You can't expect to grow if you keep hanging around the same crowded spots or scrolling your phone…read moreall day. Donadea offers peaceful trails, fresh air, and a chance to clear the fog in your head. Walking those trails, you'll feel the stress melt away while surrounded by towering trees and calm waters that reset your energy and mindset

Lovely walk with amazing history to research. For kids, I can only imagine that their imaginations…read morego wild. 12th century castle ruins, old graveyard & church, lake, ancient stone walls--great place to explore. As an expat who survived 9/11, I was surprised by the 9/11 memorial on the grounds as well. Very thoughtful & moving tribute.

This is a lovely forest park, a great amenity for Carlow town to have…read more There is a carpark, a lake, an open area with benches and picnic tables and trails. the usual things that make a park a forest park. There are also some toilets. The one thing that astonished me was the outdoor gym. Free. Outdoor. Gym. It's been there about two months now apparently and it has been a very popular addition to the forest park. National Lottery sponsored.

Big open park without much by way of features. Parks really are a mood thing. If you want a nice…read morewalk, stroll, or search for inner peace then, by all means, piss off up to Stephens Green or Merrion Square. But if you just want to kick a ball about then come here. It's big, open and mostly flat.

Very open. Playground not much the pond is a good place to go and see the ducks and the kids live…read moreto feed them. It is not really a day out but amazing for a picnic in summer with a great location everybody's a winner

Great park. Mix of walking, running, bike and dig park. Well maintained and lots of parking. They…read morehave started on some building restoration along with some wildlife flower seeding.

I've lived in Dublin for a year and did not know about this park until a couple weeks ago after we…read morebought a car and started to really explore the area. This park is absolutely amazing. The playground is out of this world. There is also a skate park and lots of walking paths. It is a wonderful area. If you're driving, there is ample parking in the parking lot and by bus, I think you can take bus 37 or 39 (towards Ongar) from Dublin. I believe there is a stop right by the park. Also, this park has a sandpit, so bring your shovel and bucket! You can see the huge castle slide from the road and your kids will love the zip line! It's a very cool park.

We are visiting this area and I'm very pleased to find out how much it has to offer. We've been…read morestaying at Crown Plaza Hotel for 8 weeks with two small kids and this park pretty much saved my sanity lol I wish I knew that it has great jogging trail I would have brought my gear. The play ground is great and it's perfect place to wear out your kids. It has stuff for big kids and play set for toddlers, obstacle course and a big double sandbox and a zip line!. There are toilets on play ground they rarely have toilet paper or soap but at lest bathrooms are there. There is a skate park and areas to play ball. Also there is a dog park, sadly we have no pets but it looks nice a big from afar. And everything pretty well taken care of. I definitely recommend this park!

I heard of Altamont Gardens before but it took until now that I finally got to visit - if I'd live…read morecloser I would be a very regular visitor now! It is a huge park where you can spend hours if you like with lots of different flowers, trees, plants - most of them with name plate. I had my camera with me so took my time, but even without or with your kids running around it's well worth a visit (and any detour) I think. It has formal gardens (not ususally my taste, but these were still nice to look at), with a rather derelict old house, a huge informal park inclusive a smal temple, river walk and a sea full of water lilies. And there's also a walled garden, parts of it rather organised and other parts just full of flowers in all colours side by side. There's a lovely little cafe in the walled gardens - as I don't find much information about it I don't start an own business entry for that. I had a savoury scone (buttermilk and soda) with local cheese and beetrot chutney and a large cappuccino - for € 6.40. Apart from it being very tasty I loved the cafe for being in the middle of a garden with little bits and pieces selected to make it feel like home. There is also a hen family running around in the walled garden / cafe which makes it even nicer to sit there and relax. It belongs to OPW which means it has the added advantage of free entrance. And they have a nursery / shop so you can buy flowers and trees for your own garden.

This is one of my favourite places to go when I'm home. The gardens are huge and you can walk…read morearound for hours. Even though the car park always seems to be full the gardens always seem peaceful. They have a section where you can buy plants and a lovely little cafe run by the forge where you can grab some tea and cake. I have even here live music there occasionally which adds to the atmosphere. Bring waterproof shoes though as the grassy paths can be damp!

What a great place! Learned a ton and got a load of really great pics for our memories.read more

We took a tour on an overcast Spring day and luckily the rain held out. This is a wonderful…read morelocation for family and I can see spending a full day here with the kids. There is so much to see, do, and learn. Our tour felt pretty quick, but still, there is a lot of landscape to cover and a lot of information to pass on so in reality we were out there for quite a while and it was lunch time by the time we reached the last exhibit. The layout starts way back in time and explores people living by the ocean, how they lived, what they ate and so on. You move on to more complex lodgings and learn how the people have changed, there are henges, monk quarters, barns, smiths, and so on through the ages up to the arrival of Vikings. It gives a very details account of Ireland's development with wonderful villages set up through out the grounds. You can even stay in one of the buildings - the listing is on airbnb I believe. (Yes, there is a public shower and bathroom on site) We elected to not walk up to the tower as the rain was beginning and we were hungry. We stopped in to their restaurant and purchased a very nice meal, after which we wandered the gift shop before heading to our next stop. This is a very interesting stop on our trip. We learned so much about Ireland's history and really appreciate how detailed each section is from building construction to utensils used to information about how people lived during each period of time. A very good stop for anyone interested in history or culture.

We visited Mount Usher Gardens last Sunday morning with some of the kids and we all had a really…read moregreat time. While I have come to appreciate beautiful gardens and views over the years, I was quite surprised at how much the kids enjoyed the walk through the gardens, along the riverbank, through the wildflower meadows, around the rare trees and shrubs and across the suspended walk-bridges. It cost about EU 25 for the 5 of us, and we got a couple of hours of real enjoyment from this. Over the next few months the trees and shrubs will bloom at different times and I expect to visit again to see the colours change. We finished up with lunch in the Avoca restaurant in the gardens. The restaurant is excellent, as all Avoca's seem to be. Great food and excellent service. Next time I visit Mount Usher, I will book a table in the restaurant before I start the tour of the gardens so that I can avoid queing for a table when I'm ready for lunch. The only snag was the very limited parking.

I finally made it here for the first time. Had meant to come for years. And I almost didn't go as…read morethe weather forecast was horrendous. But luckily I don't care about forecasts! Ok, we were extremely lucky. It rained while driving down and after exploring the gardens for 2 1/2 hours it really rained heavily. But we got to enjoy the gardens dry and even in sunshine. Probably not everybody walks around for that long as they are not that big. But with lots of little paths and beautiful and unusual trees and plants - so loads to see. And I had my camera with me so that always takes longer anyhow. The ticket is valid for the day. So you can even go out of the gardens, have a coffee, cake or lunch and go back in to explore more and in the ever changing Irish light it will be different all the time. Yes, €7.50 is quite expensive and maybe that was one of the reasons I haven't been yet. But I'd say it takes a lot of work to look after the gardens so I plan already to go back in spring despite the price. Especially when the Azalea are in blossom. The Azalea Walk must be incredible.