Great place to camp! Beautiful scenery, a lake and a castle…read moreon the grounds. Big field where you can pick where to pitch your tent. Friendly wardens. A small cafe on the grounds. Absolutely lovely!

The sun doesn't even have to be shining to put the massive grounds of Castlewellan to good use…read more There is quite a bit of natural shelter from wind and rain. When it is sunny however this place gets very busy, especially by the lake where people don't just picnic - and indeed BBQ - but kayak, fish, walk, cycle, and bring their dogs for a swim. There are plenty of amenities on site or very nearby, such as plenty of parking, clean public bathrooms, a small cafe, and a large shop within easy walking distance. There is also a huge maze for you to try and find your way out of and that alone could take up a good hour. Entrance fee per car is £4.50 - a bargain for a full day's outing. Tip: there are some rubbish bins but not a lot; people tend to take their rubbish with them. The grounds are kept exceptionally clean.

Over here working for a few weeks. New to yoga following recurrence of an old injury, a friend in…read morethe office recommended this class specifically. The Instructor was patient, understanding and informative in a pleasant and relaxing setting. Highly recommended.

In recent years I have tried to become a bit more of a gym buff to try and get rib of my excess…read moreflab, and I spent a few months in this gym a few years ago and I liked the place a lot, I left it however for the lower prices and greater conveinience of the university gym. The gym is located on the way into Ballynahinch which is good as you are far less likely to get caught in the usual traffic nightmare of Ballynahinch! It is also run by the former Ulster Rugby star Andy Ward, so it is run by someone who really knows what they are talking about, and he is also passionate that everything is run to the highest of standards! The facilities feature the latest equipment, and the gym is managed by professionally qualified and trained staff, in a purpose built modern environment.There is ample parking space to the rear of the facility, and there is everything you need inside the business .There are the usual range of running, rowing, crosstainging and cycling machines with a large amount of weights machines and free weight areas.There are a wide range of classes run in the gym including yoga, pilates, spin and some dance classes for the females or more " flamboyantly" inclined! The gym takes payment on a monthly option which is good for when youthink you may be bysy for a month and need to opt out to be cost effective!Students cost £22 or the month ranging to a joint membership of £52 !This is definitely the best facility in the Ballynahinch area, so if you live local and need to shape up, look no further!

This knocks the socks off Botanic Gardens any day. It's massive, wilder, nowhere near as crowded…read moreand just lovely. I used to take my spaniel Tiko here every day and he loved it - OK, dogs love anywhere they can run about, but he really did share my love of this park, as there's loads of undergrowth he could and did snuffle into and lots of space to run around. (And if the poor girl whose lunchtime Subway sandwich he scarfed is reading this, I can only apologise yet again.) I haven't been back to Ormeau Park since he died, because, well, I just don't want to at the mo, but some of my happiest memories of him are at this park and it''s probably my favourite outdoor spot in all of Belfast. I love walking past the house in the middle of it and dreaming someday of living there. I'd even give up my Melbourne yearning for that... This is a stellar spot for walking, cycling or skating, and I even saw a mini orchestra happily playing near the bandstand once as well. There are bowling greens, a basketball/netball court and tennis courts, at which I would marvel at healthy types playing vigorously there at 10am on a Sunday, as Tiko and I lurched past. (And if the poor guy whose tennis ball he neatly nipped in and stole is reading this, I can only apologise yet again.) A beautiful park that's a bit bittersweet for me at the moment, but hopefully will become a regular chilling out place for me again. Perfect.

Ormeau Park, the underrated green space of Belfast. I love this place its a little emerald in the…read moregrey concrete of the city. Well cultivated and kept with its grandiose gates and lots of little walks and trails, great for a little peace of mind walk or a wee day out for kids at the pretty awesome play park. My only negative is that I think there could be more done here events wise. It always seems botanic has the monopoly on those. Maybe a winter wonderland like they do at Hyde Park in London and a few Summer events to make use of the bandstand and nice open spaces.

Makes for a fantastic day out, beautiful topical butterflies in the butterfly house which freely…read moreflutter about and land on people - you can watch them up close feeding on fruit and flowers too. Noticed some other visitors brought bits of cut up orange to entice the butterflies and this was a great way to encourage them to come close. Lovely grounds to walk around too with free roaming peacocks and there's a decent cafe too. Loses a star as it was so sad to see some caged birds adjacent to the butterfly house - I hate seeing birds in cages.

Behind glass are insects and reptiles. Hundreds of exotic butterflies have a large flight area…read morehere. The gardens have a nursery for rare plants as well as a play area. There is a maze, parrots, and viewing tower. This also has a shop and tea-room.

