Find adventure on family breaks in Northern Ireland

If you’re looking to schedule family breaks in Northern Ireland, you’ll find an entire world – or even multiple worlds – of adventure and excitement. You can walk the pathways and take in the mountain views that inspired the creation of Narnia. You can search out the Gruffalo and say hello. You can visit real, working candy factories, get up close to animals, see dinosaur bones at the local museum and even visit the Titanic.

You can also get out in the wild for hiking and cycling on the trails or engage your creativity at a discovery centre. Walk hiking trails at the feet of ancient castles, visit museums tracing the entire history of the region and even play a game of laser tag against your family to see who’s got the best strategy. There’s plenty here for you and yours to create memories you’ll take with you for many years.

Explore quirky family fun in Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland offers a range of unique and quirky things to do, whether it’s getting a sugar rush sampling the wares at a genuine candy factory, going on a pretend safari to see all the exotic critters at the local zoo, learning all about palaeontology and sea life or watching the stars up close.

From bounce parks to archery ranges and castle ramparts to wild water adventures, you can find a whole world of excitement here that will make family holidays in Northern Ireland an experience to remember for many years. Best of all, every one of them is family-friendly, and the vast majority of attractions here won’t break the bank.

Get a candy factory sugar rush

Aunt Sandra’s Candy Factory in eastern Belfast is a sugary-sweet fantasy adventure come to life. Here, you get to walk the paths of a real, functioning world of candy making and see gobstoppers, yellow man, Belfast lollies, raspberry ruffles, brandy drops and so many other treats. If your kids have a sweet tooth – and what kid doesn’t – they’ll thrill to the experiences of seeing candy made and sampling it right there. Just beware of the sugar rush!

You can take a guided tour of the factory to see how these candies are made, and after you’re done, you can take a workshop to learn how to make chocolates and other traditional sweets. At Aunt Sandra’s, you’ll get to see the art and craft of old-time candy making the way it should be.

Have a safe safari at the Belfast Zoo

The Belfast Zoo is a secluded zoo nestled on the northeastern slope of Cavehill, giving it a tranquil and serene environment that provides an ideal atmosphere for creating native habitats for the animals. Most animals featured here are endangered species and include things like the western lowland gorilla, crowned lemur, red panda, Chilean flamingo, palm cockatoo, bearded dragon, mangrove snake and others.

After you see the exotic animals, you’ll want to take the kids to the farm area where they can pet Shetland ponies, pygmy goats, ferrets and rabbits or see barn owls and turkeys. It’s an up-close animal experience that makes a family holiday in Northern Ireland memorable.

See the dinosaurs at the Ulster Museum

Every kid loves dinosaurs, and with a trip to the Ulster Museum, they can get up close. Not only will they get to see restored skeletons of these towering behemoths, but they can also meet an Egyptian mummy, see masterpieces of graphic arts, painting and sculpture and even see the wealth of ancient Celtic treasure hoards.

The museum’s collection covers over 8,000 square metres of area and offers exhibits on Irish archaeology, zoology, botany, art, fashion, textiles and more. It’s a fun, interesting, often beautiful and always educational journey for unforgettable family breaks in Northern Ireland.

Try the thrills of the Titanic Belfast experience

The Titanic Belfast is a monument in tribute to the maritime heritage of Belfast, located on the site of a former shipyard. It tells all the stories of the Titanic, which sank in 1912, as well as her sister ships, the HMHS Britannic and RMS Olympic. The building encompasses over 12,000 square metres of exhibit space filled with galleries, lecture halls, conference rooms and exhibits.

The rooms to explore here include Boomtown Belfast, The Shipyard, The Launch, The Fit-Out, The Maiden Voyage, The Sinking, The Aftermath, Myths and Legends and Titanic Beneath. As you walk through, you’ll learn the entire history of this ill-fated ship from before it was conceived to the exploration of the wreckage today.

See the sea life at the Riverwatch Aquarium

The Riverwatch Aquarium and Visitor’s Centre in Derry-Londonberry lets you see ocean life in all its wondrous forms and colours, including crabs, lobster, starfish, coalfish, salmon and many other varieties of marine and freshwater shellfish and fish. Kids always thrill to see the sleek sea life easing through the waters and the creepy-crawlies on the ocean floor.

The aquarium also offers a wide range of educational programmes for kids of every age, from under 5 through teen years and beyond. It’s a fun and interesting window into a beautiful alien world right here on Earth.

Gaze at the stars at the Armagh Planetarium

Armagh Planetarium is located close to the Armagh city centre and is surrounded by the Armagh Astropark, 5.5 hectares of immaculately-landscaped grounds and gardens. It offers a wide range of educational exhibits and activities that will transport you from Earth to the depths of the cosmos. Here, your kids can visit other worlds, orbit stars and learn all about the cosmic phenomenon surrounding Earth, our solar system and the many galaxies beyond.

