Why The Burren is a UNESCO Treasure and the perfect backdrop for a luxury getaway. 

Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way might be full of impressive cliffs and wild open seas, but a visit to The Burren Farm Experience is an unforgettable moment of natural calm for every traveller. As one of Ireland’s true hidden treasures, The Burren is a strange, otherworldly landscape of limestone pavements that rise up through the land, showing humans that here, nature is still in charge.

The Burren Farm Experience is designed for small groups of luxury travellers and depending on the season, can be bespoke to every group, because The Burren is not just a rocky place, it’s a beautiful, scientific, relaxing, fascinating place. The knowledge and memories that people leave here with are so personal that we take extra care to shape a specific tours for every interest.

Maybe you have an interest in foraging or farming, maybe you love cooking and fresh flavours, maybe you just want to learn more about a place in Ireland that many people have never heard of, never mind visited. Your social feeds will be treated to some epic images that your friends and family just won’t believe.

Why is The Burren a UNESCO Treasure? This is perhaps one of the last places on earth where agriculture and conservation work hand in hand to keep The Burren beautiful, something that is evident during the spring months when the local wild flower and unusual orchids poke through the cracks in the pavements.

This is your chance to visit a working farm and meet farmers, Cathal and Bronagh who care for the land. You can take a tour with them, either on foot or in their vintage Jeep to meet the cattle, walk on the limestone pavements and witness the nature that can thrive in this surprising place.
You can also visit the alluvial forest, an ancient woodland that has been described as Ireland’s rainforest, a place of great scientific interest and one of only a handful left on the island of Ireland.

There’s no greater luxury than sitting by a fire, eating food prepared by the people who have reared it. A visit to The Burren farm Experience is a chance to actually witness farm to fork firsthand, tasting the very best beef that Ireland has to offer, in a setting that your senses will never forget.

A visit in May is the perfect time to see the cattle as they graze the lowlands and feast on between 300 and 400 different types of plants. You might even catch a glimpse of an Irish hare or a red squirrel and if you choose to stay overnight in the Burren FarmStay, you will certainly see wild bats flying through the air, feasting on the diverse range of insects that seem to have disappeared from urban areas of Ireland almost completely.

Imagine waking up to the sun rising over the limestone landscape, watching the warmth being absorbed by the ground in preparation for the winter, when the cattle will use the giant rocks as storage heaters, meaning they are able to stay outside in the colder months. Learn all about how their presence on The Burren and their ability to graze the different grasses and heathers that grow there stops the limestone from being submerged under grass, and helps to protect the delicate flowers and orchids that thrive in the grikes.

A chat with the farmers will help you understand that being free to roam all winter stops the cattle from getting sick, and healthier, happier animals lead to healthier meat for all the family.

Even those who aren’t interested in farming can appreciate the beauty, the science, the hidden secrets of the limestone and the caves that lie beneath. The strangeness of the landscape attracted writers like Tolkien and we like to think that it inspired him to create Middle Earth in his classic The Lord of the Rings.

The Burren Farm Experience is not just a gateway to the Wild Atlantic Way, it is a visit to another world this spring. It’s a place where the wind will cleanse your mind, the scent of the flowers and orchids will invigorate your senses, where the practical knowledge of the farmers shaped across centuries will surprise you and give you unbelievable stories to share back home. Shape your bespoke Burren Farm experience by contacting us today!