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Ulster Folk Museum, Holywood

Companionship careNorth Down

Days out in North Down for an older parent

Eight places in North Down that make a good day out for an older parent, from Ulster Folk Museum to Castle Park. For each one: what its own access information confirms, what it costs, how long to allow, and the carers nearby who drive and could take them.

Researched by PrimeCarers from each place’s own website and access information  ·  Updated October 2026

Ulster Folk Museum. Photo: NearEMPTiness, CC BY-SA 4.0

Eight days out across four towns

The best places to take an older parent in North Down

Six of them are free to visit or to walk around. The access information for one confirms an accessible toilet. Where a place does not publish its access, we say so.

Ulster Folk Museum, Holywood

Photo: NearEMPTiness, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Museum · Holywood

Ulster Folk Museum

The Ulster Folk Museum at Cultra is an open-air museum of old buildings moved from across Ulster, including cottages, farms, a church, schools and a whole early 20th-century town street, with costumed guides and craft demonstrations. The Ballycultra Tearooms serve lunches and snacks.

The site is large and spread out, so it helps that a limited number of mobility scooters and wheelchairs can be booked in advance, and the tearooms give a place to rest in the middle of the visit.

Time to allow
A full day
Cost
Paid entry

What their access information confirms

  • Wheelchairs to borrow
  • Café

Their websiteAccess information

Ulster Transport Museum, Holywood

Photo: Pastor Sam, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Museum · Holywood

Ulster Transport Museum

The Ulster Transport Museum at Cultra has large indoor galleries of steam locomotives, trams, buses, cars, motorbikes and aircraft, along with a well known exhibition on the Titanic and other Belfast-built ships. It sits across the road from the Folk Museum.

The main collections are indoors, which makes it a good choice for a wet day, and mobility scooters and wheelchairs can be booked in advance.

Time to allow
Half a day
Cost
Paid entry

What their access information confirms

  • Wheelchairs to borrow

Their websiteAccess information

North Down Museum, Bangor

Photo: MartinRobinson at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Museum · Bangor

North Down Museum

North Down Museum is a free museum in the old stable block of Bangor Castle, telling the story of the area from early Christian Bangor Abbey to a replica Viking longhouse. The Coffee Cure café overlooks the Victorian courtyard.

Entry is free, the museum is described as accessible, and the café in the courtyard makes an easy place to sit before a short walk in Castle Park.

Time to allow
An hour or two
Cost
Free, parking charges may apply

Access

Their website does not set out its access in detail, so ring ahead about parking, paths and toilets.

Their website

Ward Park

Park · Bangor

Ward Park

Ward Park is a Victorian park in the centre of Bangor with ponds, mature trees and a bandstand that hosts free live music on Sunday afternoons in July and August. It is open all year and free to enter.

There is on-site parking and public toilets, and the paths around the ponds make an easy short walk close to the town centre.

Time to allow
An hour or two
Cost
Free

Access

Their website does not set out its access in detail, so ring ahead about parking, paths and toilets.

Their website

Bangor Marina and Pickie Fun Park

Coast · Bangor

Bangor Marina and Pickie Fun Park

Bangor's seafront runs round the marina to Pickie Fun Park, with its famous swan pedalos, a promenade with views across Belfast Lough and a glass-fronted café looking over the boats. The park and promenade are free to walk around.

There are limited disabled parking spaces right beside Pickie via Marine Gardens and toilets for disabled visitors, and the flat promenade and café make an easy seaside outing.

Time to allow
An hour or two
Cost
Free entry, rides paid

What their access information confirms

  • Accessible toilet
  • Café

Their website

Crawfordsburn Country Park, Crawfordsburn

Photo: Stubacca, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Nature reserve · Crawfordsburn

Crawfordsburn Country Park

Crawfordsburn Country Park has two sandy beaches, wooded glens and a waterfall, with 3.5 kilometres of shoreline on the North Down Coastal Path and views across Belfast Lough. The Woodland Café is open every day.

The café and toilets at the visitor centre are close to the main car park, and the beach is a short walk away, so a carer can plan a gentle visit without tackling the glen paths.

Time to allow
Half a day
Cost
Free

Access

Their website does not set out its access in detail, so ring ahead about parking, paths and toilets.

Their website

Groomsport Harbour and Beach, Groomsport

Photo: Rossographer, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Coast · Groomsport

Groomsport Harbour and Beach

Groomsport is a small seaside village with a harbour, sandy beaches, landscaped picnic areas and the thatched Cockle Row fishermen's cottages. It is one of the few beaches in Northern Ireland with an inclusive beach scheme.

On summer weekends free beach wheelchairs, walkers and beach matting can be booked through the Mae Murray Foundation, so your parent can get across the sand to the water's edge.

Time to allow
An hour or two
Cost
Free

Access

Their website does not set out its access in detail, so ring ahead about parking, paths and toilets.

Their website

Castle Park, Bangor

Photo: MartinRobinson at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Park · Bangor

Castle Park

Castle Park is a large wooded park around Bangor Castle, now the City Hall, with formal gardens, woodland walks, the Walled Garden and North Down Museum all within it. It is free to enter.

The museum café, the formal gardens by the City Hall and the Walled Garden are all close together, so a carer can build a gentle visit around them.

