Which Is The Best Zoo ?

BridgetJones_2

Marwell is my fave.

greenface

Welsh Mountain Zoo offers a good alternative to some others mentioned great setting more relaxing than chester but smaller with less animas great for toddlers

Pie123

Got to agree colchester is good

oramgepekoe

We went to Colchester Zoo for the first time last summer and thought it very good and will return.

moneysavingyvonne

After dragging my partner round zoo's for the past few years, i have done quite a lot. Here's my opinion on the ones i've been too.

CHESTER - Lovely, very big and good value as you can easily spend a full day there. Lots of money is spent on conservation which i think is a real positive.

WEST MIDLANDS – again really lovely. Is lovely to see species of tigers that you cannot see in many other places. Once again, a full day can be spent her, however be aware of extra costs as there is a funfair type thing that is obviously extra, looked fun but if on a budget, the kids will be begging to go on the rides.

BLACKPOOL – not as big as the other, would say it is about half a day trip in there, but I was very impressed with this zoo. Limited animals, but all animals looked health and happy. There was a lot of bad press o few years ago, but this has all been put behind them now.

PAIGNTON – animals are not cooped up, and have masses of space to roam in. Whilst this is a plus for me, if a young child went, I feel that they might not have seen as much as they would have wanted too as I had to strain to see some animals at times

LIVING COAST (TORQUAY) – loved this place, but then again I am penguin mad. This is about half a day trip but you can buy a saver ticket for this one and paignton zoo to save some money. You can get really close to the penguins and there are talks throughout the day. Staff are lovely and it really does make you smile!

SOUTH LAKES WILD ANIMAL PARK – this place is great. Lots of talks, with hand on feeding of giraffes, penguins, lemurs etc and you can watch lions and tigers get fed. Lovely quiet park, go there a few times a year.

But my favourite of all has to be LONGLEAT – wow what a day. I went for the first time last year and had the best day ever. You can use Tesco Clubcard Deals for entry, as it is £23 per adult to get in. However when you actually get in and see what you get for your money, it is well worth it!! My personal fave is the boat ride! Wonderful.

Hope this helps

greenface

been to longleat once it rained and the animals werent playing out at all.(dont blame them !!!!istently raining)
so after a quick scoot around a empty safari park (cars & animals)
fast run around the go on things thought we would get back to where we were staying . 10 minutes after we left the rain stopped sun came out so we went to stonehenge and had a very good time . Bad memories of longleat but not its fault looked good through the wiper-blades

katieeloise

We have done most of the Zoo's in the South and LONGLEAT is by far our fav - the animals have more room and the enclosures look 'more natural' as they are not CAGED. You also don't have to do everything in one day - you get a card that is punched by each attraction, and may return within a year I think and do the attractions you hadn't done before. So we now make a weekend of it do the boat trip and a few bits one day and the train and safari the next ! There are quite a few TraveLodges near by too.

Cissi

We love Marwell! The giraffe house is the best I've seen anywhere, they have lots of unusual animals that you don't see in many places (first time I've ever seen an ant eater for example), the children love the lemur house, meerkats and various monkeys (esp. the Lion Tamarinds). It's a great size - never feels crowded, yet not too big to walk around in a day.

London Zoo is hugely overrated IMO. Chessington Zoo is good - small, easy to get around with young children and with great shows, especially the sea lions. Sounds like we need to try Colchester, Chester and Longleat too!

holiday_lover

Another vote for Paignton zoo, we visited at easter two years running and had two lovely days out.

sodamnfunky

Paignton or Longleat for me, best of the ones I have been too for animal welfare