Advertisement
Hillsborough Castle and Gardens

Hillsborough Castle and Gardens

Hillsborough Castle and Gardens
4.5
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
About
Explore Northern Ireland’s royal residence. Located just 20 minutes from Belfast, the restored and re-imagined Hillsborough Castle and Gardens has something for everyone. Inside the castle, discover the fascinating history of the re-presented State Rooms still used by the royal family. Enjoy delicious food and drink in our relaxing café and explore 100 acres of beautiful gardens, including the newly-restored Walled Garden, the previously unseen Lost Garden, meandering waterways and picturesque glens.
Duration: 2-3 hours
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing
Tours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
What is Travelers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travelers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Top ways to experience Hillsborough Castle and Gardens and nearby attractions

See what travelers are saying

  • Phil_F16
    Belfast, United Kingdom82 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Scenic garden stroll
    Been meaning to visit the castle and grounds for a while as had previously visited the cafe with family on a few occasions. Glad I did visit, wonderfully historic site and considerably bigger than I thought. The tour guides provide great insight into the various rooms and the historic context of the artefacts in the castle. What I wasn’t expecting was the extensive grounds, gardens, exotic plants and water features. They were all stunning . All in all a great day out if you enjoy history and a scenic stroll.
    Visited September 2023
    Traveled solo
    Written October 18, 2023
  • Sunny
    Northern Ireland, United Kingdom40 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Lovely Peter Rabbit trail
    We visited for the very first time today especially for the trail as our children (9, 6 & 11 months) love Peter Rabbit.  The trail was very cute & set in the beautiful gardens.  The children particularly liked the interactive aspects like the drawing boards. There was also an exhibition of Royal photographs which we thoroughly enjoyed. We brought a picnic & ate outside the cafe.  Plenty of toilets/baby change which were spotless. Staff professional & friendly. Large airy gift shop. Path was buggy friendly. Ample car parking spaces. Children are free at the minute, so it only cost £20 for the 5 of us. The only problem was finding the carpark. We travelled from Comber direction & there is no signage within Hillsborough itself - the carpark can only be accessed from the A1.  The carpark postcode didn't work on our phones or satnav. So bear this in mind! Definitely recommend for a lovely day out!
    Visited July 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written July 12, 2024
  • Alex L
    Manchester, United Kingdom46 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Loved it !!!
    Didn't really know of this place until I saw King Charles there during his tour of all the countries of the UK and the famous pen debacle!!!! On this trip to NI we made the visit with family members who we were staying with. The grounds and walled garden are beautiful. It was a lovely sunny day with a few showers to dodge. The house is a fair way from the car park but there was minibus transport between the two. If you are able the walk is well worth it. The Castle was lovely and very stately as you would expect. The Royals through the Lens exhibition was great. Some fantastic pictures. I'm glad we visited.
    Visited August 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written August 15, 2024
  • Jane P
    Ipswich, United Kingdom529 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Follow the brown tourist signs to get here.
    We stopped by here on the last afternoon of our holiday, mainly as a country fair was advertised. A sunny and warmer day and the whole experience would have been perfect but the rain and chilly conditions dampened the atmosphere at the fair and probably shortened our visit. The gardens were very pretty and varied in content, and we took some nice photos along the walking trail. We purchased a garden only ticket - we did decline the optional donation that is added on, as we felt the admission price was already quite high for the time we arrived and intended to stay for, but that was all handled well and professionally. As others have said, use the brown tourist signs to get here and not the sat nav directions which dont seem to work that well.
    Visited August 2024
    Traveled with family
    Written August 26, 2024
  • Moira J
    1 contribution
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Stepping in the help a woman in need!
    Hi, I was.at Hillsborough Castle Summer Fair today and enjoyed it very much. However the walk from the gates to the music venue was much further that we thought and my friend who has limited mobility really struggled. When it came time to go back to the car park I spoke to a member of staff about her struggle and they immediately put on.a.lift.for her right to the car park. It was amazing and I just want to thank.Mike for his assistance today. He did a great job which was greatly appreciated!! Moira
    Visited August 2024
    Traveled with friends
    Written August 26, 2024
  • CeilingsPA
    Lansdale, Pennsylvania826 contributions
    5.0 of 5 bubbles
    Perfect day
    This is a must do, the gardens are extensive and quite stunning, particularly the walled area, which is packed with fruit trees (looks like artwork) vegetables and much more, many of the items available in the produce store. The house tour was excellent, our guide James was not only knowledgeable, he was engaging and really gave you a good understanding of the items inside and the history (probably the best guide we have ever been with) Nice walks around the grounds and being able to exit/enter via the stables, gave us a chance to get a nice lunch in town, walk around the fort area/lake of Hillsborough, then come back in to the Castle and the car park. Perfect day, highly recommended
    Visited August 2024
    Traveled as a couple
    Written August 30, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as wait time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

