I cannot rave enough about Finkley Down Farm. I don't even have kids I can use as an excuse - I…read moresimply come here to relax and spend some time with the animals. The atmosphere is relaxed and peaceful and the abundance of cute greedy animals desperate for you to feed them is nothing short of delightful. Their animals range from goats and sheep to chickens to cows right over to the more unusual llamas and highland cows. Even if you're not into getting close to the animals or feeding them the buckets of food available at the ticket office, just watching them mooch around is still fun and relaxing. The llama took somewhat of a disliking to me (was it something I said?) and stormed at me, looking like it could easily clear the fence and gain its freedom. I wasn't going to hang around to find out. One look at my pathetic retreating hide running off into the distance was enough to reduce its anger to mere disdain, and instead he decided to spit all over me. In some sort of random heroic act, the pig sharing its pen flung itself at the llama as if to take the blow for me, and rather than reflect on the llama soaking I'd been given, I instead watched this pig take one for the team. Right in the eye, no less. From hereonin, I shall name this pig SuperPig. If you do have kids you can pretend are the reason for visiting, there's plenty to keep them occupied. Other than the animals you can feed, there are talks and handling sessions with some of the smaller or baby pets throughout the day. There's also a nice adventure playground and a couple of trampolines to wear them out on too. There's a small gift shop and a place to buy some food, as well as a picnic area if you're sensible enough to bring your own food. I love this place and can't wait to go back when it reopens for the season next year.

A lovely little petting farm for a day out with the family. Entrance fee is very reasonable. Farm…read moreisn't huge by anyone's standards but just about big enough for an afternoons walking about without it being too much for the little/older ones. Lots to see and many activities laid on for the children. Arm them with a bucket of food from the entrance first though or you will find yourself running back for some! On site cafe sells everything from fish & chips to ice cream or just a cuppa. Toilets well sign posted and clean. Lots of basins and hand gel dotted around for after you have touched the animals. Nice staff who are kid friendly. Congratulations to the farm for keeping the gift shop prices low, lots of souvenirs on sale for under £2.

Lion Cubs experience…read more This my third experience now with Heythrop Zoological Gardens and yet again was a magical one. Me and my husband firstly meets Hannah who is such a lovely lady that explains all about the lion cubs and she then takes us around the forest whilst we walk the cubs along with another trainer. So we walked their new bundle of joy Nero and Lydia the lion cubs. It was a once in a life time opportunity and so unique. We walked the cubs in Heythrops private woods. The little cubs just loved to play with each other all the time whilst walking along and when they came across their favourite tree stumps they just loved leaping and playing on them as well as trying to climb up a tree or two. We could also stroke them when they were more relaxed in places and they felt so soft like rabbit fur. The markings on there fur was also so amazing Lydia the female cub had spot type markings and Nero you could see his mane coming about with his punk rocker type hair style going on. Its a tad expensive doing this experience but I highly recommend as it is so worth it and you won't be able to do this experience at any other zoo in the UK. Only reason this experience is allowed at Heythrop Zoological Gardens is because its a private zoo (not open to public however does have special open days to public 2 days in September only) and train animals are bred for TV and film. This experience only has two Saturdays left in June 2016 with a few places left so if you are interested then book asap. They do other animal experiences throughout the year that you can do from penguins to a sloth so check out there website. If you however want to do the more unique one off experiences like the lion cubs that is not available all year round then I advice you email them and ask them to keep you informed of any new additions like lion cubs, tiger cubs, other baby animals etc. The other animal experiences that I have done at Heythrop is the tiger cubs and a monkey (who starred in My Zoo a TV series). I highly recommend to anyone that loves animals.

This is a quite amusing place. Lots of birds to see, not a bad variety. There is also a small farm…read moreand a play area. To be honest it's not bad for a small attaction and definately a place for kids and bird lovers. I think they could do more with it, but it's popular for what it is though!

I took a party of about 30 children here, and it's a good location for such groups as it's not too…read morebusy or commercial. Rates for group bookings are very reasonable too You can get round and enjoy seeing the birds and the farm without feeling pressured to spend money on extras. It also has suitable spaces for large groups to eat their picnics This is possibly not a place you would return to regularly and children in infant and junior schools will probably enjoy it the most. Overall it's a reasonably priced day trip location that the chioldren I took really enjoyed.

Two years after the last visit the COVID-related struggles are gone. The zoo is in a much better…read moreshape and all enclosures are in good condition again. Mar well has always had nice big enclosures for the big animals. This time, we very much enjoyed the tropical house and the aviaries and red panda at the back. The tree dwellers near the house (monkeys and lemurs) are always a joy and it is great to see the snow leopards getting an upgrade. A lovely visit.

It was very cool day! Many different animals, and beautiful arena! One minus-…read more some animals were sleeping.

Took my 15 yo nephew here today and we both enjoyed it very much. Lots to see and lots of space for…read morethe animals. We were both concerned for some of the animals that are not in their natural habitat just wondering if they were too hot. The train ride was a plus because we got to see animals on the other side of the park that would have been otherwise difficult to reach on foot. My favorite were the penguins, the the brown bear ( it was chasing a bird) the butterflies and the kangaroos.

