Belfast Walking Tours: Pub & Art Trail | Belfast Whiskey Week 2023

Name: Belfast Whiskey Week 2026
Start: 2026-07-24
End: 2026-08-01
Location: Belfast

Filed: 15 Jul 2023
By: Belfast Whiskey Week
Read: 5 min
Ref: BWW/23/748

On a crisp Saturday in October 2023, Larry and Paul from Belfast Walking Tours led a merry band of festival-goers on one of the most distinctive outings Belfast Whiskey Week has ever put together. Winding through the city centre's oldest taverns and its boldest street art, this three-hour walking tour was as much a lesson in Belfast's duchas — its living cultural heritage — as it was a whiskey trail. Four drams deep, with a bespoke donut from Oh Donut in hand, it was the kind of afternoon that reminds you why this city gets under your skin.

About This Event

A Truly Bespoke Tour; designed for Belfast Whiskey Week. Larry & Paul take you on a trail that allows you to discover the Vibrant Art Work that is Brightening up our City Centre, coupled with the discovery of our oldest taverns and the historic buildings that have been preserved for us to frequent. The Tour provides an insight into our rich Irish Pub culture and lively Street Art scene, while sipping whiskies from the festival and sampling our bespoke Donuts from "Oh Donut". The Craic from these lads alone is worth the ticket price. Timeslot: 12pm-3pm Start Time: 12pm Duration: 3hrs Venue: Multiple Locations Drinks: 4 Drams Type: Walking Tour Walking: Be Prepared to Walk around Belfast. Some of the areas & venues may not be fully accessible, please contact us @belfastwhiskeyweek on socials, or via email on marketing@belfastwhiskeyweek.com or 07773675179 (8am-8pm) to discuss. Disclaimers Please note that individual dietary requirements are not being catered for with any food at this event. Each Brand/Distillery and Collaborative Partner have agreed to our Min/Max Pour Policy. Please Respect this, and enjoy your festival responsibly. Festival Participants who are deemed to be too inebriated, or are not respecting themselves, will not be permitted into events and venues. ALL Hosts/Ushers/Collaborators and Venue Staff have the right to refuse participants without question and recourse. Please Drink Responsibly. All events are only available to those 18 years old and over. Do not purchase tickets if you are under the age of 18. Be prepared to produce ID if required. Venue staff & ushers may ask you to provide ID when showing your valid tickets. You may be refused enter to events if you can’t prove your age. Some venues may change, if they do, you will be notified. All events are subject to changes out of the control of the festival organisers. Any issues, please contact us @belfastwhiskeyweek on socials, or via email on marketing@belfastwhiskeyweek.com or 07773675179 (8am-8pm) to discuss. NO Refunds will be given. Please only buy tickets if you are prepared to attend the event. Tickets are transferable. If you are going to transfer tickets please email, marketing@belfastwhiskeyweek.com

Looking Back

Belfast is a city that rewards the curious walker, and this tour leaned into that truth with real confidence. From the off, Larry and Paul set a pace that was unhurried and conversational — two men who clearly love this city and know how to share that love without turning it into a lecture. Their seanchas, that informal storytelling tradition, carried participants from one stop to the next, each location peeling back another layer of Belfast's layered, complicated, and ultimately resilient character. The craic, as promised, was very much worth the ticket price.

The whiskey element was woven through the tour rather than bolted onto it. Four drams were poured across the afternoon at stops that included some of Belfast's oldest and most atmospheric public houses — venues that have survived partition, conflict, and redevelopment, and still manage to feel like themselves. There's something quietly profound about sipping uisce beatha in a room that has been a gathering place for generations, and this tour created those moments without making a fuss about them. The whiskies themselves, drawn from the broader festival programme, gave each stop its own character and gave participants something to talk about between the murals.

The street art dimension was a genuine highlight, and arguably what made this tour feel truly bespoke rather than a standard pub crawl with added whiskey. Belfast's city centre mural scene has matured into something genuinely striking in recent years, and Larry and Paul contextualised it with the same warmth and knowledge they brought to the historic buildings. The juxtaposition — ancient pub interiors, vivid contemporary walls — felt entirely natural in a city that has always carried its past and its present simultaneously. If you're planning your first visit to the festival, the Belfast Whiskey Week map gives a useful sense of just how much of the city the festival inhabits.

Then there were the Oh Donut doughnuts. Bespoke, festival-specific, and frankly a very good idea. Whiskey and sugar are old friends, and having something to eat while walking and sipping kept the afternoon on the right side of sensible. It was a small touch that showed real thought in the event's design. For those who attended the morning session or were looking for something different later in the weekend, the tour ran across multiple timeslots throughout the festival, and related walking experiences like Belfast Hidden Tours: Walking, Whiskies & Whispers offered equally compelling ways to see the city on foot with a dram in hand.

By the time the three hours were up, participants had covered ground that most visitors — and plenty of locals — never properly explore. That's the real achievement of this kind of event: it uses whiskey as a key to unlock the city, rather than as the city itself. Belfast Walking Tours brings genuine expertise and obvious affection to what they do, and Belfast Whiskey Week was richer for having them as collaborators. Sláinte to everyone who joined the trail in 2023 — you walked well.