Thanks so much to Sinéad @sineadhingston for sharing some of her favourite family friendly spots in South Dublin and North Wicklow…
As a Mom of 3 kids from 10 down to 3 months, we are always looking for walks and activities to suit us all! From interesting walks to walks that are suitable for buggies! We are lucky enough to live in one of the most amazing parts of Ireland, surrounded by stunning nature trails & activities!
Our go to spots for some fresh air are Knocksink Woods and The Leadmines!
Knocksink is just as you arrive into the stunning little village of Enniskerry! It can be as short or as long as you want it to be, with the walk taking you in a lovely little loop around the Glencullen River. It has gorgeous little “beaches” along the river to plod around in. Our lockdown adventures found us exploring the area a little more, and discovering the most beautiful meadow area which we recently found would take us all the up as far as Johnnie Foxes had we kept going! The loop will take you roughly 30 minutes depending on how little the legs are! It’s not so buggy friendly on one side of the river so a sling would be more suitable for the tiny tiny ones. We find it suitable for a rainy day as it’s so well covered by the trees, so we slap on our way gear and off we go! You can then head to Poppies in Enniskerry village for a hot chocolate & a piece of chocolate delicious cake!
The Leadmines at Carrickgalogan in South Dublin is your buggy friendly adventure although you won’t be able to walk all the way up to the top of the hill (or the giants belly as we like to call it!) Its a stunning walk around the old Leadmines, steeped in history, and you can explore the chimney itself!!!! (Or Rapunzels tower!) They also have some secret old mining tunnels for the more adventurous bunch! Just across the road you also have Barnaslingan woods, another great place to explore but again, not so buggy friendly for the most part as you can walk right out to the edge of the woods, which overlooks The Scalp from a high!!
Another fabulous lockdown find for us was the little fairy village just on the Dublin/Wicklow boarder up from the abandoned Sport Hotel! We park on the Killegar Road at the Wicklow Way Gate and make our way along the path. It is a fabulous walk for the tiny humans and brings you all the way down to the Ski Club of Ireland! The Fairy Village itself is just fascinating, and you can even bring along your own little fairy door and accessories to add to the magic of it all!
We are lucky enough to have Glenroe Farm not so far from where we live too. It’s a gorgeous day out from 0+ year olds and is packed with various different things to do from the pet farm, to the fairy trail, to the maze to the playground! Bring your own picnic and enjoy the sound of children laughing and cows mooing!
This is just a small snippet as There is an abundance of excellent places to enjoy and explore the outdoors!
Thanks so much for sharing those great tips for families in Dublin and Wicklow!
Let us know if there’s anywhere else you’d add to that list, any hidden gems of your own in the area!
