Our visit to the Ulster Folk Museum in Cultra, Northern Ireland
The Ulster Folk Museum in Cultra should hands down, be on your list of places to visit with the family. It is a beautiful place to visit and even better when the sun has its hat on! The Ulster Folk Museum has an array of period buildings from the 1800s, rolling fields of countryside and a bustling town to enjoy. Where you will see demonstrations of traditional crafts, how people lived back in those days and how shops such as traditional sweet shops and picture houses would work.
How to get to Cultra?
If you drive, then all you have a car, then pop the Ulster Folk Museum into your GPS and you will find it no problem. By bus, be sure to check out the Translink website from your destination to Cultra. We, as a family, take the train. We would make our way to Lanyon Place and get on the Bangor line to Cultra. A simple enough journey by train and costs £22 pound for a family & friends return journey ticket with Translink.
Visiting the Ulster Folk Museum
You can check out all of the relevant information before your visit to the Ulster Folk Museum here. Whether it is opening times, price of tickets, attractions on site etc. You will find all of the information available on their website. If you do visit by train, the Ulster Folk Museum is a short walk from the Cultra Train Station, with plenty of signs to keep you right.
As a family, we love visiting the Ulster Folk Museum as there is so much to see and do. You can walk around the beautiful grounds, visit the traditional shops, go into homes and see how they functioned from over 100 years ago and so much more. From watching craftsmen creating traditional baskets as well as tweed weaving, blacksmithing and printing.
We love going into the authentic period homes to see how incredibly different they were from back then, until now. It is nothing short of fascinating and a really good thing for the children to see as well.
Bring a Picnic!
A bit of advice? Bring a picnic with you on your day trip to the Ulster Folk Museum. The shop onsite {in the town} sells sandwiches, tray bakes and drinks. However when we visited, there was a problem with customers buying out of date food and having an issue getting a refund. Which isn’t very you good, I am sure you will agree.
The tea room near the church square is lovely for a cup of tea and a tray bake, however, they are very expensive. So take that into consideration if you are visiting with children, as there is nothing more than sandwiches, pastries and buns available.
There are a good few picnic tables and areas to lay a picnic blanket around the town square and countryside. So my best tip would be bring a picnic and water bottles for you all to enjoy rather than spending loads of money in the food outlets onsite.
Lots of walking!
Whatever you decide to do during your visit to the Ulster Folk Museum, it will take between 2-2.5hrs to walk around everywhere and see everything. So wear comfortable shoes! With gravel paths and cobblestones in places, it is a place to wear good footwear, for sure.
Opening times & other helpful information
The Ulster Folk Museum is open Tuesday – Saturday, opening at 10am until 5pm. It is closed on Mondays & Sundays. Dogs are allowed into the folk museum, however they must be on a lead at all times. There is a gift shop on site, which is lovely. Filled with trinkets, Irish recipe books, Folk Museum related bits and more. Some items re reasonably priced and others are very expensive, to bear that in mind.
Tickets range between £8-£11, with student, senior and family tickets available. It is a beautiful day out with family and friends. You can easily spend the whole day here if you plan it right and of course, get the good weather!
Have you ever visited the Ulster Folk Museum?
