St George's Market, Belfast

St George's is the last of Belfast's Victorian covered markets, built in the 1890s in red brick and cast iron under a roof of glass and slate, and it still trades three days a week rather than surviving as a heritage shell. Friday is the variety market, the oldest of the three, with fish counters laid out at one end and antiques, secondhand books and general bric-a-brac filling the rest of the hall. Saturday turns towards food and craft, with local producers, cheese, bread and a row of hot stalls. Sunday adds live music from a stage in the middle, which makes it the loudest and most social of the three. Trading starts early and finishes by mid-afternoon.

What you actually see

• The Friday variety market - fish counters at one end, antiques through the rest.
• The Saturday food market - Northern Irish producers, cheese, bread and hot stalls.
• Sunday live music - a stage in the centre of the hall through the morning.
• The building - 1890s brick and cast iron under a glass and slate roof.

When to go

Only Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and all three finish by mid-afternoon, so this is a morning rather than a day. Friday opens earliest and the fish goes first. Sunday is the busiest and hardest to move through. Christmas markets extend the hours. Check the calendar, since the hall is sometimes booked for events.

Honest expectations

It closes four days a week, and visitors turn up on a Tuesday to a locked hall more often than you would think. Sunday is packed to the point of shuffling, and eating space is short. Prices at the food stalls are city-centre rather than market. The building is cold in winter, with the doors standing open at both ends.

Nearby

Belfast City Hall, the Cathedral Quarter's narrow entries and the river walk to the Titanic Quarter.