Days Out NI
Shopping Centre West Belfast · Donegall Road

The Park Centre

West Belfast's own shopping centre — around 35 shops, free parking, and a football museum on the old Paradise ground.

5 photos
Open Mon–SunLate to 9pm Wed–Fri · Sun 1–5pm
Free to browseFree surface parking too
BelfastWest · BT12 6HN
Official websiteGet directions
1–2 hoursHow long
All agesBest for
IndoorsRain-proof
FreeTo browse
Free parkingOn site

A proper local shopping centre on the Donegall Road — around 35 shops all on one level, free parking at the door, and a football museum where a legendary Belfast side once played, all under one dry roof.

  • What you'll do — pick up the everyday run in one indoor loop: Home Bargains, B&M and Iceland anchor the place, with Poundland, New Look, Peacocks, JD Sports, Boots, Specsavers and a Post Office filling it out, plus a café, Subway and a butcher's.
  • How long — an easy 1–2 hours for the shop and a bite; a little longer if the Belfast Celtic Museum is open and you stop in.
  • Cost & parking — free to walk in and browse, and the on-site car park is free too — a big surface car park straight off the Donegall Road, with a covered deck and 23 Blue Badge bays near the doors.
  • Mind the hours — open Monday to Saturday, and Sunday afternoons (1pm–5pm). Late nights run to 9pm on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday; other days close at 5:30pm.
  • Food — a café and quick bites rather than a big restaurant line-up: the Jam café-restaurant, Subway, Dinky Donuts, a coffee stop and Mace, plus a family butcher and Iceland for the freezer run. Honest, handy, everyday food.
  • The Belfast Celtic Museum keeps its own hours. There's a genuine little museum here to the old club — but it's volunteer-run with limited opening, often by arrangement. Two display windows with 40-plus items are viewable any time the centre's open; to get inside the museum itself, contact the Belfast Celtic Society first rather than turning up for it.
  • This is a local shopping run, not a big day out. It's honest value and dry-weather handy — but if you're after cinemas, big-brand fashion or the flagship stores, that's Victoria Square and the city centre, a couple of miles east.
Plan your visit

Just turn up — it's free, and parking's free too

No tickets and no booking — walk in off the Donegall Road any day it's open. Centre hours are 9am–5:30pm Monday and Tuesday, 9am–9pm Wednesday to Friday for the late-night shopping, 9am–5:30pm Saturday and 1pm–5pm Sunday. Individual stores set their own times, and a few keep shorter Sunday hours than the centre. The car park is a free surface lot right at the door, with a covered deck as well, so you can pull up, run the shop and be gone. Hours shift on bank holidays and around Christmas — check the centre's website before a special trip.

Around 35 shops on one level Free parking on site Café, Subway & coffee stops Belfast Celtic Museum Post Office & everyday services Step-free, all on one floor
About the Belfast Celtic Museum:

The museum inside the centre is run by the Belfast Celtic Society and staffed by volunteers, so its opening is limited and often by arrangement. Two display windows with over 40 items can be seen whenever the centre's open, but to get into the museum itself it's best to contact the Society ahead of time rather than build the trip around it.

Before you set off

What to bring

  • 🛍️Reusable bagsIt's a proper shop-the-basics trip — bags save on carriers and make the walk back to the car easier.
  • 💳A card, and a little cashFor the shops, the café and the Post Office — a few of the smaller units and the butcher's still like cash.
  • 👟Comfy shoesIt's all on one level, but you'll still do a fair loop with the full 35 shops in it.
  • 🚗Your Blue BadgeThere are 23 accessible bays close to the doors — bring the badge if you use one.
Good to know

