Best Places to Visit in Belfast & Down
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The best places to visit in Belfast & Down are Newtownabbey Bay Beach, Collin Glen, Audley's Castle, Glenoe Waterfall, Bog Meadows, Orlock Point, Grey Point Fort and Lisnabreeny Cregagh Glen.
Belfast and County Down mix a great city with a coast of loughs and headlands and a surprising amount of green close to the streets. Out on Strangford Lough stands the little tower of Audley's Castle, on its rise within the Castle Ward estate and familiar from Game of Thrones, while the coast of North Down runs past the smuggling headland of Orlock Point and the old guns of Grey Point Fort near Helen's Bay.
Around the city itself, wooded glens climb the hills: Colin Glen below Black Mountain, Cregagh Glen and Lisnabreeny in the Castlereagh Hills, and the unexpected wetland of the Bog Meadows hemmed in by the motorway. Along Belfast Lough, the shore beach at Newtownabbey opens wide views to the city, and to the north the little glen of Gleno drops in its National Trust waterfall.
From lough-side castle to hidden city wetland, here are eight places to visit across Belfast and Down.
Newtownabbey Bay Beach
Photo: Albert Bridge via Geograph.org.uk
Newtownabbey Bay Beach The wide look across Belfast Lough is the reason to come here, out over the water to the city and the far County Down shore. Known locally as Hazelbank, this sand and shingle strand sits on the lough's edge just north of Belfast, with Hazelbank Park at its back.
The shoreline path that runs behind it belongs to the Loughshore Trail, and the park keeps parking and toilets close to hand. Think of it less as a place to swim and more as somewhere to stretch your legs or wheel a bike along the water, watching the lough go about its day.
Collin Glen
Photo: Eric Jones via Geograph.org.uk
Collin Glen is a wooded glen and forest park on the western fringe of Belfast, tracing the Colin River beneath the slopes of Black Mountain. A path threads along the river through the trees, slipping past a series of small waterfalls, and over the years the park has blossomed into an adventure destination, with an alpine coaster and ziplines strung through the woods.
Families arrive for the classic glen walk as much as for the seasonal trails. All told, it hands the city a welcome band of green right on its western edge.
Come for a gentle riverside stroll or the thrill of the coaster.
Audley's Castle
Photo: Caroline Devlin via Geograph.org.uk
Audley's Castle is a small stone tower house standing on a rocky rise above the narrows of Strangford Lough, in County Down. It is a compact three-storey tower with a walled courtyard, or bawn, built in the fifteenth century and now an empty shell you can look around, with a pair of little turrets flanking its entrance.
It sits within the National Trust's Castle Ward estate, a short walk out through parkland, with wide views over the lough and its islands. The castle and the fields beside it were used as a filming location for Game of Thrones.
Glenoe Waterfall
Photo: Rossographer via Geograph.org.uk
Glenoe Waterfall drops through a small wooded glen at the village of Gleno, a few miles south of Larne in County Antrim, looked after by the National Trust. A short circular walk on stepped paths climbs up and down the steep, often wet sides of the gorge, following the falling water.
It is a brief walk from the village, best after rain when the flow is full. Two small car parks and picnic tables sit by the start.
Bog Meadows
Photo: Paul McIlroy via Geograph.org.uk
Bog Meadows is a surprising pocket of wetland and wild grassland on the western edge of Belfast, hemmed in by the motorway and the city yet full of birds and quiet corners. It is a nature reserve of damp meadows, reedbeds, ponds and hedges, a remnant of the old floodplain of the River Blackstaff, laced with flat, easy paths and dotted with bird hides.
Reed buntings and sedge warblers sing from the reeds in summer, kingfishers flash along the water, and butterflies work the flowery grass. Cared for by a local wildlife trust, it makes an unexpected green escape a short way from the city centre.
Orlock Point
Photo: Albert Bridge via Geograph.org.uk
Orlock Point is a rocky coastal headland on the north coast of County Down, near Groomsport, owned by the National Trust and crossed by a short waymarked path that forms part of a longer coastal walk toward Donaghadee. Wildflower grassland runs out to a rugged foreshore, with open views to the Copeland Islands and, on a clear day, across to Scotland, and seals and seabirds about.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries this was smuggling country, contraband landed in the coves, and a rock cutting and the remains of old coastguard buildings survive along the path.
Grey Point Fort
Photo: Albert Bridge via Geograph.org.uk
Grey Point Fort is a coastal gun battery standing on the shore near Helen's Bay in County Down, thrown up in the early 1900s to defend the entrance to Belfast Lough. Two long six-inch guns still rest in their emplacements, having been brought here from forts down south, and the old observation post and searchlight positions survive alongside them.
The battery lies within Crawfordsburn Country Park and is looked after by a heritage group who open it up to visitors. Its guns gaze out across the lough towards the open sea.
Wander the emplacements and imagine the watch once kept here.
Lisnabreeny Cregagh Glen
Photo: Albert Bridge via Geograph.org.uk
Cregagh Glen and Lisnabreeny form a National Trust walk on the south-east edge of Belfast, in the Castlereagh Hills of County Down. The route climbs from a wooded glen, with a stream and a waterfall running through it, up onto open farmland and a hilltop marked by an ancient ringfort within a stand of mature trees.
Paths are unsurfaced, with wooden steps and some steep climbs, and bluebells come out in the glen in spring. From the top there are wide views over the city and the lough, and near the summit is the site of a wartime American military cemetery.
FAQs
What is Audley's Castle on Strangford Lough?
Audley's Castle is a small fifteenth-century tower house on a rocky rise above the narrows of Strangford Lough in County Down, with a walled courtyard and a pair of little turrets at its entrance. It stands within the National Trust's Castle Ward estate, a short walk through parkland, and was used as a filming location for Game of Thrones.
Where can you walk close to Belfast?
Several wooded glens climb the hills around Belfast, and Colin Glen runs below Black Mountain on the west of the city, now with an alpine coaster and ziplines. Cregagh Glen and Lisnabreeny lead up through woodland to a hilltop ringfort in the Castlereagh Hills on the south-east, with wide views over the city and lough.
Is there anywhere to see wildlife in Belfast?
Bog Meadows, on the western edge of Belfast, is a nature reserve of damp meadows, reedbeds and ponds, a remnant of the old Blackstaff floodplain hemmed in by the motorway. Flat, easy paths and bird hides let you watch reed buntings, kingfishers and butterflies a short way from the city centre.
Conclusion
Belfast and Down blend a city with loughs, headlands and hidden green. Audley's Castle keeps its little tower above Strangford Lough within the Castle Ward estate, and the North Down coast runs past the smuggling headland of Orlock Point and the old guns of Grey Point Fort near Helen's Bay.
Around the city, wooded glens climb the hills at Colin, Cregagh and Lisnabreeny, and the Bog Meadows hide a wetland full of birds beside the motorway. Along Belfast Lough the shore at Newtownabbey opens wide views to the city, while to the north the little glen of Gleno drops in its waterfall.
From lough-side castle to city wetland, these are the places to seek out across Belfast and Down.