4.5
4.5 of 5 bubbles417 reviews
Excellent
283
Very good
91
Average
21
Poor
12
Terrible
10

Trav008
Northern Ireland107 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Family
Maybe it was bad luck that we visited at a busy time, but the cafe was absolutely chaotic, the tills/coffee area was just a massive circle of queuing customers and it wasn't clear where the queue began or ended. You've to join the circle, eventually order, keep going in the circle, eventually get your coffee. The hot food counters look like you can order and get hot food at them but it's just an illusion, keep in the circle. Food choices were very limited at 11.30am. £7.50 for 2 poached eggs on a tough half muffin, some even tougher bacon and some hollandaise sauce. Ripped off.
Staff were friendly and did their best, nice premises.
Otherwise terrible visit.
Written February 8, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello, thank you for leaving your review. I’m sorry to hear you didn’t enjoy your visit to the café. We usually have two cafes on site, but over the winter the smaller one is closed, which might account for why it was busy when you visited. We will pass on your feedback to the catering team, but if you would like a written response from them, please email us at info@hrp.org.uk and quote the reference HRP-68642-Z3Q8. Thank you again for letting us know about your visit.
Written February 10, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Ron M
Ballynahinch, N Ireland92 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020
The Irish Times somehow gave this place an award recently. Based on it we visited today only to be massively disappointed.

The breakfast menu was very limited with not even the possibility of anything approaching an Irish fry with sausages, bacon eggs etc. The layout is chaotic and having to order at the till ('hot' breakfasts) really slows things down. Ordering coffee at the the till and bringing to the table sounds fine but by the time the food arrives it is either nearly finished and / or cold. The eggs Benedict at £7.50 was not good. The eggs were almost cold and the two slices of bread uninteresting ... toast would have been better. The bacon was good but the portion small. To pay so much for poor quality was a shame and would certainly deter me from making a return visit as there are far better places to have breakfast.

It is, of course, spotlessly clean and the staff are pleasant.

Irish Times and 'all Ireland' awards? It makes one wonder. The cafe needs a wider, better breakfast menu and a more coherent ordering system ...
Written February 18, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello, thank you for taking the time to leave feedback. We're sorry to hear you didn't enjoy your visit to the cafe and were disappointed with the food and ordering process. We will pass your feedback onto our catering team, but if you would like a written response from them directly, please email info@hrp.org.uk and quote the reference HRP-69320-N9P1. Thank you again for telling us about your visit.
Written February 19, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

Tina W
Southampton8 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2020 • Solo
Booked on a tour with the lovely Kevin as my guide. Very knowledgeable and interesting adding humour. Art deco and paintings blended with each room the drawing room was my favourite. Gardens were beautiful would go back to see them in bloom. Lots of reasonably priced gifts to purchase and the roast dinner in the cafe/restaurant was tasty and plentiful.
Written March 6, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hello, thank you for leaving feedback about your visit. We're so pleased you enjoyed your visit and will pass your kind comments onto Kevin, who I'm sure will be delighted. Once again, thank you for your feedback, and we look forward to welcoming you back to the Palace soon!
Written March 9, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

B.H.
Portadown, UK5 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2020
We visited Hillsborough Castle and Gardens recently and it was absolutely stunning. From start to finish the trip was wonderful. We were greeted by security staff upon arrival who were so pleasant, in fact all staff that we met were so polite and happy to chat. My daughter loved the walled garden, it was beautifully laid out with a huge array of plants to see. All facilities were immaculate and well thought through. We spent 3 hours in the gardens which moved from walled garden into more mature gardens which then led to a walk around a lake. We were extremely impressed and will most definitely be back.
Written June 28, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

rivercross
Northern Ireland, UK226 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2020
STABLEYARD CAFE

Not impressed.

