ZSL-Whipsnade-Zoo-review
TRAVEL & DAYS OUT

A Perfect Saturday: Family Day Out at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo

Look­ing for a fun way to spend a Sat­ur­day? Why not get a lit­tle wild and vis­it the zoo! We chose ZSL Whip­snade Zoo, one of the largest in the UK, with its sprawl­ing 600 acres and over 3,600 ani­mals. It was our first time vis­it­ing an Eng­lish zoo and I was thrilled to spot some unique birds that I’d only dreamed of see­ing. Can you guess which species?

Our deci­sion to vis­it the zoo came nat­u­ral­ly. Albert was learn­ing about African ani­mals at school and we thought it would be the per­fect oppor­tu­ni­ty to bring his lessons to life. The tim­ing was spot on—beautiful weath­er and a free Sat­ur­day!

Even though ZSL Whip­snade Zoo is known for its size, we opt­ed to park the car out­side and explore it on foot. After pur­chas­ing our tick­ets online, we grabbed a map at the entrance and began our adven­ture.

We saw sea lions, pen­guins, bears, lions, tigers, zebras, rhi­nos and so much more. My per­son­al favorite? The giraffes! They were utter­ly adorable. We even got to step inside their sta­ble and one of them wan­dered in for a snack. Watch­ing a giraffe eat up close was such a unique expe­ri­ence.

We were eager to vis­it the chim­panzees, but access was restrict­ed, so we could only catch a glimpse of them from afar. How­ev­er, I was thrilled to see their incred­i­ble jun­gle gym, which looked like a chimpanzee’s dream play­ground.

 

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Giv­en the zoo’s immense size, we took the train to explore the ani­mals in the Asia sec­tion. After­ward, we wan­dered to the flamin­gos, which was an unex­pect­ed delight. I wasn’t even aware they had flamin­gos until my hus­band led us to them. See­ing them was love at first sight—they were stun­ning! Inter­est­ing­ly, their col­or wasn’t the bright pink I’d imag­ined but rather a beau­ti­ful mix of red and orange.

Before head­ing to ZSL Whip­snade Zoo, I rec­om­mend check­ing their web­site at www.zsl.org. They host a vari­ety of dai­ly events, work­shops and activ­i­ties that make the vis­it even more mem­o­rable. Here are some expe­ri­ences offered by the zoo:

  • Meet the mon­keys expe­ri­ence
  • The giraffe keep­er expe­ri­ence
  • Friend­ly spi­der pro­gramme: over­come your fear of spi­ders
  • Lon­don zoo lodges: camp­ing overnight
  • Yoga at pen­guin beach

 

If you’re plan­ning a trip, con­sid­er dri­ving inside the zoo. It may sound unusu­al, but with so much ground to cov­er, dri­ving can save a lot of time. In our three-hour vis­it, we couldn’t man­age to see every­thing.

There are restau­rants, a pic­nic shop and if you vis­it dur­ing sum­mer, take a back­pack for the water bot­tles.

Next time, we will plan our day to make the most of the events and attrac­tions. My lit­tle one wants to vis­it the play­ground and see the alli­ga­tors, while I want to explore the But­ter­fly House.

Our vis­it to ZSL Whip­snade Zoo was unfor­get­table and we can’t wait to return. It’s a fan­tas­tic day out for fam­i­lies and ani­mal lovers alike. Have you vis­it­ed ZSL Whip­snade Zoo recent­ly? What was your favorite part of the vis­it? Leave a com­ment below and share your expe­ri­ence.

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Love,

Alexan­dra

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