The list runs from the top of Belfast Lough down to the Mourne coast, so this is a driving county rather than a walking one. Cultra, on the lough shore east of Belfast, is the largest single stop: the Ulster Folk Museum’s village of cottages, forges and a full market town, dismantled across Ulster and rebuilt in the open air, with the Ulster Transport Museum and its DeLorean charging separately next door. Half a day goes there easily.
Strangford Lough and the Ards Peninsula hold three more. Exploris at Portaferry is Northern Ireland’s only public aquarium, and its seal sanctuary nurses rescued pups from arrival to release. Nendrum, on Mahee Island and reached by causeways, has the oldest known tide-mill anywhere, dated to 619 AD; the grounds are free and open all year. Ballycopeland Windmill stands a mile west of Millisle, though its hours are erratic, so check before you go.
Inland, Banbridge has two: the Game of Thrones Studio Tour in the old linen mill where much of the series was shot, and the F.E. McWilliam Gallery, free, with the sculptor’s Holland Park studio rebuilt inside. Downpatrick pairs the Saint Patrick Centre with the free county museum in the Georgian gaol, both in the town. Killowen Distillery above Carlingford Lough and the Nautilus Centre at Kilkeel harbour need the run round the Mournes.
The show's only official studio tour, self-guided through six original sets in the Banbridge linen mill where much of it was filmed, with the real costumes and props.
The last working windmill anywhere still fitted with Hooper's 1789 roller-reefing sails, restored and reopened in 2022, a mile west of Millisle on the Ards Peninsula.
An open-air village of cottages, forges and shops rebuilt from across Ulster, plus a transport museum, on the southern shore of Belfast Lough east of the city.
Northern Ireland's only public aquarium, where the seal sanctuary nurses rescued pups to release, alongside an underwater tunnel, otters, penguins and two-tier soft play.
Home to Northern Ireland's smallest distillery, on a Carlingford Lough hillside once used to run brandy inland, at the foot of the Mourne Mountains.
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Banbridge, down
The Banbridge linen mill where roughly a third of Game of Thrones was filmed is now the show's only official studio tour. It's a self-guided indoor walk through six original sets, from Winterfell's Great Hall to the Iron Throne room, with the real costumes, props and weapons from the production.
Millisle, down
Ballycopeland is the last working windmill in the world fitted with Captain Stephen Hooper's 1789 roller-reefing sails, which let the miller adjust the canvas from the ground. Restored and reopened in 2022, it sits a mile west of Millisle on the Ards Peninsula – but opening hours are erratic, so check before you travel.
Cultra, down
Cultra sits on the southern shore of Belfast Lough, 11 km east of the city. Its anchor is the Ulster Folk Museum, where cottages, a schoolhouse and an 1880s terrace were dismantled across Ulster and rebuilt as a working village. A transport museum, a royal yacht club and the Culloden estate round out a half-day by the lough.
Portaferry, down
Exploris is the only public aquarium in Northern Ireland, and its seal sanctuary is the real draw: rescued pups are nursed here from arrival to release, and you can adopt one and follow its recovery. An underwater tunnel through the Ocean Tank, otters, Humboldt penguins and a two-tier soft play round out a full day in Portaferry.
Rostrevor, down
Killowen is a small townland on Carlingford Lough at the foot of the Mourne Mountains, once home to two men worth a footnote in any history: Patrick Murphy, the 7ft 3in 'Irish Giant', and Charles Russell, the first Catholic Lord Chief Justice of England in centuries. Today its draw is Killowen Distillery, Northern Ireland's smallest, on a hillside smugglers once used to run French brandy inland.
Kilkeel, down
The Nautilus Centre overlooks Kilkeel harbour, home to Northern Ireland's largest fishing fleet, and it's free to walk into. Inside are the Mourne Maritime Visitor Centre, with a reconstructed wheelhouse and the restored 'Anna' skiff, and the Tracing Your Mourne Roots exhibition covering local history from 1800. Outside stands a memorial to those lost at sea.
Mahee Island, down
The tide-mill excavated at Nendrum dates to 619 AD, the oldest known anywhere. The monastery sits on Mahee Island in Strangford Lough, reached by causeways, and adds three concentric stone enclosures, a ruined church and round-tower base, and a reconstructed 9th-century sundial. Free entry, grounds open all year.
Downpatrick, down
The Saint Patrick Centre holds the only permanent exhibition in the world devoted to Ireland's patron saint, built around his own writings and narrated by actor Ciarán Hinds. Opened in 2001 below Down Cathedral and Saint Patrick's traditional grave, it pairs multimedia galleries and an IMAX film with terraced gardens and a rooftop café.
Holywood, down
At Cultra, farmhouses, forges, mills and a full market town were dismantled across Ulster and rebuilt in the open air. Costumed staff, heritage livestock and at least three live craft demonstrations a day recreate rural life a century ago, on a parkland site with two free language trails.
Holywood, down
The DeLorean everyone comes to see was built five miles up the road at Dunmurry, and it shares this Cultra site with steam locomotives, road-racing motorbikes, a Titanic gallery and Result, the last sailing ship built in Ulster. It now charges separately from the Ulster Folk Museum next door.
Downpatrick, down
Banbridge, down
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