Not too long ago Ireland received a new attraction. Located in the Avondale Forest Park in County Wicklow is the new built tree top walk and viewing tower.
To be exact, this new attraction opened up 21st June 2022. I did not waste any time and booked a slot for us that coming weekend. You have to book your slot online which are given in 15 minutes intervals. We went for 11.30am, because the plan was to have some light lunch in the newly built Seed café afterwards. Two adults and up to three children is €38 and one adult and up to three children is €24. Generally you will have no issue getting the slot you want as the hype seemed to have calmed down.
When you book the tickets for the treetop walk, you may also include the €5 parking fee which is valid for the whole day. This is to get access to Avondale Forest Park itself which offers lovely forest walks.
The main ticket entrance for the treetop walk is only a short walk away from the car park. This is where you will receive your actual printed ticket to enter the walk, located opposite the playground.
The treetop walk is 1.4km long and 23 metres high in some places. (quite high!) Along the way you will learn about the forestry and its history going back 300 years. There are play areas for young and old to enjoy, such as climbing over wooden blocks. There are also plenty of interactive games to learn about wildlife in the forest.
As we were reaching the end of the walkway, we could see the viewing tower peeking through the trees. You can reach the viewing tower by going through a short tunnel. This also has some more information about the forest. (the kids loved hearing their echo in the tunnel)
Before you walk up the viewing tower, you can grab a quick cup of coffee or snack in the souvenir shop which is located at the bottom of the tower. Or your kids can beg you for a wildlife teddy, like Chloe did. She ended up getting a fox because she didn’t want to walk all the way up to the top. The viewing tower itself is 38 metres high. You have magnificent 360 degrees views of County Wicklow.
Once you reached the top, you can then decide, whether you want to walk all the way back down or whizz down the 90 meter spiral slide. This is another extra €2 you can pay either by card or cash. Make sure before you go up to the top that you take one of the mats at the bottom of the slide with you. We made the mistake that we walked up without it but luckily one of the people queuing left the queue and gave us a mat. We queued for an hour but I am not too sure if it is going to be still the same now. Also something to note is that when it is raining, they have to close the slide until it stops and allow 15 minutes to clean the bottom of it. This is a safety measure.
Afterwards we met Chloe and daddy in the Seed café for some lunch. They have plenty of choice. The kids chose chicken goujons and chips, I had a Caesar wrap and hubby had some sort of Thai curry. The kids then played off the food in the playground for a while. Overall we spent roughly three hours in the park. There are picnic benches available, too if you want to bring your own food. We definitely enjoyed this day out.
