Finlay's Place, Killinchy

Book the picking, then take the long road home

Finlay's Place opens Tuesday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm, and is closed Sunday and Monday. The farm shop is walk-in; strawberry picking is booked in advance through their website, which is the one thing that catches people out. Picking is a summer crop, so it runs when the fruit is ripe — ring 028 9754 1221 or check the site rather than assuming. It sits right on the A22 at Killinchy, a couple of minutes from Strangford Lough, so it pairs beautifully with Sketrick Castle, Nendrum or Castle Espie for the rest of the day.

Tue–Sat · 9am–5pm Pick your own, booked online Homegrown fruit & veg New potatoes in season Parking on site

Two things that make or break the trip:

First, book the picking — it goes through their own website and it's the difference between a lovely morning and a wasted drive. Second, remember it's a crop: strawberries ripen when they ripen, and a cold June moves everything. Ring ahead. Once you're there it's dry work under the tunnels whatever the sky is doing, which makes it one of the better rainy-day-that-isn't-indoors options in County Down.

What grows here

🍓Strawberries to pickUnder polytunnels, grown up at picking height so nobody's kneeling in the mud. The pick-your-own is the reason most families come, and it books out.

🫐Currants and gooseberriesRedcurrants, blackcurrants and gooseberries alongside the raspberries — the fruit most people never see growing, and children love filling a punnet with it.

🥔New potatoes and vegHomegrown new potatoes and local seasonal vegetables in the shop, with minimal food miles — from the field behind you to the shelf in front of you.

🌿For the gardenerThey pitch the place at the gardener as much as the cook, so it's worth a look round if you grow anything yourself.

Everything before you go

Cost

Free to visit the shop; you pay by weight for what you pick. Picking tickets are booked through their website.

Opening

Tuesday to Saturday, 9am–5pm. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Booking

Strawberry picking is booked in advance online. The farm shop is walk-in.

Season

Picking is a summer crop and runs when the fruit is ready — it moves with the weather, so check before travelling.

What they grow

Homegrown strawberries, raspberries, currants and gooseberries, new potatoes and local seasonal vegetables.

Best for

Children old enough to carry a punnet. It's one of the few days out where the activity and the shopping are the same thing.

What to wear

Shoes you don't mind on farm ground, and something with pockets. The tunnels keep the rain off, so a shower is no reason to cancel.

Parking

On site, off the A22.

Dogs

We haven't been able to confirm a dog policy, and it's a food-growing site — ring and ask before you bring one.

Accessibility

The tunnels have level, made-up walkways between the rows, but it is farm ground. A quick call is the surest answer for anything specific.

Reputation

4.8 out of 5 from 105 Google reviews.

Contact

028 9754 1221 · finlaysplace.co.uk

Questions

Before you go

Do I need to book to pick strawberries?

Yes — picking tickets go through their own website. The shop you can just walk into, but don't drive out for the picking without a slot.

When is the strawberry season?

Summer, and it moves every year with the weather. That's the honest answer — ring or check the website rather than turning up in May and hoping.

Is it good for young children?

It's excellent. The plants are grown at picking height so small people can reach without kneeling, and filling a punnet is a job they can actually finish.

What if it rains?

You're under polytunnels, so the picking carries on regardless. A wet day is arguably the better day to come — fewer people and the same fruit.

What else can I buy?

Homegrown raspberries, currants and gooseberries in season, new potatoes, and local seasonal vegetables — the shop is the point when the picking isn't running.

What's nearby?

You're a couple of minutes from Strangford Lough. Sketrick Castle, Nendrum monastic site on Mahee Island and Castle Espie Wetland Centre are all a short run, and any of them make a full day of it.

Getting there

Finlay's Place, 40 Comber Road, Killinchy, Newtownards BT23 6PB — right on the A22 near Balloo, a couple of minutes from Strangford Lough, with parking on site.

Directions on Google Maps Official website See it on our map

Check the crop before you travel: 028 9754 1221

Nearby

Make more of the day

Sketrick CastleTower ruin on the lough · 3 min Nendrum Monastic SiteMahee Island · 4 min Castle EspieWetland centre · 8 min North Strangford LoughNature reserve · nearby

The story

Fruit grown a mile from the people eating it

Finlay's Place sits on the A22 at Killinchy, a couple of fields back from Strangford Lough, and the pitch is refreshingly narrow: good, nutritious fruit and vegetables with as few miles on them as possible. Strawberries, raspberries, new potatoes, whatever the season is doing. Grown here, sold here.

The pick-your-own grew out of that and became the thing the place is known for locally. Rows under polytunnels, plants trained up so the fruit hangs at hand height, and families working along them filling punnets. It is one of the few outings where the activity and the shopping are the same act, and where a child ends the morning genuinely proud of a box of strawberries.

There is more in there than the strawberries, too — redcurrants, blackcurrants and gooseberries, which most children have never seen on a bush and which turn out to be extremely satisfying to pick. And a ladybird on a leaf will hold a four-year-old longer than any of it.

Book your slot, go on a warm Tuesday morning, and eat a few before they reach the till. Everybody does. Then take the shore road home the long way.