Time to allow
Half a day
Cost
Free, parking charges may apply

Access

Their website does not set out its access in detail, so ring ahead about parking, paths and toilets.

Their website

Regular groups and events in North Down

Something to go back to every week or every year, from our research into what older people enjoy doing in North Down.

  • Gardening · BangorArds and North Down In Bloom community competitionAn annual council run community gardening competition that encourages residents, groups and villages to plant up and improve their own patch. A carer could help an older person enter a garden, or simply visit the planted areas and displays around the borough.Details
  • Cooking & Baking · BangorBangor's Wednesday marketA weekly market with more than a hundred years of history, running every Wednesday morning with fruit and vegetable, fresh fish and plant stalls. A carer can drive over, push a trolley round the stalls and turn the shopping into a cooking plan for the week.Details
  • Music · BangorOpen House Festival, BangorA music and arts festival held across Bangor venues every August, with an event most days and more than sixty in total, including daytime concerts. A carer can pick an afternoon or early evening show, book seats and arrange parking or a taxi close to the venue.Details
  • Music · BangorFree bandstand music in Ward ParkFree live music runs at the Ward Park bandstand every Sunday afternoon in July and August as part of the Open House Festival. A carer can bring a folding chair or use the park benches, so an older person can listen for as long as they are comfortable.Details
  • Dancing · BangorDance and art sessions for older residents at Bangor AuroraThe leisure complex has run a ten week programme of themed dance and art sessions aimed at older people in the borough, combining movement with health and wellbeing activity. A carer can ring the centre to check when the next block runs and go along with the person for the first session.Details
  • Photography · BangorBangor and North Down Camera ClubA long established camera club in Bangor with meetings, competitions and exhibitions for all levels of experience. A carer can provide the lift to evening meetings and help carry equipment, which is often what stops people attending.Details

Hobbies and carers who share them in North Down

At a glance

The eight places side by side

What each place’s own access information confirms. “Ask” means it does not say, not that it is missing.

PlaceTimeCostStep-freeToiletCafé
Ulster Folk MuseumHolywooda full dayPaid entryAskAskYes
Ulster Transport MuseumHolywoodhalf a dayPaid entryAskAskAsk
North Down MuseumBangoran hour or twoFreeAskAskAsk
Ward ParkBangoran hour or twoFreeAskAskAsk
Bangor Marina and Pickie Fun ParkBangoran hour or twoFreeAskYesYes
Crawfordsburn Country ParkCrawfordsburnhalf a dayFreeAskAskAsk
Groomsport Harbour and BeachGroomsportan hour or twoFreeAskAskAsk
Castle ParkBangorhalf a dayFreeAskAskAsk

Where the places are in North Down

The county’s boundary, numbered as on this page, with the main towns for reference.

DonaghadeeHolywood12345678
  1. 1Ulster Folk Museum, Holywood
  2. 2Ulster Transport Museum, Holywood
  3. 3North Down Museum, Bangor
  4. 4Ward Park, Bangor
  5. 5Bangor Marina and Pickie Fun Park, Bangor
  6. 6Crawfordsburn Country Park, Crawfordsburn
  7. 7Groomsport Harbour and Beach, Groomsport
  8. 8Castle Park, Bangor

What it costs

What a day out with a carer costs in North Down

Carers in North Down charge £18 to £25 an hour through PrimeCarers, typically £20, with our fee included. A four-hour outing is about £80 for the carer’s time. Entry, food and parking are extra, and travel costs are only payable if you agree them with the carer in advance, in writing. The cost of home care in North Down has the full figures.

Photographs on this page are from Wikimedia Commons, credited under each one.

Questions

Questions families ask about days out in North Down

Ulster Folk Museum in Holywood, Ulster Transport Museum in Holywood, North Down Museum in Bangor, Ward Park in Bangor, Bangor Marina and Pickie Fun Park in Bangor, Crawfordsburn Country Park in Crawfordsburn, Groomsport Harbour and Beach in Groomsport and Castle Park in Bangor. Each has its own section on this page with what its access information confirms, the cost and how long to allow.

Bangor Marina and Pickie Fun Park has an accessible toilet. Ulster Folk Museum and Ulster Transport Museum lend wheelchairs. Access changes, so ring ahead about anything your parent depends on.

North Down Museum, Ward Park, Bangor Marina and Pickie Fun Park, Crawfordsburn Country Park, Groomsport Harbour and Beach and Castle Park. Parking is often charged even where entry is free.

Yes. A companion carer can drive your parent there, walk at their pace, help with the toilet and meals, and bring them home. Visits are booked by the hour, typically £20 an hour here with our fee included. Companionship care in North Down shows who is available.

Often. Many attractions let a carer or companion in free, or at a reduced price, with a disabled visitor, and some ask for proof such as a letter or a benefit award. It varies, so check each place’s access or prices page before you go.

Companionship care in the counties around North Down

Days out in the areas around North Down

Companionship care by town in North Down

Each town page shows the carers who list it as home, with their rates and reviews.

Find a carer who could take them out in North Down

See carers near North Down who drive, with their photos, interests, rates and reviews. Talking to them is free and nothing is booked until you say so.

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