Travel Tuesday: Ziplining in Ireland

Our last trip to Ireland brought together a large group of family from Boston, Italy, and Ireland, a lucky coincidence that meant that aside from my one brother-in-law, my husband had all of his siblings at home at once. That get together meant nine kids ranging from four to 14, so finding family activities that would be fun for everyone was key.

Ireland is a great place for family travel. From its wide open fields and beaches, to hotels and leisure centers with pools and amusements, to some of the new attractions popping up, like Tayto Park, there’s a lot of fun for kids and adults alike.

We spent the day at ZipIt Forest Adventures in Lough Key, Roscommon, and I have to say it is the perfect place to burn off some energy.

You access the forest by driving under a beautiful old stone archway, and inside, it is truly an enchanting place, full of old trees, green grass, and multiple zip line courses.

  Once we got suited up with our safety harness and clips, we all went through a demonstration on how to clip and unclip and how to make our way through the various courses. Then we were off!

I was kind of terrified at first, okay, for the entire time, especially when having to walk across rope bridges that swung back and forth with slats that were almost too far apart for me to reach. The course also had cargo netting, logs to walk on, and more.

It turned out that the actual zipping part was the easiest, once I mustered up the courage to propel myself off of the platform. It was definitely fun to fly across the tree tops!

     I decided to stick to the intermediate course and then found myself on solid ground to watch the others take on some of the more advanced challenges. The zip lines got higher, and the in between challenges got more scary, including a vertical climb up a swinging telephone pole.

While I waited for the daredevils to finish, I wandered around the forest, which felt truly magical. It was SO quiet and smelled green and earthy. It felt really serene and was a nice spot to spend some alone time.

Even if you are not into ziplining, Lough Key Forest Park is a beautiful space for playing and picnicking. It offers a large playground, lake with paddle boats, cafe, gift shop, and more.

It’s just another example of Ireland’s beauty and has something that the whole family can enjoy if you are planning family travel in Ireland.