I'm not sure how I feel about the Edinburgh Zoo; I don't think it's a destination spot if you're…read morevisiting for the first time. If you live locally or come to the city often, sure, make your way to the zoo eventually. They have some great events: social for new parents to meet other new parents, afternoon teas, photography workshops, and more. They are home to more than 2,500 animals including: camels, monkeys, pelicans, zebras, highland cows (...obviously), giraffes (a four back of bachelors named Arrow, Gerald, Fennessy, and Gilbert), a red panda, tigers, meerkats, a bear, a very large penguin pool with LOTS of gentoo, king, and rockhopper penguins (you can watch them live on the zoo's website!), flamingos (their oldest one was born in 1961!), and more. Unfortunately, you won't see all of them when you visit: I would say about 30% of them weren't there (for various reasons: rehoming, new structures being built, vet visits, it was the wrong time of day, etc.) when I came. There is, however - and this won't make sense unless you've seen it - an unexpectedly LARGE dinosaur presence here. IYKYK. Thankful for the conservation work they do here and in the protection of endangered species around the world, but I'm not sure this is a spot I need to have repeat visit at.

This is one of my favorite zoos. Was disappointed on how they have let it decline since our last…read morevisit Oct of 2023. The landscaping used to be perfect but now there are lots of weeds. Staff is always friendly here. Animals here are always great. Wish it was easier to find a drink here while walking around. Hoping they find a way to fix this zoo back up I miss the old zoo.

Absolutely love this zoo, although it's a bit far out it's worth the journey. There is so much more…read moreto see and do here than at Edinburgh zoo. You.are able to get up close to the animals and pet them like we did with the goats and ponies. I loved the bears and watching them play fight was amazing and the parrot say 'come on then'' in a Scottish accent was hilarious and it just seems that the animals here have much more character and are well looked after which is great to see. As well as the animals there is also go karts, trails, beautiful gardens and more and it is such a fantastic day out!

Loved it there great wee furry friends need some pandas tho would be great a also love a slothread more

East Links is a nice farm/theme park/petting zoo just outside Dunbar. You just can't miss it…read morebecause there is a large brown castle with 4 towers sporting the English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish flags. They have various animals that I have never seen before like lamas, rheas, wallabies and even a highland cow! A newborn baby donkey was born on Monday and it was so cute when I saw it while we whizzed past on the train. You even get to feed baby lambs in the petting area which is the cutest thing ever! The fortress is good and has large freefall chutes going to the bottom which are really fast and I actually had to hold onto the sides to slow me down a bit! There are rat tunnels (which are very dark and scary), nets, bridges, ropes and a ramp to the top if you feel lazy. On the 4 towers, there are cannons which you can shoot tennis balls out of. There are 3 go-kart tracks, 2 of which are for small children but the one behind the fortress is for hardcore teenage drivers, like me! There is also mini golf (tokens are required to hire balls) and an indoor ball shooting arena. The prices are a bit ridiculous for the size of the place. It is about £15 per head and you will need to pay even more once you get inside (the tearoom, shops, animal feeding dispensers and golf ball dispensers charge you.) The tearoom was actually quite nice for a theme park café but the prices were quite steep! I was charged £4 for a bottle of Irn Bru and a honeycomb traybake. Ridiculous prices. The food was good though and it was the first time I had ever tasted Irn Bru. It doesn't taste as orangey as it looks. It's like Fanta with a weird vanilla twist to it. The toilets are straight ahead as you enter and they were clean with no bad smells, plenty of soap and hot water that was actually hot. The Dyson Airblade dryers worked fine too. I will be back at East Links in the summer because I didn't actually get to see everything in one day! The sweet shop on the way out is not to be missed too.

East Links farm is a brilliant, well priced day out for all the family…read more At first glance it seems quite small, but further investigation proves differently! There are animals to see, horses to feed, a train ride to be taken, trampolines to be jumped on, a hay barn to be hidden in and much, much more. You can buy animal feed and bird feed to use at your discretion I believe it was only around 25p a portion which was great. The onsite shop is small but lovely with a small range of reasonably priced items. There is a huge barn with tables for picnic consuming which is a blessing with Scotland's weather! We really enjoyed our visit and would go back any time. Highly recommended!

This place is lovely, set in the Perthshire hills the scenery alone is spectacular…read more The wildlife centre is roughly 10 miles west of Crieff so if you don't have transport it is difficult to get to. They have a varied range of animals consisting of lots of types of birds from around the world, Prairie dogs, deer, Llamas and many more, to many to mention. They have a large area where you can go in and pet the animals within as well as the usual pens holding the other animals. There is a Falconry Centre, which is paid for separately (only if you want to hold and have your picture taken with one) as well as a hatchery, woodland walks, barbeque area and a massive playing area for the kids, indoor and outdoor. There is also a gift shop and cafe a lot of the produce being home made. When your there it feels like your on a large farm with amazing animals that are always friendly and looking for a bit of attention, you can even buy bags of food so as your trotting around the centre you are able to feed them as well. Entrance fee is £6 per adult and £4 per child; family tickets available, so it is excellent value for money and you could spend the whole day there. Staff are very friendly and always at hand to help or answer ant questions you may have. If you do have transport this is a brilliant day out for kids and adults and with ample free parking you wont miss out on a wonderful day. Sturdy footwear is advisable

I have been here, can show you some photos of the many wonders of this place. It was particulary…read moregood for us as having a blind partner it was so accessable, and the animals making noises was good for my partner. We loved the Tartan sheep.it was unusual, and the cheeky parairie dogs, just made our day and we would highly reccomend this to anyone who loves animals

One of our favorite stops on our trip! We appreciated you could drive through certain parts but the…read morerest you were able to walk through at your own pace. The open concept also allows you to circle back to any animals who may have been hiding the first time! Very family friendly. Can bring all the snacks and bags that you need or leave in the car and run back. They do have a cafe on site with limited options but was good for us for lunch.

