Flora Street Play Park

Full Description

Flora Street Play Park sits on the Flora Street Walkway in east Belfast, on one of the stretches of the Connswater Community Greenway, and it's a straightforward free stop: a play park with a multi-use games area (MUGA) right beside it, and the Greenway path running past both.

It's known locally as the Friendship play park, and it works best as part of a walk rather than as a destination on its own. Families come off the path, play for twenty minutes, and carry on. Because it sits on the walkway rather than inside a fenced park of its own, the green space around it is shared with walkers, runners and cyclists, so there's plenty of coming and going to keep an eye on with a toddler.

Getting here is easy on foot and less so by car. There's no car park at the walkway. Connswater Retail Park and Avoniel Leisure Centre both have parking a short walk away, and Avoniel Leisure Centre also has toilets, which is the nearest answer if you need one. Refreshments are at the retail park too.

One distinction worth making: the walkway is the smooth, wide, traffic-free Greenway path that brings you in, with dropped kerbs where you cross a road. The play park and MUGA sit off it, and what's described here is the pair of them plus the path — not a claim about every surface inside the play area.

What You'll Find

A play park on the Flora Street Walkway, with a MUGA (multi-use games area) alongside it. The Connswater Community Greenway path, smooth and wide with dropped kerbs at road crossings, runs right past the play park, so a play stop can be bolted onto a walk or a cycle. No café or toilet at the walkway itself; Connswater Retail Park and Avoniel Leisure Centre are both a short walk away, and both have parking.

Wee Ones Will Love...

• ✓A play park that's free, outdoors and needs no booking
• ✓The MUGA next to it, which gives bigger ones somewhere to kick a ball
• ✓The Greenway path alongside, where scooters and balance bikes come into their own
• ✓Being able to walk to the shops for a coffee or an ice cream afterwards

Before You Visit

• No car park at Flora Street Walkway. Connswater Retail Park and Avoniel Leisure Centre both have parking a short walk away.
• No public toilets at the walkway. Toilets are available at Avoniel Leisure Centre.
• Four ways in on foot: from the Beersbridge Road, from Connswater Retail Park, over the Mill Bridge at Bloomfield Parade, or through the Flora Street gate.
• By bus, take Metro 18, 19 or 19A from Belfast city centre and get off at the Beersbridge Road.
• The play park has been fenced off for surface repairs in the past. Belfast City Council's playground list currently shows it open with no closure notice, but we can't confirm day-to-day status, so check before a special trip.
• It's an open, shared green space on a walking and cycling route rather than an enclosed park, so keep little ones close to the path.

Top Tips

• ⭐Come at the start or end of a Greenway walk rather than as a standalone outing; the nearest toilets and refreshments are a short walk away at Avoniel Leisure Centre and Connswater Retail Park.
• ⭐Park at the retail park and treat the walk in as part of the day.
• ⭐Bring the scooters. The walkway is smooth and wide, and the path is the main event here.
• ⭐If you need a loo or a baby change, Avoniel Leisure Centre is the nearest answer.