We love visiting zoos and this one is very well maintained and reasonably priced. An easy train…read moreride from Cork City which stops right at the Zoo entrance. The park is well maintained and an easy loop trail gets you up and close with the animals. We are most impressed with the free roaming (careless) Lemurs who would walk right around you and up the walls and doors as you toured their exhibit. Very cool. They also have feeding opportunities for giraffes. We enjoyed the cool grounds and various animals.

Since we were staying for a few days in Cork for my baby's first family vacation, we were looking…read morefor some family-friendly things to do, and my husband found Fota Wildlife Park. We bought tickets online (I believe you can save a few Euro per ticket). Kids 3 and under are free. We opted for the 9:30 to 11:30 time slot and got there at around 11. I'm not sure how strict they are with it, but it wasn't too crowded on the Tuesday that we went. Though there were some camp/school groups that started rolling in at around 12 or so. I believe you can also bring your own food if you choose, since there was a picnic area with plenty of tables. The bathrooms are relatively clean, for a zoo. The park is pretty big. There is a train that goes from one end of the park to the other for €1, or €2 for a roundtrip. It made no sense since it's not like you're saving any money by buying a roundtrip, but we did anyway. You just purchase the ticket before you board. We didn't end up using the ticket on the way back because we had just missed the train and it was quicker to walk back - so we just ended up giving it to someone who was entering the park as we left. We spent a leisurely two hours there and saw everything. Of course, the most impressive animals to see were the giraffes, which are near the entrance, so you won't miss it. Tip - they don't have paper maps for free at the park, so you can either print your own ahead of time (the sizing is weird though) or just take a picture of it at the park and look at it through your phone.

We saw a few signs and decided to stop by after the Cliffs. We are soo glad we did! It was 12 euro…read morefor mini golf and a bag of food to feed the animals. The mini golf was 9 holes, and it was a very good course. Plus the view was amazing! After mini golf was got our bags of feed. There were sheep, goats, llamas, deer, highland cows, a donkey, emus, an ostrich, pigs, rabbits, chickens, and raccoons. It was so much fun feeding and petting all the animals. They also offer some snacks and drinks. Plus there are other activities for little ones. Definitely worth the stop!

I like Lahinch Seaworld. They have an amazing pool that includes a great pool for just kids. The…read moreaquarium end of things might not be as great as it could, but it's a good start. They also have an activity centre where they have various classes and what not but I personally have never taken part in those. I just enjoy taking my son to swim here after a day at the beach. One thing to note, check the website and ring ahead before visiting because they only have public pool hours on certain days at certain times and the aquarium is only open on certain days at certain times.

Oceanworld aquarium is located shorefront in downtown Dingle. Walking distance to everything. I'm…read morealways a fan of visiting a local zoo or aquarium. I love the animals and seeing how each city/country highlights different aspects of their own wildlife. My husband and I really liked the Oceanworld aquarium and felt that we got our money's worth (if nothing else, we felt like we contributed to their conservation efforts). As you would expect, the aquarium had lots of fish both small as large and fresh water or salt water. They also had an otter exhibit (quite big actually) and since it was still morning, they were swimming and out and about. So cute!! Our favorites were both of the penguins exhibits. They were swimming and playing and interacting with us. Their names were posted and they had little beaded bracelets to identify each one. The king penguins would launch out of the water to jump onto to rocks and would torpedo through the water (using their poop to propel them). We met Molly the sea turtle who was rescued in one of the local bays. She was also very interactive but almost trance-like, so that was kind of sad too. They had 2 large sharks in her exhibit and beautiful large mantra rays (which I absolutely adore their faces that usually are on the ocean floor, but they would climb up the glass and show off for us. Another unique exhibit was the butterfly room and we learned that if you wear a bright color like hot pink, they might actually land on you! The aquarium was breeding the butterflies in a case too, so it was cool to see how they invest in their little habitat. As we left the aquarium, we walked through their large gift shop (great for kids) and stopped at the dolphin, Fungi's statue, before making our way into town.

This is a fabulous rainy day activity! The weather was pretty awful...strong wind and sideways…read morerain...it was bad enough that businesses were limiting use of certain doors if the wind was likely to pull them off when opened. This was not a walk in the rain anyway kind of day. The good news is that there is parking right across the street at 1€ per hour...only downside is pay station is outside and you have to get the receipt back to the dash of your car. Anyway the aquarium is lovely. It is small, but big enough to fill an hour and a half or so. The tanks were all sparkling clean, and all the fish and other animals looked cared for and healthy. The big shark tank is amazing. The bigger sea animals are all rescues that can't be released, so they have the role of ambassadors. The staff clearly care about them and talk about the personalities of the individual aquatic residents. The butterfly area was a nice surprise; it was tropically warm which seemed to keep the butterflies active. Definitely add this to the rain day list for your trip! Trust me...you will have at least one nasty weather day, so get a list going.

Once upon a time, this Faerie Queen took her people for a castle visit. They were delighted! The…read morecastle is lovely, the tapestries are remarkable, and the dinner/show is wonderful! The park is easily walked and don't forget the Bunratty mead! The end.

We're back! Just as…read morelast time, fun, entertaining, same menu which was outstanding and Lady Lynn served our table! The element of interacting with familiar faces added to the fun and entertainment of the experience this time! The entertainment is way more than 5 stars! We look forward to returning....Hopefully sooner than 3-4 years!