Crescent Gardens Park acts as a green oasis in the otherwise bustling Queens Quarter, in between…read moreBotanic and University Street this park could easily be missed but it's tranquility is second to none. As other reviewers have said, these parks used to be occupied by city drunks but there seems to have been a concerted effort to move them on. There's a few benches, usually occupied by near by office workers at lunch, and there's plenty of bins to discard rubbish. The park, especially in the summer months, is well kept. It really does arrive out of nowhere, definitely worth a visit on a sunny day of you want to avoid busy Botanic!

This is lovely spot on a sunny day and always well maintained…read more Although close to the heart of the city centre it's actually quite peaceful and great place to spend your lunch hour or to sit and read a book

I have known about this place for a long time but this is the first time that I have visited here…read moreand I have to say that I realise that I have been missing out . It is one of the most tranquil parks that I have ever visited there is an air of peace about it which is obvious by the number of people who were sitting reading the paper or just enjoying the peace and quiet..it is also dog friendly and the cafe not only provides refreshments for two legged folk but there are also bowls of water for our four legged friends . The nice thing about this place is that it will be forever changing so that it is impossible to get bored with the scenery. I would certainly recommend a walk round this place as it will truly lift your spirt and even transport you back to a victorian era.

Oh wow. Bangor's Walled Garden is incredibly stunning on a beautiful summer's day. I should know. I…read morevisited it on possibly the best day in August , and was struck by the hard work that had gone into recreating the original Victorian Walled Garden that stood there 170 years. Located, just beside Castle Park, you'll notice the various signs pointing you in the right direction. Should that fail, head up to Castle Park, get onto a path and look and see if there's a yellow spray painted line on the tarmac. We noticed that if you follow it, you'll end up at the Walled Garden...it's almost a case of "Follow the Yellow Brick Road", eh? Once you arrive, you'll be extravagantly greeted by the a carpet of various types of plants and flowers. There's an arched walkway cutting right through the garden, highlighted by an avenue of lime trees. The focal point is a pretty fountain which has a series of benches dotted around it, so you can sit and watch the world go by. Ahhh... There are four separate areas of the garden, the first being a beautifully landscaped flower patch with a variety of colourful blooms laid out in different shapes. The second area is a vegetable garden, with the likes of pumpkins, courgettes, carrots and onions planted in this section. The third and fourth areas are not quite so easy to distinguish (but then I'm not exactly green-fingered...with the exception of my aqua coloured nail varnish), but the leaflet I picked up from the TIC informed me that there's a swamp garden (which I think is beside the greenhouse), and a herb garden (which is just as you come in, though I thought they were weeds...oops!) An absolutely stunning place to come to on a sunny day, and even more beneficial for those of you who know their begonias from their buttercups...

Wow. Great walk. Never knew this was here…read more Lovely views and sculptures. Nice to have a bit of elevation to walk up and down. Lovely wee pizza /cafe van in the car park to help a person replenish.

This little oasis of calm is a real treat for the senses and offers some great views and lovely…read morewalks. I regularly take my dogs here at the weekends and now there's a handy coffee truck to top up on caffeine! You can either walk a stretch of the tow path towards Shaws Bridge or go towards Edenderry village. Its very pretty and a bonus is that its not quite as busy as the lower tow path near Stranmillis. National Trust which manages the area have done lots of work here in recent years including building a terrace walk up to the Rose Garden which offers some great views over the Lagan Valley. You can really appreciate why the area used to be known as the Lagan Ridge as you achieve quite a height and can see right over to Cavehill. There's the option of walking on to Giant's Ring but as it's partly on the road its not the best option for dogs or prams. There are some interesting and quirky wooden sculptures (?) all carved out of tree stumps including a totem pole thing up at the Rose garden. Lots to see and do and definitely worth the slight detour from the more popular Shaws Bridge or New Forge lane parts of the tow path

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.

