Buren
Google
Used to be a 5 stars for me.
I have visited this park many times. I love exploring the nature, the secluded temple, the nursery, grass fields, trees, moss path, etc. The weather is pleasant as it is located on higher ground. There are less or no crowds inside. The previous procedure was that cars were allowed to go in and we paid tickets for the humans and the car.
July 2025 visit drops 4 stars for me::
1. We came here during weekdays. During weekdays cars are not allowed inside the park, while it's allowed on the weekend. I would say the other way around should be implemented, if you want to implement this at all. There should be a significant less crowd on weekday.
2. So, on top of paying for ticket (which is also more expensive), you have to rent transport. Yes, you can go in by foot, but if you have visited this park before, walking wouldn't get you far because this place is huge. If you are fit and want to exercise, it's perfect, I think it would be good, no sarcasm. However, if you want to have a relaxing day, physically less able to, bring young kids, elderly, this is not an option, unless you just hang around nearby. You have to have transport, this brings me to point number 3.
3. You can rent bicycle/electric bike (30-75k/hour depending on types), or bus (25k pp one route) or golf car (250k max 4 people per hour). See pictures. So, if you have physical limitation, you can only go with golf car or bus. The bus only serves one route which you can choose. This means one destination and back, that's all. If you know this place, this is utterly ridiculous and overpriced. There are many spots to visit but there is no option to drop by or do multi-route. You want to visit another spot? Go back to the start and buy another bus ticket.
Since we brought elderly and guest and wanted to visit multiple place, we had no choice but to rent a golf car which is ridiculously expensive as well because one hour barely covers anything here.
The safety standard was also horrible, we got the one without handle at the rear which we only realized after we saw the others. The terrain is up and down, one can easily fall down on slope. We ended up only visit two spots that were next to each other and we had to rush it. We had to grab the side bars like monkeys. No joke, I don't think this is safe when the terrain is up. I was very worried for my mom's safety since we were sitting on the back.
4. I'm all for conservation and dedication to the park, but with all the cost that make this place very expensive now in proportion to the standard, there is barely any facilities or improvement. There are many holes on the road, lack of restroom facilities inside. The is NO emergency procedure which should be much more important now since we barely see anyone inside because of the inaccessibility. There is no map and we couldn't find some spots even though we are regular. We used to take our time to visit them, now by getting lost once or twice, the time was up.
If they want to make this place more natural, less cars (wasn't a problem previously because the place is huge), there should be shuttle that go around the spots and they shouldn't charge by route, but it should be unlimited because that would be the only way for guests to visit all the spots they want. I think this would make it less natural compared to few cars in between here and there. So everything doesn't make sense to me for now.
Will I come again? No. It has become just a money grabbing place, which is a pity because I have loved this place. If you bring family with different level of fitness, just go somewhere else. Yes, there are nice spots, probably walkable for all, but it's not worth the ticket. If you want to have a natural walk, that is probably the only thing reasonable and I can imagine it would be fun, but be mindful of the lack of facilities as mentioned. If you want to visit multiple spots and enjoy them in leisure like the logical purpose of visiting a botanical garden, forget it.
