Holiday in Northern Ireland

julie97au

Drive towards Annalong and head to the Silent Vally. There are some beautiful walks, a duck pond, a coffe shop and visitors centre and loads of open space for children to run about - and my kids favourite - a long grassy hill which they could spend hours rolling down. You also have the option of walking, or taking the silent valley bus up to the top dam - the views are incredible.

There is a really good outlet centre in Banbridge with a Gap, marks and spencer, puma, fila, nike, oasis, principles etc in it which is brilliant and a fantastic childrens play area called The Funhouse in Newry - not long opened, very clean and my three (age 10, 8 and 5) just love to go there.

Lisburn has a fantastic swimming pool with water slides, wave pool etc and there is also a cinema on site if you get a wet day and there is a great interactive day out in Belfast called W5 - you should be able to find it online via a search engine but it is well worth a visit.

Other people have mentioned the Giants Causeway and it is a great day out, and you could do carrick-a-rede rope bridge when you are there, and then go on to Bushmills Distillary for a tour and a wee dram of Whiskey!!!

Castlewellan Forest Park is only 4 or 5 miles away and they have a Peace Maze - the largest maze in the world (I think) - I know it is in the Guinnes Book of Records and they also have some lovely walks and a lake where you can feed the ducks. Again there is lots of open space for children and it is a lovely day out with a picnic. There is also in Magheragh in July, August and September a Maize Maze with loads of other activities which is also a good day out - let me know if you want any further information on any of these and I will try to get you phone numbers, etc.:j

Enjoy your break - if the weather is good you will find loads to do as there are loads of national trust properties and nice parks.

seatzie

some more ideas can be had on www.wow4kids.com

not sure if its in an earlier post but Tullymore Forest just out of Newcastle is brilliant for a sunny day out, lots of space to play, bbq, nice forest walk, you can feed ducks, walk across stepping stones etc

castleward which is a national trust property inbetween downpatrick and the strangford ferry across to the aquarium is also a good day out, good playground for kids too

if you do go to mountstewart, the strangford ferry across to portaferry and then round the ards peninsula is quicker than driving round

shopngo

Hi there

Try a site called wow4kids.com

enjoy your holiday

shopngo

Sorry didn't see the previous post

bribrian

Take a leasurely drive up the Antrim coast through the Glens of Antrim, the most beautiful coastline in the world. Also visit Florence Court House in Enniskillen with it's wonderful gardens etc & while your there pay a visit to the Marble Arch Caves.......

Willyk

When you are up in Belfast, Stormont is good for a walk and the main building is pretty impressive. Park at the main gates and when you enter take a left and walk up through the forest. If you keep up the left hand side of the park you will come to road, cross that and continue upwards to the top of a lovely glen. Go round the top and down round the front of the main building, not sure if you can still go inside or not. I know you could a few months ago, but this may have changed. If you then head down the other side of the main roadway you will find a large kids playpark. Your 7 yr old will be the perfect age for it. Picnic benches etc. About a 45 minute walk all in. Have a good one.

Willyk

Maybe you will report back on how your holiday went and what you thought of wee Norn Iron.

BMcQueen

Hi, if your here over the 12th July - make sure and visit the Colour & Pagentry that are the Orange Demonstrations - taking place across the country. The venues this year are as follows :

Belfast, Dromara, Coleraine, Tandragee, Maghera, Kesh, Ballyclare, Omagh, Benburb, Aughnacloy, Derriaghy, Ballymena, Broughshane, Portavogie, Cullybackey, Kilkeel ,Newcastle and Rasharkin.

BMcQueen

seatzie wrote: »

some more ideas can be had on www.wow4kids.com

Also - http://www.ni4kids.com/

fishhawks

We are back from our holiday in Northern Ireland, thanks to all who posted suggestions of where to visit. I was asked on this site to report back, so this is what we thought and did.

Bus Tour of Belfast - this was great and enjoyed by all, even though it rained throughout the tour, its interesting to see how Belfast is changing so quickly with new developments and also interesting to see the "divide" is still there but only at weekends! Thought Belfast was great for shopping, and the view from the top of the new shopping centre is a must.

Giants Causeway and Carrick a Rede - both great, particularly the Giants Causeway, had great weather this day and got to see the dolphins which was a really fab surprise.

Ulster Folk and Transport Museum - I think this was the biggest surprise of all - the website really dosnt do the museum justice, it was absolutely fab, the transport side was great and being able to sit on the trains and carriages was a bonus, unfortunatley the flight simulator wasnt working. The folk museum was very interesting, with staff in costume in the properties talking to us about life in ireland many years ago, we would definatley go back and spend more time here.

Castle Ward - great country house (National trust) lovely walks and grounds, wildlife centre etc. Then took the ferry from Stranford to Portaferry and up the coast to Bangor.

Bangor - lovely marina, lots for kids to do, but we left it too late to make the most of it, but my 7 year old enjoyed the fairground.

Newcastle - what a lovely seaside town, the sea front has been re-vamped with a lovely walk way and an outdoor pool (although too cold for us)

Overall - We all loved Northern Ireland, the people are so friendly and welcoming, the place is so clean and tidy, villages and towns litter free, beautiful countryside and we never got time to do everything we wanted to do so will definatley be back.

Thanks to all who contributed