Tollymore playground

If you’re heading into Tollymore Forest Park anyway, it makes sense to factor in a stop here — the playground sits right in among the trees, so kids get that proper forest atmosphere rather than just a bog-standard car park setting. The walking paths nearby mean you can make a proper day of it, doing a trail first and letting them burn off whatever energy is left on the equipment after. It’s well set up for accessibility too, which isn’t something every forest park gets right. Honestly, the surroundings do a lot of the heavy lifting — Newcastle has plenty going for it, but this spot has a bit of a different feel to it.