your group has any youngsters.
• Fancy dress. It’s welcome in most places, but tone it down for the old traditional pubs.
• When to go. Any time of year works for the pubs. Summer is best if you want the Causeway Coast at its finest.

A stag weekend in Belfast fits nicely into two nights. Friday in the Cathedral Quarter, Saturday doing something daft by day and the Golden Mile by night, then a fry-up on Sunday that’ll put the stag back together. If the group wants more Irish pubs, a Dublin stag do is just down the road by train. Compare the packages below and book early for the big rugby and concert weekends.

I’d base the lads in or near the Cathedral Quarter. That’s where the cobbled lanes, old pubs and trad sessions are, so your first pint at Kelly’s Cellars is a short stroll rather than a taxi queue. Belfast is small enough to walk, and from there you’re well placed for the Crown Liquor Saloon on Great Victoria Street too.

If your group is on the younger side and wants the louder, later nights, look at the Golden Mile end instead, along Dublin Road and Bradbury Place towards Queen’s. It’s the livelier student side of town, so the walk home is shorter when the legs have gone. Either way, the other end of the night is only a walk away.

My practical tip: if your dates land on a big rugby or concert weekend, sort the beds before you sort anything else. Belfast fills up, and the best man who leaves rooms until last ends up explaining himself to a lot of grumpy lads at the ferry terminal.

Friday Land at Belfast City or International (or roll off the ferry if the drivers won the vote), drop the bags and head straight for the Cathedral Quarter. First pint at Kelly’s Cellars, then wander the cobbles until you find a pub with a trad session going. Keep the fancy dress in the bag tonight, because the old traditional pubs prefer it toned down. Guinness, slowly. Saturday is the long one.

Saturday Daytime is for settling scores. Book paintball or go karting and make sure the stag ends up with the bruises or the wooden spoon. Get back for an early pint among the carved wood and snugs of the Crown Liquor Saloon, then, if the lads fancy a flutter, a night at the greyhound racing. Finish by working your way down the Golden Mile towards Queen’s, where the crowd gets younger and the night gets louder. Somewhere along the way the stag drinks an Irish whiskey and spells it correctly.

Sunday A fry-up first, no arguments. Then something gentle: Titanic Belfast down in the docks where the ship was built, or a black taxi tour of the murals so the driver does all the talking while you nurse your head. In winter, the Belfast Giants at the SSE Arena are a loud way to finish if anyone still has a voice. Got a spare day in summer? The Giant’s Causeway and the Bushmills distillery tours on the Causeway Coast make a cracking send off.