This excellent aquarium has displays of marine life from Strangford Lough and the Irish Sea as well as tropical fish, otters and a reptile centre with an African Nile crocodile, geckos and snakes. There's also a sunken gallery with sharks and a seal sanctuary where orphaned, sick and injured seals are nursed back to health before being released into the wild. Last admission is 4.30pm in summer and 4pm in winter.
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Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
21.34 MILES
The stunning, star-shaped Titanic Belfast is the city's number-one tourist draw. Standing majestically at the head of the slipway where the Titanic was…
21.34 MILES
Belfast's classical Renaissance-style City Hall was built in fine, white Portland stone in 1906. Highlights of the free, 45-minute guided tour include the…
20.83 MILES
You could spend hours browsing this state-of-the-art museum, but if you're pressed for time don't miss the Armada Room, with artefacts retrieved from the…
21.37 MILES
There are not many historical monuments that you can enjoy while savouring a pint of Guinness, but the National Trust's Crown Liquor Saloon is one of them…
24.35 MILES
The view from the summit of Cave Hill (368m) takes in the whole sprawl of the city, the docks, Belfast Lough and the Mourne Mountains – on a clear day you…
20.71 MILES
The showpiece of Belfast's green oasis is Charles Lanyon's beautiful Palm House, built in 1839 and completed in 1852, with its birdcage dome, a…
22.3 MILES
Guided tours of Belfast's notorious Crumlin Road Gaol take you from the tunnel beneath Crumlin Rd, built in 1850 to convey prisoners from the courthouse…
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11.9 MILES
The magnificent 18th-century Mount Stewart is one of Northern Ireland’s grandest stately homes. Entertaining tours tell the story of the house and its…
Nearby attractions
0.09 MILES
Portaferry's castle is a small 16th-century tower house that, together with the tower house in Strangford, once controlled sea traffic through the Narrows…
0.18 MILES
This magnificent Greek Revival building, built as a Presbyterian church in 1841, is thought to have been modelled on the ancient temple of Nemesis on the…
1.67 MILES
Famed for its role as Winterfell in Game of Thrones, 1760s-built Castle Ward House has a superb setting overlooking the bay west of Strangford. The estate…
5.98 MILES
At the supposed site of the first church in Ireland, founded by St Patrick in 432, you'll find a replica 10th-century church and round tower, built in…
6.62 MILES
These supposedly curative spring waters are traditionally associated with St Patrick – it is said he scourged himself here, spending much of the night…
7.85 MILES
Downpatrick's 18th-century jail now houses the county museum. In a former cell block at the back are models of some of the prisoners once incarcerated…
7.87 MILES
This magnificent glass-and-timber heritage centre houses a multimedia exhibition called 'Ego Patricius', charting the life and legacy of Ireland's patron…
7.96 MILES
According to legend, St Patrick died in Saul, where angels told his followers to place his body on a cart drawn by two untamed oxen, and to bury the saint…