The terrace view
From 120 metres up, the whole city and Belfast Lough open out on a clear day.
The reason to climb up to Belfast Castle is not the castle but the terrace you stand on: from around 120 metres up the flank of Cave Hill the whole city spreads out below, the shipyard cranes, Belfast Lough running out to the sea and, on the very clearest days, a thread of the Scottish coast on the horizon. The building itself is not a castle in any medieval sense. It is a mansion built between 1867 and 1870 for the 3rd Marquess of Donegall in the Scottish Baronial style, all pointed turrets and a stone serpentine staircase, added in 1894, curling down from the main floor to the gardens. Belfast City Council runs it today, and entry to the house, the grounds and the Cave Hill visitor centre is completely free. Be honest with the family before you arrive: the interior is modest. A ground floor of reception rooms hired out for weddings, a small visitor centre in the basement on the hill and the house, a gift shop, a coffee shop and a restaurant. There are no regular guided tours and no period furniture, and if you land on a wedding, which is common on Saturdays, the main rooms shut to visitors and you are left with the basement and the gardens. The gardens are where children actually light up: nine cats, carved, painted and set in mosaic, are hidden across the terraces. The legend says a white cat kept the household lucky, and visitors have turned it into a hunt: find all nine and luck follows. It takes a happy half hour and makes up for the thin interior. The other half of the visit starts from the car park: the Cave Hill trails climb through woodland to Napoleon's Nose, the jutting crag whose profile is said to have given Jonathan Swift the idea of his sleeping giant in Gulliver's Travels. The full ascent takes about two hours there and back and wants proper shoes; it is muddy after rain, which in winter means most days. The short loop around the castle is enough for anyone pushing a pram. Inside, a public lift links the ground floor, basement and first floor, and there are accessible toilets with baby changing, so families are well looked after. A taxi from the centre takes ten to fifteen minutes; Metro 1 buses from Upper Queen Street along the Antrim Road drop you at Strathmore Park, a short but steep uphill walk away. Parking is free. The castle opens daily at 9am, until 6pm on Sunday and Monday and 9pm the rest of the week, with the coffee shop from 10am to 5pm. Allow one to two hours with the gardens, add another two for the summit, and pick a clear day: in fog the terrace loses its only argument.
From 120 metres up, the whole city and Belfast Lough open out on a clear day.
A garden hunt that keeps children busy for half an hour; find all nine and, so visitors say, luck follows.
The climb to Napoleon's Nose starts from the car park, about two hours there and back in proper shoes.
Antrim Road, Belfast BT15 5GR
On a clear day and with a car or a taxi, yes: an hour on the terrace and in the gardens gives you the best free view of the city. In rain or fog, no. The interior alone does not justify the trip, so spend that time at Titanic Belfast instead.
Inside the castle, yes: there is a lift between floors and toilets with baby changing, and the terraced gardens have paths you can manage. The Cave Hill trails towards the summit are muddy and steep and are not pushchair territory.