Aillwee Burren Experience: Cave Tours, Birds of Prey & Farm Shop

The Aillwee Burren Experience sits on a terraced hillside above Ballyvaughan in County Clare, at the heart of the Burren’s limestone landscape. It brings together three attractions on one site: guided tours of Aillwee Cave, the Birds of Prey Centre, and a farm shop, along with a woodland walk and wide views over the Burren and Galway Bay.

Guided tours lead visitors through Aillwee Cave on a walk of around 45 minutes, passing lit chambers of stalactites and stalagmites and reaching a point roughly 90 metres beneath the limestone plateau above. Among the cave’s features are the bones of a European brown bear, thought to date back some 10,400 years.

The Birds of Prey Centre, which has operated on the site since 2008, offers daily flying displays featuring a range of raptor species set against the surrounding landscape, as well as private Hawk Walks for those who want a closer falconry experience. In the farm shop, award-winning Burren Gold cheese is made using traditional farmhouse methods, and visitors can taste the cheeses, browse artisan foods from local producers, and pick up handmade fudge.

A self-guided biodiversity trail winds through an eight-acre native woodland of holly, ash and hazel, making an easy walk that rounds out a visit suited to families and to changeable Irish weather.