Travel Directions
Travel Directions
Location
The Museum is situated 7 miles east of Belfast, near Holywood, on the main Belfast to Bangor Road (A2), just 15 minutes outside Belfast City Centre with excellent access by road, rail and bus and close to Belfast City Airport.
Bus and Rail
If you are travelling from the centre of Belfast there a number of options for your journey, you will be travelling on Belfast to Bangor train or bus routes:
- Central Rail Station has regular direct services to the museum, journey time approx 20 minutes
- Laganside Bus Station offers another direct route, journey time approx 30 minutes
- Europa Bus Station or Great Victoria Street rail station also offers regular services, you may need to change train or bus for these services, journey time approx 40 minutes (These two departure points are located side by side)
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Search the Translink website for up to date travel schedules: search
Advise the bus or train driver that your stop is Cultra, Folk and Transport Museum. Buses and trains stop outside the Transport Museum entrance, the Outdoor Folk Museum is about a 10 to 15 minute walk.
Parking
Ample free parking is available at the Museum for cars, minibuses and coaches. Car Parks are located in the Transport Museum and at a number of locations in the Folk Museum and at Cultra Manor. There are a number of designated parking areas for persons with a disability.
Opening Times
- 10.00am Monday to Saturday
- 11.00am on Sunday
- Closing times vary from 4pm to 6pm according to the season
- The Museum is open throughout the year, closing only for a few days at Christmas. More
Planning a Visit
The Ulster Folk and Transport Museum's site is very large extending over 175 acres, with the many attractions and activities in the open-air museum, as well as the extensive Folk and Transport Galleries most visitors will require more than a full day to see everything.
The following times are suggested as a guide to help plan a visit to the Folk Museum or the Transport Museum. More
Access for Visitors with a Disability
- The size and nature of the Museum may pose some difficulty for visitors with mobility problems. Many areas of the Museum are fully accessible, including all galleries, shops and main catering areas.
- Guide dogs and hearing dogs are welcome with their owners
- There is no entry charge for persons with a disability to the Museum.
- The companion/ helper of a wheelchair user, blind, partially sighted or deaf visitor will also be admitted free.
- Designated car parking for visitors with a disability is available at the main entrance to the Folk Galleries, the Town Car Park, Cultra Manor Car Park, the Rural Car Park and in front of the Irish Railway Collection, Road Transport Galleries and General Transport Galleries.
- Visitors are able to drive from one car park to another as they move around the Museum site.
- A limited number of wheelchairs are available for use within the galleries and around the site. They are available, subject to demand, at the Reception area of the Folk Galleries and the Irish Railway Collection.
- Toilet facilities for wheelchair users are available at various locations throughout the Museum site.
Tea Rooms and Picnic Areas
Catering at the Museum is operated under a franchise.
- The main tea room at Cultra Manor serves hot and cold meals, snacks and drinks.
- The Midland Kiosk in the heart of the Irish Railway Collection serves cold snacks and hot and cold drinks.
- Catering facilities are open to visitors during normal Museum opening hours
- Picnic areas are located throughout the Museum, however the use of portable barbeques is not permitted by visitors for reasons of health and safety.
Museum Shops
The Museum gift shops are located in the following areas:
- Folk Exhibition Galleries and in the General Transport Galleries offering a wide range of craft items, souvenirs, books and publications, postcards and a variety of stationery items.
- Ballycultra Town in the outdoor Folk Museum has a very popular corner shop selling sweets and confectionery
- Postcards can be posted in the Royal Mail letterbox beside the Temperance Hall Tea Room where there are daily collections.
The Library
The Museum possesses an excellent library and archive, designed to enable research by both museum staff and visitors. Members of the public are welcome to use these facilities on a reference basis during office hours.
The library, which is situated in the Museum's Administration building, contains approximately 15,000 books and many periodicals, covering a wide range of topics from cookery to local history, from costume to early motor cars. The archives have an equally wide scope, containing reminiscences, folklore material, railway timetables, maps and much more. More>