A nice drive ended up with us here at the Highland Wildlife park. It was a chilly afternoon and…read moreall but the toilets in the main building were down, leaving the masses to use port-a-lets. I'm thankful the temperatures were down for that alone. We started walking, seeing Red Pandas, Birds, A few small wolves, snow leopards and polar bears, Deer of some kind and the wild cats who weren't at all cooperative in being viewed, but it was day time and they are cats, so it's understood. I did marvel at their enclosure, which was done in such a way that the cats could have their free reign to go between the 4 or 5 different enclosures without being impeeded by the humans below. Once we'd walked what we wanted to walk, We went back and got in our car for the ride around part on the open safari type land. We saw deer with great horns still flocked in velvet, buffalo and Oryx, I believe, Some wild horse who were very playful. All in all it was a fabulous trip, I would come back again and again.

Amazing! Loads of animals and lovely gift shops would really recommend to any animal lover!…read moreBut WARNING loads of wasps in the summer

We went to Blair Drummond this Sunday, not for the first time, but for the first time in a while…read more We went without booking tickets, but ended up making an online booking standing in front of the gates. So, book! The weather was nice and that made sure we had a lovely day. The safari drive through was good, the individual displays nice. We finally saw the tiger (jumping down from a tree), the chimp viewpoint is a good addition and the lemar walkthrough always nice. We spent a very nice 4 hours.

We did the owl flying experience and it was amazing! Staff member was so kind and all of the…read moreanimals are so cute!

The Scottish Deer Centre is only a 50min car ride from Edinburgh and about half an hour from St…read moreAndrews. It's a fun day out for young and old. 2 adults and 2 children pay about £26 and I believe you can also get yearly passes. £8.50 for adults. This place is not cheap, but then, the money is used for a good cause, to keep the deer centre going. The area is easy walkable, even with a pram. It's not massive. You will find various species of deer on one side of the park and in the witches wood you will find the water reindeer, the brown bear, otters and some amazing Scottish grey wolves. You might think they seem very patient, but when out in the wild, I can't imagine that they would just look at children making funny Wolf howling noises at them, as they do now, behind a very robust fence. The brown bears look so cuddly and lazy. Security is very high. The place offers a farm shop, gift shop, Edinburgh woollen mill shop, plenty of children play areas, a birds of prey area with certain times for performances and a tea and coffee shop, which looks a bit outdated. The queue for the tea order was massive and really slow. I had a scone, but had better. Overall, it's a lovely little place and definitely a play heaven for children or even an interesting picnic area, if you want to pay the entrance fee. Plenty of toilets and parking available. Bus stop just outside. Enjoy!

This farm was right next to our Airbnb and so we just had to visit! It's not too big so this is…read moregreat if you want to squeeze in a visit while you're exploring. There is a cafe but it was closed when we were there. Entry is free, and there are stations to wash your hands. I didn't see any employees while I was there though, just a couple of other tourists. It was pretty empty so I felt like I had everything to myself. I saw some cows, sheep, chickens, ducks, lambs, and they were all adorable! You can't feed them but they are so friendly they sometimes let you pet them.

was a lovely warm sunny day visiting Gorgie City Farm &…read moreCafe 8/8/19. I think I came here a very long time ago so it was great to see all again. Walking around seeing all the animals was great and taking some photos of my experience. The weather was so hot, it felt like my head was burning a bit. Very impressive what I saw from goats, chickens, pigs, birds and many more. The young goats where so cute, I wanted to fit one in my pocket lol. I would recommend this place to anyone, if you love the outdoors and animals. You can get a Lothian Buses number 25 from Princess Street in Edinburgh and it will take you straight there also Gorgie City Farm is free to anyone too. Check out my article on Gorgie City Farm on my Blog below https://socialsandi1.com/2019/08/08/gorgie-city-farm/

What an Amazing experience this was. The staff were all so great and friendly. Full of information…read moreand spent tons of time with the kids ensuring they had plenty of opportunity to ask questions and feed the reindeer. The natural surrounding is breathtaking as well. Just come prepared as the winds can get intense and weather changes quickly on the range.

To get to the reindeer is a muti step process, that is well worth the effort…read more First stop is the reindeer center itself, where you pay and can rent "Wellies" (waterproof rubber boots) for £.50. I would definitely recommend it if your only footwear is a pair of sneakers, as it can get quite muddy on the mountain. Also, would recommend wearing thick socks if you need to rent the Wellies as they are not insulated at all. After you pay, (about £32 for a family package) follow your guide in your car to a location about a mile or so from the center, where you pull over for a one mile easy hike to a fenced off area where there are about 60 or so reindeer. Once inside the gated area you have full access to the reindeer and are able to photo, pet and even feed these majestic creatures. They are surprisingly gentle and obviously used to being around humans. The guides are very nice and provide information about the reindeer, the center and the surrounding areas. Dress appropriately for all types of weather conditions for the season. Even if you are only about a mile or so from your vehicle, the weather can quickly change. This was our second visit to the center and regardless whether it was in a small or a large group of fellow hikers, we felt we had great access to the animals.