Autumn List · Family Days Out Across Northern Ireland
Ghost Tours & Spooky Nights in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland has more genuinely haunted buildings than almost anywhere its size. Twelve tours and spooky evenings — from a Victorian gaol that is not for the faint-hearted to lantern-lit story walks a five-year-old would love.
A ghost tour is the rare autumn outing that works just as well for a nervous six-year-old as for a group of teenagers — as long as you pick the right one. Every entry below tells you exactly how frightening it is and whether there is an age limit.
Check the age limit before you book, not after. Some of these are firmly adults-only — the Crumlin Road Gaol paranormal tours are 15+ and ask for proof of age, and tickets are non-refundable. Others are aimed squarely at small children. They are not interchangeable, and the names do not always make it obvious.
There are three different kinds of night here. A ghost walk is storytelling outdoors on a guided route — history, atmosphere, no jump scares. A haunted building tour takes you inside somewhere genuinely eerie in low light. A paranormal investigation is the serious version, hours long, with equipment and experiments. Pick deliberately.
The gentle ones are properly gentle. The National Trust evenings — Haunted Harvest at Mount Stewart, Nocturnal Nature at Crom — are about lanterns, bats, owls and stories rather than fright. If you have a child who wants to feel brave without actually being frightened, start there.
Dress for standing outside in the dark. Walking tours run in all weather and the indoor ones are often unheated. Flat shoes are usually a condition of entry for the gaol tours — uneven Victorian floors in low light. Warm layers, always.
Book early for October. Anything with "Halloween" in the title sells out weeks ahead here, because Derry is the biggest Halloween city in Europe and the whole province leans into it. The year-round tours are much easier to get on at short notice.
Most of these are true history, not invention. The Islandmagee witch trial, the executions at Crumlin Road, the documented Springhill ghost — the stories are grim because they are real. That is worth knowing before you take a sensitive child.
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Crumlin Road Gaol Paranormal Tour
Crumlin Road, Belfast · year-round · 15+ only
The most seriously haunted building in Northern Ireland, and the tour that earns its reputation. Crumlin Road Gaol is the only Victorian prison still standing here, it saw seventeen executions across its hundred and fifty years, and staff and visitors have reported apparitions and unexplained noises for decades. The hour-long guided tour takes you through the three acknowledged hot spots — the tunnel, the execution chamber and D-wing — in low light, with the guide running paranormal experiments as you go. Minimum age fifteen, proof of age may be asked for, latecomers are not admitted, and tickets are non-refundable. Flat shoes and warm clothes.
About 1 hourTicketed · see siteSTRICTLY 15+ · low light · not for the easily frightened
The step up from the guided tour, and firmly not a family outing. A four-hour investigation of the gaol's most active areas on a small number of nights a year, with proper equipment, vigils and time in the tunnel and the condemned areas. It runs late, it is cold, and it is aimed at people who take the subject seriously rather than at anyone looking for a fright. If that is your thing, this is the best of its kind on the island.
4 hours, overnightTicketed · see siteAdults · the serious version, not a family night
Belfast city centre · year-round · older children up
Running since 2009 and the original of its kind here. This is storytelling in the old tradition, on foot, through the entries and alleyways of the Victorian city — the parts of Belfast people walk past every day without knowing what happened there. There is no theatre and nothing jumps out at you; it works because the stories are real and the guide is good. Comfortable for older children who like a bit of history with their fright.
About 1.5 hoursTicketed · see siteA walking story tour — no jump scares
Belfast After Dark: Ghosts & Paranormal Walking Tour
Belfast city centre · autumn season · older children up
Now in its seventh sell-out year, led by the guides who have made a name doing it — the "GhostLady" Lorraine Welsh and the "Ghostman" Francis Higgins. The route takes in Belfast's oldest streets and its darker corners, mixing genuine city history with the ghost stories attached to it. It sells out every autumn, so book as soon as the dates go up rather than hoping for a spare place in late October.
About 1.5 hoursTicketed · see siteSells out — book ahead
Carrickfergus, Co Antrim · autumn · family-suitable
A Norman castle on the edge of Belfast Lough, eight hundred years old, and one of the most atmospheric buildings in the country to walk around after dark. The haunted tour leans on the castle's real history — sieges, garrisons, prisoners — with the ghost stories that have attached themselves over the centuries. It is properly spooky in the way a torchlit castle is spooky, without being frightening. A good first ghost tour for a family.
About 1 hourTicketed · see siteMildly spooky — fine for most primary-age children
Carrickfergus Castle & Islandmagee Witches Walking Tour
Carrickfergus, Co Antrim · autumn · teens and adults
The most historically serious tour on this list. In 1711 eight women from Islandmagee were tried for witchcraft in Carrickfergus in what became the last witch trial in Ireland — a real, documented miscarriage of justice with real victims. The walking tour covers the trial, the accusations and the place it happened. It is genuinely interesting rather than spooky, and it is better suited to teenagers and adults than to small children, because the subject is bleak.
