Wake up to nature this May
Powerscourt Gardens launches ‘Slow Mornings’ experience this May
Part of Tourism Ireland’s Ireland Unrushed campaign
Powerscourt Gardens has announced the launch of ‘Slow Mornings at Powerscourt’, a new early access experience taking place across five weekends this May.
Running every Friday and Saturday, the initiative forms part of Tourism Ireland’s Ireland Unrushed campaign, which encourages visitors to slow down and experience Ireland at a more considered pace.
Visitors will have the opportunity to enter the gardens from 8.30 am, ahead of general opening hours, offering a quieter and more atmospheric way to experience one of Ireland’s most iconic landscapes.
Rather than a structured tour, Slow Mornings encourages visitors to move at their own pace, following a series of self-guided nature experiences designed to help visitors unwind and connect with nature.
At the heart of the experience is the Tree Trail, a 60-minute journey through over 250 years of planting. Visitors pass through avenues first planted by the Viscount Powerscourt and encounter remarkable specimens from around the world, from towering Douglas Firs to rare trees once thought extinct that now thrive in Wicklow’s climate.
The Biodiversity Walk offers a more grounded, sensory and educational experience. Moving through pollinator-rich planting, herbaceous borders and rewilded areas, visitors can see how simple interventions, from naturalising bulbs to companion planting, are creating habitats for bees, butterflies and wildlife. It is an experience that engages all the senses: colour, scent and the hum of pollinators at work.
For those seeking stillness, the immersive path through the Rhododendron Walk provides a quieter, more reflective space. A raised boardwalk leads visitors into the heart of a delicate ecosystem, where birdsong replaces background noise and dense planting creates a natural sense of enclosure. With over 100 species of rhododendron blooming from late spring, it is one of the most atmospheric areas of the gardens.