Everything before you go

Cost
Free to browse — you only pay for what you buy and eat. The car park is free too.
Opening
Mon–Tue 9am–5:30pm, Wed–Fri 9am–9pm, Sat 9am–5:30pm, Sun 1pm–5pm. Individual stores set their own times, and some keep shorter Sunday hours. Hours change on bank holidays and around Christmas.
Parking
Free surface car park right at the door, off the Donegall Road and The Broadway, with a covered deck as well. Around 23 Blue Badge bays sit closest to the entrances, the nearest about 20m from the doors.
Shops
Around 35 stores on a single level, anchored by Home Bargains, B&M and Iceland. Also JD Sports, Poundland, New Look, Peacocks, Bonmarché, Boots, Specsavers, Savers, Card Factory, Hays Travel and a Post Office, plus charity shops and local independents.
Food & drink
The Jam café-restaurant, Subway, Dinky Donuts, a coffee stop and a Mace, plus Premier Meats family butcher and Winemark. Everyday food rather than a restaurant line-up.
Belfast Celtic Museum
A small museum to Belfast Celtic F.C. sits inside the centre, on the very ground the club once played on. It's volunteer-run with limited hours — two display windows are viewable any time, and you can arrange a fuller visit through the Belfast Celtic Society.
For families
All on one flat floor and easy with a pushchair, with children's rides on the mall and everyday shops for the school run. It's a shopping centre, so no play area or attractions beyond that.
Accessibility
Level, step-free and all on a single floor, with accessible parking close to the doors. A practical, easy-going centre to get around.
Getting there
Park Centre, Donegall Road, Belfast BT12 6HN — about two miles west of the city centre, just off the Westlink and handy for the M1. Several Metro bus routes run along the Donegall Road and Falls Road nearby.
How long
1–2 hours for the shop and a bite; a little more with the museum.
Questions

Before you go

Is it free to get in, and is parking free?
Yes on both — it's free to walk in and browse, and the on-site car park is free as well. You only pay for what you buy and eat.
What are the opening hours?
Mon–Tue 9am–5:30pm, Wed–Fri 9am–9pm for late-night shopping, Sat 9am–5:30pm and Sun 1pm–5pm. Individual stores vary, and some keep shorter Sunday hours — check ahead over bank holidays and Christmas.
Is it open on Sundays?
Yes — Sunday afternoons, 1pm to 5pm. Shorter than the rest of the week, and a few smaller units may not open, so it's worth checking if you're coming for a particular shop.
What's the Belfast Celtic Museum?
A small volunteer-run museum inside the centre to Belfast Celtic F.C., the great Irish League side that played on this very ground until 1949. Two display windows are viewable any time the centre's open; for a fuller visit, contact the Belfast Celtic Society first, as opening is limited.
Is there anywhere to eat?
There's the Jam café-restaurant, a Subway, Dinky Donuts, a coffee stop and Iceland for the freezer run — everyday food rather than a big restaurant floor.
Is it good with a pram or a wheelchair?
Yes — it's all on one flat, step-free floor, easy with a pushchair, with accessible parking bays close to the doors.
Getting there

Park Centre, Donegall Road, Belfast BT12 6HN — about two miles west of the city centre in west Belfast, just off the Westlink and handy for the M1. Turn into the free car park straight off the Donegall Road or The Broadway, or hop on a Metro bus down the Donegall Road or Falls Road.

Directions on Google MapsOfficial website

Check ahead: 028 9032 3451

See it on our map
Nearby

Make more of the day

Falls ParkGreen space & playground · short drive Bog Meadows Nature ReserveWetland walks & wildlife · nearby Belfast City CemeteryHeritage tours & history · nearby Belfast city centreBig shops & cinemas · a couple of miles east
The story

The shopping centre built on Paradise

Long before the trolleys and the Home Bargains, this patch off the Donegall Road was one of the most famous grounds in Irish football. It was Celtic Park — nicknamed "Paradise" by the crowds — home to Belfast Celtic F.C. from 1891 until 1949. In their day the club were the biggest name in the Irish League, and the record backs it up: fourteen league titles, eight Irish Cups and a shelf of other silverware.

The team's playing days ended abruptly after a bitter game against Linfield on Boxing Day 1948, and Belfast Celtic withdrew from the league the following year. The ground carried on for decades as a greyhound track, with the last meeting held in 1983. Two years later, on 15 April 1985, the Park Centre opened on the site — a single-level shopping centre for west Belfast, built where the terraces had stood.

The link isn't forgotten. Inside the centre, the Belfast Celtic Society runs a small museum to the old club, opened in 2010, with jerseys, photographs and mementoes — a reminder, right in among the shops, that a legendary team once played here. It's a genuinely unusual thing to stumble on in a suburban shopping centre, and worth a look if the timing lines up.

What earns it a spot on a days-out map is honest and local: it's the west Belfast run-around, all under one dry roof, with free parking at the door and a proper slice of the city's football history folded in. Not a grand day out — but a handy, friendly one, with a story most shoppers walk straight past.

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