Fairhill Shopping Centre

Just turn up — it's free, and it's open 7 days

No tickets, no booking — walk in off Ballymena's main streets any day of the week. Centre hours are 9am–6pm Monday to Wednesday, 9am–9pm Thursday and Friday, 9am–6pm Saturday and 1pm–6pm Sunday. The shops sit on one open level with the food court up on the first floor, so it's a flat, easy loop with a coffee in the middle — an obvious call when the Antrim weather turns. Individual stores set their own times, and hours shift on bank holidays and around Christmas, so check the centre's site before a special trip.

50+ shops on one level First-floor food court 1,100+ car spaces Free under-5s soft play Baby change · 3 locations Lifts & step-free access

Paying for the car park:

Parking is free all day Sunday and on Thursday and Friday evenings from 6pm to 9pm. Otherwise it's paid, and it now runs on number-plate cameras — you can pay when you arrive or when you leave (machines around the mall, or the RingGo app, location code 58626), but there's no barrier, so don't drive off without paying. Rates and free times can change, so glance at the signs on the day.

What to wear & bring

🛍️Reusable bagsSaves on carriers, and makes the haul easier back to the car.

👟Comfy shoesOne flat level, but you'll clock up more steps than you think.

💳A card for the dayShops, the coffee stop and the car park — the RingGo app takes card too (code 58626).

📱Your phone chargedFor parking payment, the free FAIRHILL WiFi, and store apps and loyalty cards.

Everything before you go

Cost

Free to walk in and browse — you only pay for what you buy, eat and the parking. The Stay & Play soft play is free too.

Opening

Mon–Wed 9am–6pm, Thu–Fri 9am–9pm, Sat 9am–6pm, Sun 1pm–6pm. Individual stores set their own times (M&S opens a little earlier). Hours change on bank holidays and around Christmas.

Parking

Over 1,100 spaces across a surface car park, rooftop and multi-storey, entrances off Broughshane Street and Parkway. Free all day Sunday and Thu/Fri 6–9pm; otherwise paid, with number-plate cameras and pay-on-arrival or pay-on-exit (machines around the mall, or RingGo code 58626). Disabled and parent-and-child bays on several levels.

Shops

More than 50 stores over one level, anchored by Marks & Spencer, Primark, Next and New Look. Also H&M, JD Sports, Superdry, River Island, Boots, Waterstones, The Works, Card Factory and more. The line-up is shifting through a £10m refurbishment, so a specific shop is worth checking first.

Food & drink

A food court on the first floor, plus Costa, Starbucks and Caffè Nero, and the M&S food hall. Everyday café-and-chain eating — fine for a coffee and a bite rather than a meal out.

For families

Free Stay & Play soft play for ages 5 and under, baby-changing rooms in three spots (ground floor, food court and M&S), and pram-friendly parking. Seating throughout the mall and food court.

Accessibility

Step-free from the car park by lift, with five public lifts across the centre and accessible toilets in several locations. All on essentially one shopping level, so easy going with a wheelchair or pram.

Getting there

Fairhill Lane, Ballymena BT43 6UF, right in the town centre. About a 15-minute walk from Ballymena bus and train station. Phone 028 2565 1199.

How long

1–2 hours for a shop and a coffee; a rainy morning or afternoon with lunch and the soft play.

Questions

Before you go

Is it free to get in?

Yes — free to walk in and browse, seven days a week. You only pay for what you buy and eat, plus the parking if you drive.

How much is the parking?

Free all day Sunday and on Thursday and Friday evenings 6–9pm. Otherwise it's paid, on number-plate cameras — pay when you arrive or when you leave, at a machine or on the RingGo app (code 58626). There's no barrier, so don't drive off without paying, and check the current rates on the signs.

What time does it open on Sunday?

1pm — worth knowing before you set off. It runs to 6pm, and individual stores keep their own hours.

Is there anywhere to eat?

Yes — a food court on the first floor, plus Costa, Starbucks and Caffè Nero and the M&S food hall. It's everyday café-and-chain fare, grand for a coffee and a bite mid-shop.

Is there anything for the kids?

There's a free Stay & Play soft play for ages 5 and under, plus baby-changing in three spots. The whole centre is on one flat level, so it's easy with a buggy.

Is it good with a pram or a wheelchair?

Yes — step-free from the car park by lift, five public lifts, accessible toilets, and essentially one shopping level throughout.

Getting there

Fairhill Lane, Ballymena BT43 6UF — right in the town centre. Drive into the car park off Broughshane Street or Parkway, or walk it in about 15 minutes from Ballymena bus and train station. Free parking all day Sunday and Thursday/Friday evenings 6–9pm.

Directions on Google Maps Official website

Check ahead: 028 2565 1199

See it on our map

Nearby

Make more of the day

ECOS Nature ParkWildlife & walking trails · 10 min walk The People's Park45-acre town park · 10 min walk The Braid museum & town hallMid-Antrim Museum · 5 min walk GalgormSpa & grounds · short drive

The story

The market town that kept its shops indoors

Ballymena has been a trading town for centuries — a market town at the heart of County Antrim, with the linen and cattle markets that gave it its old nickname, "the City of the Seven Towers". Fairhill is the modern version of that same instinct: the town's shopping pulled in off the weather and stacked under one roof, a short walk from the streets where the markets used to run.

The centre opened in 1991, with Marks & Spencer and the Co-op as its first anchors. It has been reshaped more than once since — a food court added upstairs, Next and New Look moving into space that BHS and then Debenhams once held — and it's mid-way through the biggest change yet: a £10 million refurbishment announced in 2025, with a new-look mall and a brand-new Primark that opened here in December 2025 after relocating across town. So the version you walk into today is genuinely newer than most photos of it.

The name is the honest kind of local. Fairhill Lane and the streets around it carry the "fair" name from Ballymena's fair-and-market days, when livestock and produce fairs were part of the town's calendar — so the centre most likely takes its name from the old fairground ground it sits near, rather than from anything grander. We'd flag that as the likely story rather than a settled fact.

The reason it earns a spot on a days-out map is plain enough: when the Antrim sky opens, this is a warm, flat, everything-under-cover hour or two in the middle of Ballymena — shops, a coffee, and the kids burning off steam in the soft play — with the People's Park and ECOS just up the road for when the rain lifts.