Things to do in Dungannon
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Dungannon
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months: long days, everything open including Sunday hours at the Hill, and gardens and bog walks at their best.
Good shoulder months: Easter events in spring, and Parkanaur's deer park and red ivy manor in autumn.
Fullest events programmes and Todds Leap open park days, but the highest Lough Neagh algae risk and booking pressure.
Worst for sightseeing: short days, part time opening and thin evenings, lifted only by the festive season in December.
Worst month weather wise, but The Argory's Lime Tree Walk snowdrops are the area's signature early spring sight.
What's on
- Dungannon Christmas Lights Switch-On late November, 29 November in 2025
Thousands attend Market Square for music, a pageant, Santa switching on the lights and fireworks.
- Snowdrops at The Argory February
The ground under the Lime Tree Walk turns into a carpet of snowdrops.
- Halloween in Dungannon and Todds Leap Halloween Horror Nights late October
Council Halloween events in town plus horror nights at the Ballygawley activity centre.
- Todds Leap Summer Open Park Days July to August
Open park days at the activity centre, with dates set year by year. Check the programme before travelling.
Best things to do in Dungannon
Hill of The O'Neill & Ranfurly House
The seat of the O'Neill dynasty above Market Square, with the Flight of the Earls exhibition and a viewing tower over Mid Ulster.
The Argory
An unmodernised 1820s gentry house in 315 acres of wooded Blackwater estate, with river walks, a courtyard cafe and snowdrops in February.
Dungannon Park
Seventy acres of council parkland around a 12 acre fishing lake, with paved walks, a play area, a cafe and a touring caravan site.
Benburb Valley Park and Castle
A gated Plantation bawn above the Blackwater gorge, visited for the wooded valley walk rather than for access inside the castle.
U.S. Grant Ancestral Homestead
The Dergenagh cottage of President Ulysses S. Grant's great-grandfather, telling the Ulster-Scots emigration story to America.
Tyrone Crafted Glass
A community glassworks carrying on the Tyrone Crystal tradition, where the workshop ends with you cutting your own glass to take home.
Tomney's Bar
A traditional pub on Moy's square full of nooks and memorabilia, with live music and a landlord known for showing visitors around.
Annaginny Park Farm
A park farm with alpacas, wallabies and deer plus five trout fishing lakes, the low key family day out north of Dungannon.
Where to stay in Dungannon
Moy and the Blackwater valley
leisure visitors who want to walk to dinner and a pub
The Square gives you Tomney's and The Ryandale on your doorstep, with The Argory minutes away and Dungannon a 10 minute drive.
Dungannon town and M1 edge
one night stops, business trips and value
No town centre hotel exists, so choose a town centre self catering house or a practical motorway inn and accept driving to sights.
The countryside beyond
splurges, families wanting facilities, and couples
The luxury country house, the leisure hotel with a pool and the hot tub glamping pods are all 20 to 25 minutes from town by car.
Think twice about
- Motorway junction and retail park edges
Not a safety problem but an amenity one: nothing to walk to in the evening and a drive to every dinner, pub and sight.
Best restaurants in Dungannon
Viscounts Restaurant
Dungannon's formal special occasion room in a historic church hall setting, built around steaks and a Sunday carvery. Booking is essential.
The Brewer's House
A historic Donaghmore gastropub doing modern Irish cooking, the first dinner to book in the Dungannon area on the weight of reviews.
Deli on the Green
A deli and bistro on the green serving the best breakfast and lunch in town, from Ulster frys to a Fivemiletown goat's cheese salad.
The Portmor
A polished village restaurant on the Blackwater at Blackwatertown, the natural dinner after a Benburb day in the valley.
Salleys Restaurant
A family run Aughnacloy restaurant loved for huge portions, roasts, a proper children's menu and a well priced two course lunch.
Quinns Corner
The reliable all rounder south of town, known for a generous carvery lunch and feeding tour buses and couples equally well.
The Gables Bar & Restaurant
A spacious Carland gastropub with a beer garden and a kitchen aiming above pub grub, strong on family occasions and functions.
