Local businesses launch new slow adventure experience

by Gráinne Connolly

A brand new adventure concept aimed to benefit local tourism has been launched by the Mayor of Derry and Strabane. 

The project focuses on the promotion of nature based experiences that are unique to the local area. 

Slow Adventure offers ten new visitor packages which provide immersive experiences, allowing people to enjoy remote, wild and nature-rich places. 

They have been put together by 13 local tourism businesses and were revealed at an exclusive launch event in the Walled City Brewery in Derry.

Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District, Councillor Mailíosa McHugh said they offered a unique opportunity to find out more about locally sourced produce, wildlife and the natural environment. 

"I am delighted to see the development of this programme here in the North West and the strong focus on some of our beautiful rural areas which offer a truly unique visitor experience.

"We are the first and only area in Northern Ireland to offer slow adventure experiences which are an amazing way to journey through the breath-taking local landscapes and engage with our natural surroundings.”

(Mayor Maolíósa McHugh at Butterlope Farm) 

Each of the ten packages have been crafted to make the introduction to slow adventure as memorable as possible. 

You can now walk through the Glenga Valley in the heart of the Sperrins foraging for food along the way, bake your own bread the traditional way in the farmhouse kitchen of Bradkeel Social Farm or have a go at traditional fishing on the River Foyle and cook your catch on a wild camp fire.

Other packages include interactive cooking demonstrations with local hand-picked ingredients, Irish walking tours, horse riding in the Faughan Valley as well as deer stalking, bird shooting and salmon fishing in Strabane.

Visitors to the Derry and Strabane area can experience these new slow adventure packages over the weekend of Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th September as Derry City and Strabane District Council hosts the first ever ‘Slow Adventure Weekend’.

The local businesses offering the new slow adventure packages are: 

• White Horse Hotel, Derry
   
• Beech Hill County House Hotel, Derry 
   
• Finn Valley Cottages, Clady 
   
• River Mourne Guides, Strabane 
   
• Butterlope Farm, Plumbridge
   
• Derry Equestrian, Derry 
   
• Far and Wild, Derry 
   
• Inish Adventures, Moville
   
• Walled City Brewery, Derry 
   
• Bradkeel Social Farm, Plumbridge
   
• Tamnagh Foods, Claudy 
   
• Wild Strands, Derry 
   
• Landscape and Countryside Tours, Derry