Visited the stable yard coffee shop yesterday and was not impressed.

I was shocked at how many people were entering the building not wearing a mask and not using the hand sanitizer.

We were seated quickly and the waitress came to our table. She informed me that I had to upload the App on my phone to make our order.
I informed the girl there was no room on my phone for this but she insisted on proceeding on my phone to upload it but soon realised she could not do it.

The waitress took our order and the tea and coffee arrived quite promptly but no sign of the scones.
After several minutes I mentioned to one of the waitresses that we had not received our scones.
Her reply was "you will get them when they are ready"
I thought this was rather rude and not impressed with the service.
Written August 28, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Richard C
York42 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2020 • Couples
We visited the house and gardens this week. The house is beautiful, quite informal in parts although I am now thinking of installing a Throne Room at home! We would have liked to see more though! A view of the upstairs and bedrooms would have been nice.
Most amazing walled garden, growing fresh produce for the house and cafe.
We had an issue whilst queuing for coffee in the cafe, we were left standing and then asked to order but apparently that was for take out coffee! I know this social distancing is new to all of us but perhaps there needs to be a better system...... or was it just us???
Written August 9, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Isaac B
Ballynahinch, UK462 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Aug 2020 • Family
We visited in the morning, having booked tickets for the gardens / house tour on line. You have an allocated time slot for the tour but things seemed fairly relaxed.
It’s essentially self guided with members of staff in the main rooms who will explain / enlarge on details as you wish. Interesting to walk through what is still a working palace with lots of art, antiques and family photos to see.
The route takes you through about 2/3 of the ground floor which we did in 15 / 20 minutes. A dedicated art lover or an ardent royalist could well take twice that time.
The gardens are spectacular and worth a visit on their own. We didn’t cover all the walks but the walled garden and the hidden garden shouldn’t be missed.
There’s a cafe on site, operated by the Yellow Door where we had an excellent snack lunch. Both indoor and outdoor seating is available.
Overall this is a good morning (or afternoon) out but on the expensive side. We’ll probably return at some stage but limit ourselves to the garden tickets.
Written August 12, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

McM1
1 contribution
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2022 • Family
Just back from a Christmas Tour at Hillsborough Castle and it definitely exceeded our expectations! We knew the staff would be dressed for the occasion but did not expect to be transported back in time with wonderfully scripted and delivered performances.
With realistic costumes, and lots of fun ad hoc engagement with guests (and little guests) this was such a fun an educational experience, made perfect with a sugar mouse from ‘Father Christmas’ himself!

Staff are so helpful and enthusiastic. A great afternoon out. Be sure to leave time to stroll through the beautiful gardens.

If visiting with a baby/toddler I’d recommend bringing a pram for the walk to and from the castle and also a carrier/reins for inside.
Written December 4, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sisselmyself
Scotland, UK74 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2020 • Friends
We had a walk around the garden, which is very impressive and lots of photo opportunities. A visit to the cafe proved a success, nice cakes and coffees. Then a guided tour of the house itself, with Nigel as our guide. He was very knowledgeable and interesting, and could answer any questions we threw at him. We felt we knew the place by the time we were finished, without going into too many details. Very happy with our visit, highly recommend it.
Written March 19, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

steven w
Leeds, UK231 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2023 • Couples
We made our own way here from our cruise ship which had docked in Belfast. We had prebooked before we sailed. Put off by the price of a taxi, we went to the bus station and got a return ticket for about £5. Half an hour later we were there. The staff could not have been more helpful. They booked us on an earlier tour so we had more time and arranged for the minibus to take us to the the cafe and shop to save time. The house is stunning, the rooms are on a par with Sandringham and the contents tell some fascinating stories about both the royal family but also the visitors and their reasons for being there. The bus took us back to Belfast in good time and we had our Guiness in a local bar. It was for me the highlight of the trip.
Written July 28, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Showing results 1-10 of 409
*Likely to sell out: Based on Viator’s booking data and information from the provider from the past 30 days, it seems likely this experience will sell out through Viator, a Tripadvisor company.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing

Hillsborough Castle and Gardens - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (2025)

All things to do in Hillsborough
RestaurantsFlightsVacation RentalsTravel StoriesCruisesRental Cars