We visited with grandkids who only wanted to run demonically around the grounds oblivious to Wu flu…read moreand its adverse impacts on life so we cheerfully obliged. Antrim castle and gardens are fabulous to see. Historically the castle was built by Sir Hugh Clotworthy and his son, Sir John Clotworthy, between 1610 and 1662. The name Clotworthy derived from Clotworthy near Wembworthy, Devon, England. As the surname suggests Sir Hugh and family weren't Irish natives, rather they gained land in Ireland in the Plantation of Ulster under the reign of James 1. Sir Hugh was a prominent politician during the Civil War. In 1660 he was created Baron Loughneugh (i.e. Lough Neagh) and Viscount Massereene in the Peerage of Ireland, with remainder to his son-in-law Sir John Skeffington, 4th Baronet, of Fisherwick, the husband of his daughter the Hon. Mary Clotworthy, and in default thereof to his heirs general. Plantation is another term for colonisation and some half a million acres of land was handed over to settlers (planters) by the king. The settlers were mostly from Southern Scotland. The colonists were required to be Protestant, English-speaking, and loyal to the king in short not Irish. Imagine today taking half a million acres of Alaska and gifting the land deeds to Canadians. Anyway, back to today, with the effects of plantation still ever present and the Ulster Scots language on the playground fixtures the gardens feature a 17th century Anglo Dutch water garden, one of only three in the British Isles. They are over 410 years old with beautiful features such as the Large Parterre, Her Ladyship's Pleasure Garden and Yew Tree Pond. Within the heart of the gardens is the unique Clotworthy House also created by Clotworthy descendants the Massereene family. So it's not just a house and garden on the shore of Lough Neagh it's living history and part of the political fabric of a complex, scarred divided statelet. If you want an hour or two of serenity you'll find it here unless of course you happen to get close to our grandkids.

I did not know that Antrim had a castle, motte, walls, and a fairly extensive park. The kept that…read moreone quiet! Or maybe I just wasn't listening... Either way, we just so happened to stumble across the grounds, having come out the High Street side of Castle Mall (ahhh, that explains the name!) and dandered over to an interesting looking gate lodge type building. There was nothing to suggest what this area was, so we took a walk down a path, under an over-pass (graffitied to the max), and appeared in an open green space. I noticed a sign, and went over to look. Reference was made to a motte (so, that's what the huge mound was in front of us...), walls (the gatelodge etc) and castle. Oooh! Where was this castle?! Well apparently all that remains of it is a wall tower, which is really a shame, as I had been hoping for a proper, full-sized castle. Oh well. Unfortunately, grey clouds were looming over us, and rain was threatening, so we didn't get much further. However, the gardens are meant to be lovely, with a canal, ponds and walks, and I would love to go back to explore these further, on a more pleasant day of course. There is also a major regeneration project ongoing within the grounds at the minute, and into next year, so I can't wait to see how it will look after the makeover.

This is a gym just for women.....yes you heard me right JUST FOR WOMEN!!!…read moreThis was music to my ears when I heard it, no men hogging the free weights while admiring their 'muscles' in the mirror at this litte gem of a gym :) Everything is pink and girlie, it is relaxed and friendly and you even get your own personalised programme as part of the membership package (which is also extremely competative at £29 per month), access to classes and you regularly get measured and weighed so it's easy to keep track of your progress! I've been a member for just over a month now and I love it - honestly the best gym i've ever been a member of, I can't recommend it highly enough.

Great place for adults and kids to.learn alot about horses and to ride would ho anywhere else the…read moreyard is so big and da places he take yas I wow xx

From the owner: Dunany Equestrian Centre is located on the 18th century Dunany house estate 365 acres,…read more Sand arenas, stabling court yard, livery, DIY livery, show jumping, dressage, Cross country course, children riding lessons, audit riding lessons, pony camps, summer camps, private beach, tack rooms, treck & trails.

Northern Ireland seemed to be a huge outdoors section of our trip around the UK and Tollymore…read moreForest Park was one of the locations we visited. There are plenty of trails around to go walking, running, dog-walking, etc. We probably saw at least 10 people with dogs as we were walking around, and, yes, we wanted to play with all of them. The dogs, not the people. The area is obviously very scenic (it's a forest!), but there are also some cool ruins, lots of bridges, sweet stepping stones, and flowing water throughout. We spent more than a few hours here, I think, and enjoyed every bit of it.

This is one of my favourite places in Northern Ireland, the forest is well maintained and cared for…read moreby the workers. Recently whole sections of the forest had to be cut down but I've been told new trees will be planted. Situated in Newcastle the views from the top of the hills are magnificent....you can see right down to the town and the sea. It costs £5 entrance fee for a car, however we have a yearly pass which is £50, this allows unlimited visits to Tollymore and also Castlewellan and Gosford country parks if I remember correctly. There are several toilet blocks, lots of car parking and usually a chip van and Ice cream van (more so at weekends and holidays). There is also a caravan/camping site which is reasonably priced and who wouldnt enjoy waking up to a view of the Mournes. Definitely worth a visit if you fancy a change from busy shops and towns.

My boyfriend and I went here with the intention of doing just the Detained room but ended up doing…read moreanother 3 rooms (Witchcraft and Wizardry, Area 51 and Houdini's Workshop). The rooms are excellently designed and very fun to navigate. Many laughs and brain scratching moments were had. The staff are excellent, very friendly and up for a laugh. Over all it was a top quality experience and a brilliant day out. Thank you very much guys!