6) 1 p.m. Provocative culture

Arts budgets are being slashed all over Northern Ireland, but The MAC is still putting on provocative exhibitions. This contemporary arts gallery (free) has three main galleries housing temporary shows by artists like Lindsay Seers, whose multimedia pieces incorporate robot arms, video and audio that explore treatment therapies for people with schizophrenia. From here, stroll a few minutes south to the Oh Yeah Music Centre (free). For a small country, Northern Ireland has had an outsize effect on many musical movements, from punk to country. Oh Yeah combines a live music venue with a permanent exhibition that details decades of the Northern Irish music scene, from the show bands of the 1960s to the punk rock years of Stiff Little Fingers, which formed in 1977 at the height of the Troubles. Memorabilia includes posters from 1981 Thin Lizzy shows (they played on the same bill as U2) to Snow Patrol guitars. There’s also a bar and a full calendar of gigs — check the schedule to catch the newest “you heard them here first” band.

7) 2 p.m. Walking through history

Whatever your feelings on “tragedy tourism,” there’s no getting away from the fact that the Troubles has impacted every aspect of life in Belfast. A History of Terror, a two-hour walking tour (£18 per person; the tour time changes between October and March), passes by a number of sites bombed by both sides in the 1970s. The tour guide Paul Donnelly, a history teacher and mediator, is full of information, conveying a sense of the deep fear the city experienced at the time without diverging from an impartial perspective on what is an emotional and highly sensitive era of history. The tour ends at the waterfront, and with a sense of hope — most of the bombing sites are now shops or restaurants, without a mark or plaque to note the event. Whether that’s a good thing or not is a matter of opinion, but it’s definitely a sign the city has moved on.

8) 4:30 p.m. Lions, witches, wardrobes

East Belfast is getting trendier by the minute, and it’s recently added a few outdoorsy spots that are ideal for getting some exercise and fresh air without leaving the city. Start at CS Lewis Square, a plaza dedicated to one of Belfast’s most famous sons, and studded with statues inspired by “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.” Rent a Belfast bike (first 30 minutes free) from the station in the square and cycle up part of the recently completed Connswater Greenway (about 5.5 miles) along the canal to Victoria Park, where lakes and lawns make a lovely place to bike or walk. The EastSide Visitor Centre, on the Square, has maps of the Greenway and its attractions. If biking’s not your thing, walk around the statues and then relax with a coffee or some piri fries at Freight, one of the city’s buzziest restaurants, housed in a shipping container next to the visitor center.