Visit CS Lewis's Belfast

Visitors to the Northern Ireland capital Belfast are being given the opportunity to discover the locations and landscape that inspired author CS Lewis.

The Chronicles of Narnia author spent his childhood in earshot of the famous shipbuilding yard Harland & Wolff in east Belfast.

To cater for the increased interest in CS Lewis following the launch of the big-screen adaptation of the classic novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the Northern Ireland Tourist Board has launched a guide to his Belfast haunts.

The CS Lewis Story – Unlock Your Imagination incorporates a self-guiding tour to the Belfast of CS Lewis, which points out the Lewis family home, the CS Lewis centenary sculpture, and the Linen Hall Library, which is home to a unique collection of books about CS Lewis.

In addition to Belfast, the guide details CS Lewis' connection to the surrounding areas of the Mourne Mountains and the Antrim Coast, where he developed a love of swimming.

It also points out the links between his love of Celtic myths and legends and his writing.

This is seen at the end of the The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when the four children hunt the white stag before chasing him into a thicket only to find themselves tumbling out of the wardrobe and back into this world.

According to the guide, this has parallels with Celtic mythology when a stag often entices humans into the Otherworld.

For more information on CS Lewis-inspired holidays in Belfast see: The CS Lewis Story – Unlock Your Imagination