On one of the adventures we managed to get away last Summer, we went down to Galway for a few days and stayed with Matthew’s godfather. We had a day spare one day and decided to drive down the southern part of County Galway, to a place called The Burren Nature Sanctuary.
Whenever we do get to travel the beautiful island of Ireland again and you are planning to explore the Burren in County Clare, then this should definitely be your first stop. Particularly when you have children. It sits on 50 acre of land.
It is a great way to introduce the kids to nature. We stumbled across many trails. As we arrived, there was plenty of parking available. Safety and health measurements were in place and a one way system was created. We waited outside the reception area, before we proceeded to purchase our family ticket for €39 (2 adults and 3 children). Only one family at a time was allowed in.
We received a map to find our way around the trails as well as a wristband.
First stop was the café, a coffee for the parents and playtime for the kids on the playground right outside the café.
There was so much to do for them and it was hard to get them out of it again. Once we made it out, we continued our walk on the trail. First stop were all the different animals such as goats, alpacas and guineapigs. (one was pregnant at the time)
The next stop was the fairy trail woodlands. Chloe was busy knocking on the fairy doors. There was no answer this time. Along the trail, you will find many opportunities to take a break on a bench. Even just to sit down on one and enjoy the quietness around you was amazing and the birds tweeting.
Another addition to the fairy trail is that you can walk Emilia the pig around.
We found a cool tree house along the way with a seating opportunity in the middle of it. I am guessing people use this to have a picnic for example. We added our names to all the many other ones on the wooden panels inside the tree house.
Next up we discovered a Gyspy wagon. Pretty funky and the kids loved it.
Towards the end of our walk, we found this guy. He was either a Llama or an Alpaca, I can honestly never tell the difference. If you have a Euro spare, you can feed any of the animals by placing the money in one of the feeding stations and the food will shoot out onto their side.
Before heading back, we treated the kids to a muffin from the café. They also have a gift shop in there. A day trip well spent I think. Hopefully we will be back to exploring this Summer.