Whipsnade Zoo has been a tradition in our family since I was a child. My own children now love it…read moretoo. It makes a brilliant day out in the Fresh Air on top of the Chilterns, with views for miles. We are members of the ZSL so can return as often as we like which makes the membership fee much better value. You can pay to enter and if you like the1 vibe, you can offset the cost of the visit against your first year's membership fee which also includes entry to London Zoo. There are elephants, lions, tigers, giraffes, and a large herd of White Rhino. The Chimpanzees have a very large enclosure. You can take the car in, which makes a picnic much easier. Go!

Adorable zoo about an hour to hour and a half from Central London. If you have the time and a car I…read moredefinitely recommend this zoo over the ZSL zoo. Every exhibit has multiple viewpoints here. There were plenty of opportunities to easily see all the animals here. The enclosures were extremely well kept and I think all had an indoor and outdoor area for the animals. There are multiple play areas throughout for kids here too. My kids also enjoyed the animatronic dinosaurs here (very cute). Food here was reasonably priced but we ate outside the park. Parking was free. They offer a lot of different animal interactions here. The prices for all were pretty high but for a special gift I'm sure they are totally worth it. You can also buy carrots to feed the animals in the petting zoo.

Overall great day out for the family ! I would say 50% animals 50% outdoor play for the kids (with…read moresome indoor) I did find some of the cages quite small for the animals but one of my only criticisms! There were a few extras while you were there so take additional money but to be expected at these places! ( it's set up for packed lunches which is great for families ) There is a good choice of animals to see and you can buy food which a good selection of animals to feed! They also had a lots of showing through out the day and I got to stroke a snake :). The park had a good layout where you can easily walk around and find where you are going plus you get a handy map! There have an indoor soft play at the entrance which is good and bad! Means the kids want to go these straight away instead of seeing the animals and you don't pass on the way out! The soft play was great for all ages and served your average drinks and food - one thing I will say which was disappointing was they charged me for a bit of milk for my baby! I always pay my way but this is the first place that have ever charged me for milk! Worth a visit and tickets are not expensive - look out for groupon deals!

don't rely on the map for directions- look them up on the farms website…read more I have to state now, that i am a volunteer for the woodlands farm trust and have been for the last 5 years, so my apologies if this contravenes qypes t's and c's! the woodlands farm trust is a charity run by volunteers, and open to the public. they have quite a lot of animals, mainly sheep and cows. i find this farm extremely well run, and there is always something to do. if you fancy volunteering and getting a little dirty, then go down and give it a try. it's an ideal place for the family, as well as school visits. the woodlands farm trust also has open days, but check the website for further info. its free to get in, but the farm actually relies on donations, so please give genorously!

Had a nice trip here, it was easy to find, had plenty of parking and the signage was clearread more

I got my day here as a birthday present, and it ranks as one of the best I've ever had…read more The Wildlife Centre is open for visitors on a timetable, and I'm sure it is worth a visit then, too, when you get to wander round and see the animals of the UK in their enclosures: Red squirrels, wildcats, foxes, otters, polecats,badgers, stoats - names that echo in your head. But the real fun is to be had when they are closed to the public. During the year, they organise photography days when the Centre is closed to the public. Then, in a small group with a keeper, you get to go inside the enclosures with the animals, the keepers work with the animals and you get the most amazing photos. I'm not a wildlife specialist, but I enjoyed this day more than I can describe in a short review.

I went along many years ago to this nature reserve and back then I really like it but now I love…read moreit. It seems to off got bigger with more enclosures and wildlife areas to watch birds at. So many sitting points around the park so you can relax and listen/watch the many animals. I especially love the red squirrel enclosure. Apparently there is only 2 Red Squirrel enclosures in England this one and the one in Escot both designed by the British Wildlife Centre. I have been to both and I would say that this original one is the best. The red squirrels run around you and sometimes on you so funny and amusing. There is several benches in the enclosure you can sit and watch the playful squirrels running around and eating at their feeding stations. This time around I went on a photography course. This course only takes place when the nature reserve is not open to public so you and approx 10 others that are on the photography course will have the park all to yourselfs. The course needs to be boked in advance and there is only a number of dates throughout the year. You are not taught in how to use your camera but I am sure if you asked questions the photographer might be able to assist you but what the photography day does do is allow you to get up closer to the animals by entering their enclosures ie otters, foxes, wild cats, etc. You get to photograph many animals during the day I especially loved it when he brought out the field mouse to photograph. I will deff visit the British Wildlife Centre again to chill and watch birds from the nature reserve area around the pond and to visit the red squirrrel enclosure again as that was amazing!.

One of the best zoo experiences I've had. This place is massive it takes about three hours to cover…read morethe entire park. I simply loved all the inclusions areas from the monkeys, birds, butterflies, and the penguin arena. The park around the zoo is a great warm up to the rest of the day.

Lovely day trip out at the zoo in London This is a very nice…read morezoo with beautiful grounds /Regents Park and a wide variety of animals Entrance ticket is a little spendy but you can literally spend the whole day here Lots of exhibits and Timelapse for special events like "feeding the animals" Their is a restaurant on site that has a rooftop patio when weather permits