About 1.5 hoursTicketed · see siteTrue history — grim subject matter
A guided tour by minibus rather than on foot, which makes it one of the few spooky nights out here that works if someone in the group cannot manage a long walk in the dark. The route covers the witch and ghost stories of the Antrim coast with the guide narrating between stops. Warm, seated and easy — and the coast road at dusk is worth the ticket on its own.
About 2 hoursTicketed · see siteSeated tour — good if walking is difficult
Armagh Gaol, Tower Hill · late October · teens and adults
Armagh Gaol sat empty for decades after it closed, and getting inside it at all is unusual. The Halloween ghost tour experience opens it up for a short run at the end of October, taking you through the cells and corridors of a Georgian county gaol with the history and the hauntings told together. It runs for a handful of nights only and sells out, so watch the Navan Centre listings from September.
About 1.5 hoursTicketed · see siteHalloween season only — books out fast
Sit-down storytelling rather than a tour, and all the better for it on a wet October night. An evening of the ghost stories of the north of Ireland told properly, indoors and seated — the folklore, the local legends and the ones that turn out to be true. Mild enough for children who like being a bit scared, and a good option if the weather has ruined the outdoor plan.
About 1 hourTicketed · see siteStorytelling, seated, indoors — very mild
Moneymore, Co Londonderry · autumn · family-suitable
One of the prettiest houses in Northern Ireland and, by reputation, the most haunted. Springhill is a seventeenth-century family home lived in by ten generations of the Lenox-Conynghams, and its Blue Room holds one of the best-documented ghost stories in Ireland — recorded, written down and passed through the family rather than invented for visitors. Members of the family tell the stories in the house during the haunting season, and there is a spooky Halloween experience for children. Genuinely eerie, not at all frightening.
Half a dayNT members free · non-members payIreland’s best-documented ghost — told, not staged
Newtownards, Co Down · late October · young children welcome
The gentlest thing on this list, and the right answer if you have a four-year-old who wants to join in with Halloween without being frightened. Mount Stewart turns its gardens over to a family Halloween trail at the end of October — dressing up, seasonal activities and a walk through one of the great gardens of these islands in its autumn colour. Nothing jumps out. Nobody cries.
Half a dayNT members free · non-members payGentle — built for small children
Crom, Newtownbutler, Co Fermanagh · November · all ages
Not a ghost tour, and included deliberately. Crom is one of the largest surviving areas of ancient oak woodland in Ireland, on the shore of Upper Lough Erne, and Nocturnal Nature takes you into it after dark to listen for owls, watch for bats and understand what actually moves in a wood at night. If your child finds ghost stories too much but loves the idea of being out in the dark, this is the version of that night that will genuinely thrill them.
2 hoursNT members free · non-members payReal wildlife after dark — not a ghost tour at all
What is the most haunted place in Northern Ireland?
Crumlin Road Gaol in Belfast is the best known — the only Victorian prison still standing here, the site of seventeen executions, with decades of reported sightings in the tunnel, the execution chamber and D-wing. Springhill House near Moneymore is the other contender, holding one of the best-documented ghost stories in Ireland.
Are there ghost tours in Northern Ireland suitable for children?
Yes, several. Carrickfergus Castle’s haunted tour is spooky rather than frightening and suits most primary-age children. Haunted Harvest at Mount Stewart is built for young children. Eerieland is seated indoor storytelling. Nocturnal Nature at Crom is real wildlife after dark with no fright at all.
What age do you have to be for the Crumlin Road Gaol paranormal tour?
Fifteen, and proof of age may be requested. The tour runs in low light, it is not recommended for anyone easily frightened, latecomers are not admitted and tickets are non-refundable. The separate four-hour paranormal investigation is aimed at adults.
When do Northern Ireland ghost tours run?
Most cluster from September to early November around Halloween, and the October ones sell out weeks ahead. The Crumlin Road Gaol tours and the Belfast ghost walks run year-round, so they are much easier to get on at short notice.
What should I wear on a ghost tour?
Warm layers and flat shoes. Walking tours go ahead in all weather, the historic buildings are usually unheated, and flat footwear is often a condition of entry because of uneven floors in low light.
Is there a ghost tour that does not involve a lot of walking?
The Witches and Ghosts of the North Coast taxibus tour is seated throughout — a guided minibus tour with narration between stops. Eerieland is seated indoor storytelling. Both work if walking in the dark is difficult.
Which one is right for us?
Pick your night in one line
Got a young child? Haunted Harvest at Mount Stewart, or Nocturnal Nature at Crom — dressing up, lanterns and owls, nothing frightening.
Got teenagers? The Crumlin Road Gaol paranormal tour (15+) or the Islandmagee witches walking tour — real, grim history that will hold them.
Want stories, not scares? Ghost Walk Belfast, Eerieland, or the family storytelling at Springhill.
Serious about the paranormal? The four-hour investigation at Crumlin Road Gaol is the real thing, and it is adults only.