Well worth a visit…read more On 19 May 1928, the Governor of Northern Ireland the Duke of Abercorn laid the Foundation Stone for Parliament Buildings ( Front Pillars), The building was offically opened for business with a grand opening, On 16 November 1932, The Prince of Wales, Edward Windsor, opened Parliament Buildings. Architect Sir Arnold Thornely of Liverpool designed Parliament Buildings to be 365ft wide, representing one foot for every day of the year. Representing the number of counties in Northern Ireland, Parliament Buildings has six floors and there are six pillars at the entrance to the building. To camouflage Parliament Buildings during World War II, the building's Portland stone was painted with a mixture of cow manure and bitumen. Removing the paint after the war was a huge challenge with the mixture having stained the stonework. The paint mixture took seven years to remove and the exterior façade never regained its original white colour. It is one mile from the gates at the bottom of Prince of Wales Avenue to the front steps of Parliament Buildings. The avenue leading up to Parliament Buildings is lined with 305 red-twigged lime trees which have survived since they were first planted in the 1920s. Parliament Buildings is a Grade-B listed building, designed in Greek Classical tradition.

You know you're getting old when you're scouring Belfast looking for new dog walking destinations!…read more After suggesting Stormont Park would be a nice walk with the dog for the last few weeks we finally paid it a visit. It was a mild Saturday afternoon and there wasn't a cloud in the sky and to be fair the weather plays a big part in how you view this park. In the rain the trails would be muddy and the view over Belfast would be unclear but yesterday it was just perfect. The main features of the estate are; - Carson's mile - even if you don't like what goes on in parliament building you can't deny it's a pretty spectacular building and view from the gates. - the country trails through wooded land - the random excersise points - these are installed for joggers to break up their cardio with pull ups, press ups and various other activities. - the grounds are really well kept, cut grass, maintained flower beds and bins every 100 yards! There were also loads of other dogs and kids playing in the grounds and park making it a really nice atmosphere. All in all a really nice walk, could maybe do with a designated car park but apart from that it's top notch!

This wee park is just at the bottom of my street so it is handy if i need to take Ted out for a…read morequick walk. It is usually well kept and has a small playground for children. The park closes earlier in the winter (around 5pm-ish) but stays open until after 9pm during the brighter nights in summer.

A recently rejuvenated park between The Antrim Road and York Street. This park is relatively…read moreunknown but it's definitely a hidden gem. The parks facilities include a kids play park, a small football pitch including nets, pathed areas for dog walking and it is maintained by the council. The park does have opening hours, closing at 6pm durning the winter and closer to 9pm. This park allows dogs to be off the lead so that's a bonus for dog walkers. Because it's relatively unknown it provides quite a peaceful walk. Great we park, probably under appreciated because it's in an area that is full of parks including Cave Hill and the Water

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.

Love the atmosphere, and you can see they are trying hard. Staff very attentive. Food is just a…read morelittle short of the mark that the previous owners set. Keep working at it... Menu could be a little better

We recently joined the National Trust in order to get in to some of the country's best parks and…read moregardens but after a walk at Crawfordsburn and down the North Down coast we began to question why, especially with scenery like this on our doorstep. Around 15 minutes from central Belfast and the same from Bangor Town Centre Crawfordsburn really is as convenient as they come! Dog walkers, day trippers and joggers come here in their droves and I don't blame them because there's something for everyone. There's lovely woodland walks through the park itself, a beautiful beach with a large grassy area for picnics and a walk along the coast with views over to Carrickfergus and beyond on a clear day. Yesterday was one of those majestic days at Crawfordsburn where the spring sunshine shimmered on Belfast lough reflecting a warm glow of happiness throughout the whole park! We decided on the coastal walk as we had Ted (our dog) with us. We walked all the way from the park itself to past Carnalea Golf Course, this walk winds all the way up the coast. There's plenty of benches to to stop at and plenty of places for you to get a photo of Belfast Lough in all it's glory (as you've probably seen from my uploads). The park itself has seen a good bit of investment recently with new picnic tables being installed and the welcome addition of a play area that doubles as a nature reserve. There's toilet facilities and plenty of parking (at least 3 car parks). Yesterday there was an ice cream van parked on the grassy area by the beach but he only comes out when the sun is shining. All in all this is a fantastic place for a walk on a sunny day, beware of summer bank holidays as it's known for drinking but otherwise it's a wholesome day out for everyone with loads to see and do!