The house museum where I saw so many things from when I was a child, the party room, the swimming pool, the animals, nature - It was beautiful, everyone was very friendly and I loved the park, we were there for 4 hours but we couldn't see everything but next year we will spend the whole day

Nature, History, relax… - Fantastic laser space. Full contact with nature, learning about the history of the place and relaxing… staff 5 ***** I regret the poor publicity and the more that could be done for the space. I recommend

To spend the day. - It needs some maintenance but the place is very original, we liked it a lot, unfortunately we couldn't finish the tour since it rained heavily that day so we hope to return next year, better prepared to spend the full day there with our small

Interesting few hours at Parque da Mina - We had passed the signs for Parque da Mina umpteen times driving to and from Monchique and finally decided to drop in. We were not sure what to expect and the place was very quiet. The entrance fee wasn’t unreasonable and we were happy to wander about, following the various signs. Having now been to the park, I am still unsure what it is meant to be. Small daughter enjoyed feeding the piglets and ponies. She enjoyed the birds in the old but spacious enclosures. She absolutely adored hunting for frogs; of which there were many, in the pond. We enjoyed rummaging around the old house and wandering around the gardens, admiring the waterfall and amazing views from the vantage point. There were minimum staff present. A pleasant young lady took our entrance fee, sold us drinks and refreshments, opened up the mirror maze; which is small but fun, for us, gave lots of information and, to some extent showed us around. We managed to kill a few hours here and I must admit I quite enjoyed it. Small daughter was happy enough, especially with the water slide at the exit. It was quite a warm day and she took some getting out of the water. It’s not a huge theme park, nor is it a sophisticated nature reserve. It could definitely do with some investment but that’s probably not going to happen. As I say, not sure what it is. All can say is we quite enjoyed it, but if you want thrills or a fully immersive experience, it’s probably not the place for you.

Underwhelming at best (sorry) - So this place is run down and unloved. Or at least it was when we arrived in early April. Perhaps it’s better in the summer? If it was free I suppose it would have broken the day up with the kids but honestly the old house is a bit creepy, the cafe was open but I didn’t see anyone working in there or any ice creams in the freezer.. The animals certainly look fed up and there were some quite odd manikins around the place that just looked unkempt and fit for the bin. Also there were what looked liked water features with hardly any water in and what was in there looked like you might catch something by just being within eye shot of them. Not really sure what this place is supposed to be and if the reason for its bad presentation was the fact it was off season then I’m not sure why they were open and what they expect people to think paying €30 to walk around a derelict theme park? I honestly think the only thing this place might be useful for would be a film set for a budget horror film. Sorry parque da Mina. I think you need to try harder for peoples money or just keep the doors closed until peak season (if that is what I hope the reason for what I experienced was?)

Caged Animals! 😱😰🤢😡 - I was appalled to see birds in cages??? A whole flock of birds flying together as high as they could - feathers sticking in the wire ‘roof’. Why were the peacocks in cages? One of them walking back and forth clearly stressed. Animals being born into captivity? For what? Beautiful budgies, cockatiels etc in a cage with a piece of wood to perch on? Nothing to keep them interested - nothing like an aviary should be. Arrays of smelly horrid cages, with birds, chickens etc caged up for what? Pigs with no clean water. A donkey that was so bored, it was stressed. This is no ‘zoo’ no natural park. We had simply expected to see animals in their natural habitat. Not a cruel home for imprisoned animals. Do not visit