Days Out NI
Farm Shop Banbridge, Co. Down

Ballydown Milk

Milk vending and a small farm shop on the edge of Banbridge, with goats and hens in the field beside the door.

5 photos
Mon–Sat, 8am–10pmClosed Sundays
Free to visitPay at the machine
Rathfriland RoadBanbridge, Co. Down
Get directions Official website
20–30 minHow long
Great for kidsBest for
BothShop & animals
On siteParking
Mon–SatClosed Sun

Milk vending, a small farm shop, and goats that come straight over to the fence — which is why a five-minute stop on the Rathfriland Road turns into half an hour with children in the car.

  • What you'll do — fill a glass bottle with milk at the machine, look through the fridge and the shelves for yoghurt, milkshakes, granola, honey and jam, and then spend longer than planned at the goat fence.
  • How long — twenty minutes to half an hour. The animals are the reason it isn't five.
  • Closed on Sundays. Monday to Saturday, 8am to 10pm — a very long day, but not a seven-day one, which catches people out.
  • The milk is different, and they'll tell you why — non-homogenised and non-standardised, and gently pasteurised rather than heat-treated hard. They say that keeps the creamy texture and the natural taste; you can taste it and judge for yourself.
  • Not just milk — yoghurt and milkshake flavours made to go with the milk rather than drown it, plus granola, honey and jams bought in from neighbouring producers.
  • Worth knowing — 4.8 out of 5 from 66 Google reviews, and the Game of Thrones Studio Tour is about a minute and a half up the road.
Plan your visit

Long days, six of them, and animals at the fence

Ballydown opens Monday to Saturday, 8am to 10pm, and is closed Sunday. Most of it is self-serve: you fill a bottle at the milk machine and pay there, and there's a fridge and shelves for the yoghurt, milkshakes and the local granola, honey and jams. Bring a glass bottle back to refill if you've been before. It's on the Rathfriland Road on the edge of Banbridge, a minute or two from the Game of Thrones Studio Tour and Solitude Park, so it fits neatly on to a bigger day. Ring 07447 159664 with anything you need to ask.

Mon–Sat · 8am–10pm Milk vending Goats and hens Refillable glass bottles Parking on site
The animals are half the visit:

There are goats and hens right beside the shop, and the goats are the kind that come over to see who's arrived. Look from your side of the fence, don't feed them anything you've brought, and keep small hands where you can see them. It costs nothing and it's the bit children remember. Stock and prices are at the machine and on the shelves, so treat anything here as a guide.

What's on site

What's at Ballydown

  • 🥛The milkNon-homogenised, non-standardised and gently pasteurised, dispensed into a glass bottle you can buy there and bring back to refill.
  • 🥤Yoghurt and milkshakesTheir own yoghurt, and milkshake flavours chosen — in their words — to complement the milk rather than overpower it.
  • 🍯The neighbours' shelfGranola, honey and jams bought in from local producers, so the shop is more than the machine.
  • 🐐Goats and hensA pen of goats and hens in the field beside the shop. Free, unstructured and completely reliable as a way to hold a small child's attention.
Good to know

Everything before you go

Cost
Free to pull in and see the animals. You pay at the machine and in the shop for what you take.
Opening
Monday to Saturday, 8am–10pm. Closed Sunday.
The milk
Non-homogenised and non-standardised, gently pasteurised. Dispensed into glass bottles which can be bought on site and refilled on later visits.
Also stocked
Yoghurt, milkshakes, and granola, honey and jams from local producers.
Animals
Goats and hens beside the shop. Look, don't feed, and keep children on your side of the fence.
Parking
On site in the yard.
Toilets
None that we can confirm — it's a farm shop rather than a visitor centre, and Banbridge is a couple of minutes away.
Dogs
There's livestock here. Keep dogs in the car or well away from the pens.
Accessibility
Level yard and level access to the shop and machine.
Reputation
4.8 out of 5 from 66 Google reviews.
Contact
07447 159664 · ballydownmilk.com
Questions

Before you go

Is it open on Sundays?
No. Monday to Saturday only, but from 8am right through to 10pm, which is a long day by any standard.
What's different about the milk?
It's non-homogenised and non-standardised, and gently pasteurised rather than heat-treated hard. They say that keeps the creamy texture and natural taste. It is pasteurised, so this is not raw milk.
Can the children see the goats?
Yes, and the goats will come to them. There are hens too. Look from your side of the fence and don't feed them anything you've brought with you.
Do I need my own bottle?
No — glass bottles are sold on site, and you can bring the same one back to refill, which is cheaper over time and a lot less plastic.
Is there anything besides milk?
Yoghurt, milkshakes, and granola, honey and jams from local producers. Enough to make it a shop rather than just a machine.
What's nearby?
The Game of Thrones Studio Tour is about a minute and a half away, Solitude Park is the same, and The Outlet is a couple of minutes. Easy to build a full day around it.
Getting there

Ballydown Milk, 66 Rathfriland Road, Banbridge BT32 3RN — on the edge of Banbridge, with parking in the yard.

Directions on Google Maps Official website See it on our map

Any questions: 07447 159664

Nearby

Make more of the day

Game of Thrones Studio TourBanbridge · 2 min Solitude ParkRiverside park · 2 min The OutletShops & food · 3 min Banbridge Leisure CentrePool · 3 min
The story

Milk the way it was before the machines standardised it

Most milk sold in a supermarket has been homogenised, standardised and shipped a long way before it reaches a fridge. Ballydown, on the Rathfriland Road outside Banbridge, does none of those things. The milk is non-homogenised and non-standardised, gently pasteurised rather than heat-treated hard, and sold from a machine at the end of the family's own lane into a glass bottle you bring back.

They are clear about why they do it that way, and it's their claim rather than ours: they say the gentler treatment keeps the creamy texture, the natural taste and what's naturally in the milk. What we can say is that it comes from their cows, it travels a few hundred yards instead of a few hundred miles, and 4.8 out of 5 across sixty-six reviews suggests people like the result.

The shop grew around it — yoghurt and milkshakes made to go with the milk rather than mask it, and granola, honey and jams bought in from the neighbours. And then there are the goats, who have absolutely nothing to do with the milk and are the reason half the children in Banbridge know the place.

Bring the bottle back. Say hello to the goats. Then go up the road and do the Studio Tour, which is ninety seconds away and an entirely different sort of afternoon.

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