which is better, Howletts or Port Lympne?

spaceman5

hi, we are going down to the south east tomorrow, last year whilst down there we went down to port lympne animal park, so we thought we go to its sister park this year at howletts, just purchased tickets online which came out at nearly £50:eek:, and reading up on the 2 parks noticed that whilst port lympne is set in 600 acres of land, howletts is only set in 90 acres of land, and as you can expect spending that amount of money we want to make a real day of it, which we did last year at port lympne, so was thinking if we can get around howletts in a half a day, we might as well forget it and go back to port lympne where at least we know we will get a full day, if anybody has been to both or either one, could you let me know what they are like, especially howletts, TIA Dave

spaceman5

shameless bump

creased-leach

Sorry I didn't see this earlier!

I live a few miles from Howletts...and not too far from P.L.

The latter is by far the better park. If you want to make a day of it- it's Port Lymne every time. The only time I'd suggest Howletts being better is if you have someone in the party with walking difficulties. It's far more compact.

Howletts feels somewhat like a zoo- wheres the scope of Port Lymne makes it feel like an on-foot safari. And of course there's the house at PL too.

We "go" to Howletts once a month or so in the winter- well, in true MSE style we walk the footpath that cuts through the park and takes you past the Boar, some of the big cats...etc etc...and closer to the Elephants than the paying public get.

Have a lovely day- the forecast is great for tomorrow!

spaceman5

thanks for that, port lympne it is then, we are travelling from the west country to the south east coast tomorrow, had a look at bbc weather, and it looks like wednesday will be the better day out of tues/wed/thurs, so loks like we have now got wed planned, once again many thanks Dave

creased-leach

No problemo. If you're near Folkestone, and have sproglets in tow, the MSE thing to do is to go to the Lower Leas Coastal park. Completely free, big, imaginative, outdoor playground where it's easy to while away an hour or two- and steps lead from it down to the beach too.

Enjoy your stay

vikingaero

Howletts is much smaller but more walkable. PL is a drag with a kids buggy. Last time we went to Howletts we arrived at 10am and were gone by 2.30pm.