Armagh is the oldest continuously operating planetarium on the British Isles and offers a wide range of ultramodern experiences. You can look at the stars, try out augmented reality, view meteorite displays, visit the Astropark, check out spacecraft models and more. When you’re done, stop at the cafe for a bite to eat and visit the gift shop for the perfect souvenir of your family holidays in Northern Ireland.

Find budget-friendly family breaks in Northern Ireland

One of the best things about family holidays in Northern Ireland is that a lot of the attractions here are free or at least very budget-friendly. Whether you’re taking a nature walk in a themed area, engaging your creativity or getting out on the open waters, you’ll find options for adventure, excitement, education and fun that won’t break the bank.

Your odyssey across Belfast, Londonberry, Armagh, Antrim, Ballymena and all of the other amazing locales in this gorgeous country offers endless opportunity for adventure. Whether you’re looking to meet characters from a famous children’s book or you want to walk the ramparts of a historic castle, you’ll find fun and excitement around every corner, and they don’t have to break your wallet.

See if you can find the Gruffalo

At Colin Glen Forest Park, you’ll find all the adventure you can handle for your family break in Northern Ireland. One of the more popular is the Gruffalo & Stickman Guided Walk, where you can trace the events of the famous children’s book series and even meet the Gruffalo and all his friends and family for yourself. After this, older kids can head for the range of other exciting activities here, such as extreme climbing and swinging adventures on rope courses like the SKYTrek Ultimate or, for the less adventurous, the Low Ropes course.

You can try your hand at the archery courses, play a round of laser tag with your friends and family and play pickup games of both indoor and outdoor sports. This is a whole day of active outdoor fun and excitement.

Get out on the waters with Mobile Team Adventure

Mobile Team Adventure in Belfast at Shaw’s Bridge offers a range of water activities and other outdoor adventures, including kayaking, canoeing and more. You can shoot downrange at the archery course or try whitewater rafting, and the kids can play giant classic board games. You can go head-to-head against your family with laser tag or work together to overcome the mobile climbing wall. Book an entire family-fun day that’s catered with hot foods.

This is quite simply a place that’s full of outdoor family fun, and it doesn’t cost a lot to book your time here. They pride themselves on fun, stimulating and challenging adventures that empower youth while still keeping them ultimately safe.

Engage the mind at W5 discovery centre

The W5 is a science museum in the heart of Belfast that offers tons of interactive, hands-on exhibits plus a range of adventure activities. On the ground floor, you can meet Robothespian, a life-sized robot that can speak, interact, educate and even entertain you with its artificial intelligence. Also on the ground floor, you can browse the gift shop and LEGO Zone.

Other activities include the Spacebase, where you can become an astronaut explorer, the VR-Zone, where you can have a range of virtual reality experiences, and the MED-Lab, where you’ll learn about the medical sciences and take an interactive journey through the body. For the under-8 crowd, the Discovery Zone is a specially themed area where kids can paint on a digital canvas, play animal sounds, go virtual rock-pooling and even experience digital storybooks.

Bounce, jump and fly at We Are Vertigo

We Are Vertigo is a multipurpose sports and entertainment complex with one of the largest inflatable parks in the world. Here, you can slide, jump, bounce and fly as you try to overcome increasingly difficult obstacles in a wildly fun and dizzying adventure.

You can also experience the Alpine Adventure Climbing area, try your hand at the Ninja Master Course and even go skydiving indoors, a first in Ireland. We Are Vertigo hasn’t forgotten about the under-5s on your family breaks in Northern Ireland, either. For them, the facility provides a toddler soft-play area.

Walk the ramparts of Enniskillen Castle

Northern Ireland is positively packed with genuine historic castles. Indeed, there are so many that it can sometimes seem like you’re walking through your favourite fantasy novel or movie. Among the most popular of these, however, is Enniskillen Castle. This castle was built during the 16th century and today is a museum focused on the history, culture and natural history of the local county. It just costs a few quid to get in, and it’s got something to entertain the whole family.

Throughout the year, the castle museum hosts special history days where you can walk along the castle walls and view the serene shores of Lough Erne before you sit down with a picnic basket to enjoy the storybook surroundings.

Explore a natural play area at Castlewellan Forest Park

If you’re looking for outdoor adventure, Castlewellan Forest Park offers 460 hectares of woodland surrounding a 40-hectare lake. It’s been open since 1967 and encloses the National Arboretum, the Peace Maze and, of course, Castlewellan Castle.

At the Arboretum, you can see giant sequoia trees, at least 30 of which are designated champion trees of massive size and significance. The Peace Maze is one of the longest permanent hedge mazes in the entire world and contains over 6,000 yew trees. Castlewellan Castle is a Scottish baronial castle that has stood since the 1800s. Best of all, there’s no charge to walk the trails and explore this park.