Cano's Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria
A family run town centre Italian of over two decades, evenings only, for inexpensive pizza and pasta. Platform reviews genuinely split.
Outdoor things to do in Dungannon
Peatlands Park
Free entry to 266 hectares of raised bog and woodland with 16 km of colour coded walks, just off the M1 near The Argory.
Dungannon Golf Club
An 18 hole parkland course, par 72, welcoming visitors and societies at local rather than resort green fees, with a clubhouse restaurant.
Todds Leap Activity Centre
Over 20 activities in Tyrone forest, from a 500 metre zipline and giant swing to off road driving and clay shooting, booked well ahead.
Parkanaur Forest Park
Short waymarked forest walks past a manor house, with a herd of white fallow deer often seen at close range in the grounds.
Benburb Priory
A quiet 3 km stroll around Servite priory grounds along the River Blackwater, finishing with coffee at the Stables Cafe.
Ardboe High Cross
A 10th century high cross on Lough Neagh's western shore, linked by a 2 km trail to Battery Harbour. Walk, but never swim in summer blooms.
Best hotels in Dungannon
The Ryandale Inn
A family run Moy inn famous for country music and jiving nights, with a carvery restaurant, bar, dance hall and spotless modern rooms.
Cohannon Inn
A practical roadside inn just off M1 Junction 14, with a 24 hour desk, free parking and a long local reputation for Sunday carvery.
KC Accommodations
A three bedroom self catering house in the town centre sleeping five, the cheapest proper bed in town for a family or small group.
Corick House Hotel & Spa
A listed 17th century country house hotel with a thermal spa in the Clogher Valley, the area's only true luxury stay. Book a superior room.
Glenavon House Hotel
A 62 bedroom riverside hotel at Cookstown with a pool, spa and gym, the full service mid range base Dungannon itself cannot offer.
Craig View Glamping
Luxury glamping pods with private hot tubs, mini kitchens and en suites in open countryside, a couples alternative to a hotel room.
Is Dungannon expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | £45 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | £95 a person |
| Splurge | £190 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Hill of The O'Neill & Ranfurly House: a few days ahead
- The Argory: a few days ahead
- Tyrone Crafted Glass: a few days ahead
- Dungannon Golf Club: a few days ahead
- Todds Leap Activity Centre: weeks ahead
- Viscounts Restaurant: a few days ahead
- The Brewer's House: a few days ahead
- Corick House Hotel & Spa: weeks ahead
- Book Viscounts, which is essential by its own rule and only opens part of the week.
- Book The Brewer's House for Friday and Saturday, Tyrone Crafted Glass workshops, and Todds Leap activities well in advance.
- Book Corick House superior rooms and spa sessions in wedding season, and Sunday carveries at Salley's and The Ryandale.
Is Dungannon safe?
- No swimming or paddling in Lough Neagh during summer blue green algae blooms, and keep dogs out of the water. Follow shore signs that day.
- Take care on dark unlit country roads at night, and on slippery trails at Peatlands, Benburb and Parkanaur in wet weather.
- At Parkanaur, keep a distance from the white fallow deer and keep dogs under close control.
Dungannon travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- There is no Tyrone Crystal factory tour. The Milltown factory is closed, and older itineraries that list it are out of date.
- Benburb Castle is gated with no public access inside, and the Peatlands bog railway cannot be counted on to be running.
- Part time opening is the norm: check the day of the week for Ranfurly House, The Argory, Viscounts, The Brewer's House and Cano's.
Getting around Dungannon: public transport and more
- You need a car. Dungannon has no railway station, and rural sights are not sensibly reached by bus on a short trip.
- The M1 serves the town at Junctions 14 and 15, and Market Square is about 1.5 miles from Junction 15.
- Translink Goldline 273 buses link Dungannon Bus Station with Belfast Grand Central Station, roughly hourly in the core of the day.
- Taxis are local phone booked firms, not an app market. Ask your accommodation to book.
Who Dungannon suits
| Solo travellers | OK |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Dungannon your trip
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