Armagh Observatory and Planetarium — Attraction in Corporation

Two mature adults, spent a wasted 50 minutes at this place. It was raining and since we've lived in NI for the past 30 years and have done all the big tourist attractions, we were looking forward to going here. Lets start at the beginning. The car park's parking spaces are tiny, anyone with difficulties/children (i.e. wheelchair/pram) would find it hard to get in and out comfortably as there are very few disabled/children friendly parking spaces. And there's no Park and Ride. On the plus side parking is free. We had about ten minutes to wait for the 'show' and so had a quick look around. A couple of exhibitions about space travel, a few meteorites, a couple of 'craft' rooms, a 'cafe' and insufficient toilet facilities filled the time up. Some fed-up tourists looked to have been waiting quite a while to go into the 'auditorium' and there were few seats for people to use while waiting. Once inside the 'auditorium' most people went for the seats at the back, but us being last sat at the front, which wasn't totally bad but the seats don't flick back far enough, so it was uncomfortable for a lot of the time. Our 'host', who had a sore throat, bless him, ran through the health and safety procedures and I mean literally 'ran'. Lordy love anyone who couldn't speak northern irish, let alone english, as it was impossible to understand. We laughed heartily. The actual show itself was mainly for under 10's, though this wasn't highlighted on the website. It was our friendly presenter who told us all about the Zodiac signs, the stars near/far from Earth and....can't remember much else. I learned one thing tho all I have to do to find south and north is to look where the sun rises and sets and turn slightly to my right! Genius. Finally we were forced to participate in a virtual roller coast ride, again brilliant for the kids, but we wondered what on earth it had to do with the solar system/space, other than we 'passed' a few unnamed planets. When we exited 40 mins later, FORTY minutes, of learning nothing, we stood and looked at the meteorites outside the 'craft' room. This was the last place I'd let a child work in as it just looked c##p and didn't have anything that would inspire any sort of craft work. For the amount of money that a lot of framed photo's took up a lot of wall space highlighting what was spent on the place we wondered if it all went into the foundations. It didn't show in any of the exhibitions or craft rooms. The show needs to be revised to show something that actually teaches us about the fantastic solar system that we are a part of. Take a child to enjoy but expect to be really disappointed. PS don't bother with the cafe unless your creative like some people we saw there who brought their own stuff to make their...

We have dunsink observatory on our doorstep and came up to here for a change of celestial viewings.

We loved the exhibition centre lots of wonderful display pictures models interactive screens.

Sensory room also was fun and the other room with space and environment. We forgot to go to the build a rocket room but should also mention the room.

We viewed our solar system in the dome and it was brilliant show I read some other reviews complaining about their necks 😆 we sat in the middle row and no one from 6 to 80 had issue as the seats are comfy and reclined to an angle for viewing that's how you watch the dome show the main features are in front of your eyes all the time if your rubber necking your missing the main viewing FYI

Staff were brilliant and friendly I'd also like to say I was impressed with our show guide especially when she spoke of hopefully some type of life on some of the planets whether it was a flower a fish etc cause I believe there's life beyond otherwise its a waste of space.

We had a lovely stroll around the grounds on a frosty day and loved it. I'd recommend to all ages to come visit it gets minds buzzing and open thinking and could inspire the next galileo astronaut astro physicists etc.

Great space themed giftshop also at the entrance.

We will defo be back again thank you for a lovely few hour's to imagine...

We visited Armagh Planetarium on a Sunday with our two boys (ages 4 and 9) and had a fantastic experience. The atmosphere was calm and not crowded, which made it really enjoyable to explore at our own pace. We spent nearly 3 hours there and found it to be the perfect amount of time — the exhibition isn't huge, but it's just the right size to keep kids engaged without overwhelming or tiring them out.

One of the highlights for us was the fantastic sensory room. It’s full of interactive features and hands-on activities, and the kids especially loved the chance to dress up like astronauts! The Dome Show was definitely the standout moment of our visit — an amazing experience that I’d highly recommend booking in advance.

There’s also a small café on-site offering coffee, snacks, and even ice cream — perfect for a short break. The staff were incredibly friendly and helpful. We had originally booked our tickets in advance, but one of our sons was unwell on the morning of our visit. A quick phone call was all it took to reschedule to another date, free of charge, which we really appreciated.

Overall, Armagh Planetarium is a brilliant day out for families with young kids — fun, educational, and...