Belfast - Ireland 2014 - page 557

The Barking Dog is closest to my cluster of accommodations in this area. It's a hip
grill serving tasty burgers, duck, scallops, and other filling fare. If the weather's fine, the
outdoor tree-shaded front tables are ideal for people-watching (£7-10 lunches, £12-17 din-
ners, Mon-Sat 12:00-15:30 & 17:30-22:00, Sun 12:00-21:00, near corner of Eglantine Av-
enue at 33-35 Malone Road, tel. [phone]).
Villa Italia packs in crowds hungry for linguini and bistecca. With its checkered table-
cloths and a wood-beamed ceiling draped with grape leaves, it's a little bit of Italy in Bel-
fast (£10-17 meals, Mon-Fri 17:00-23:00, Sat-Sun 16:00-23:00, 3 long blocks south of
Shaftesbury Square, at intersection with University Street, 39 University Road, tel. 028/
9032-8356).
Belfast Connections
For updated schedules and prices for both trains and buses in Northern Ireland, check with
Translink (tel. [phone], www.translink.co.uk ) . Consider a Zone 4 iLink smartcard,
good for all-day train and bus use in Northern Ireland (see here ) . Service is less frequent
on Sundays.
If you're headed for Edinburgh or Glasgow, flying is the best use of your time. A flight
takes less than an hour for not much more than the cost of the four-hour ferry plus bus or
train option.
From Belfast by Train to: Dublin (8/day Mon-Sat, 5/day Sun, 2 hours), Derry (7/day,
2.5 hours), Larne (hourly, 1 hour), Portrush (11/day, 5/day Sun, 2 hours, transfer in Col-
eraine), Bangor (2/hour, 30 minutes).
By Bus to: Portrush (12/day, 2 hours, £8; scenic-coast route, 2.5 hours), Derry
(hourly, 1.75 hours), Dublin (hourly, most via Dublin Airport, 2.75-3 hours), Galway
(every 2 hours, 6 hours, change in Dublin), Glasgow (3/day, 5.75 hours), Edinburgh
(3/ day, 7 hours). The Europa Bus Centre is behind Hotel Europa (Ulsterbus tel. 028/
9033-7003 for destinations in Scotland and England).
By Plane: Belfast has two airports. George Best Belfast City Airport (airport code:
BHD, tel. [phone], www.belfastcityairport.com ) is a five-minute taxi ride from
town (near the docks), while Belfast International Airport (airport code: BFS, tel. 028/
9448-4848, www.belfastairport.com ) is 18 miles west of town, connected by buses from
the Europa Bus Centre behind the Europa Hotel. There are cheap flights to Glasgow, Scot-
land, on easyJet ( www.easyjet.com ) and Flybe ( www.flybe.com ) .
By Ferry to Scotland: There are a couple of ports served by two companies. You
can sail between Belfast and Cairnryan on the Stena Line ferry. A Rail Link coach con-
nects the Cairnryan port to Ayr, where you'll catch a train to Glasgow Central station