This is the best laid out zoo I have ever been to. It's spacious, responsible and well-designed and…read morethe only animals that look unhappy are the polar bears, which is sad but a hazard of zoos... they won't suit everything they try to do. But it's a beautiful place with a great variety of animals and loose peacocks! You can also feed the giraffes... loads of fun.

They stress the conditions and the care supplied to the animals in the famous zoo of La Palmyre…read morewith its 1600 animals but one can't help feeling somewhat sorry for the likes of the giraffes and lions in their miserable enclosures. Still, the zoo stresses its valuable research work and the value of the its breeding programmes and, after all, how is Joe Soap and the kids ever going to see such animals at close quarters. Entrance fee is EUR14.00 and turns out to be much better value than the EUR13.00 you pay to enter Fota though in some cases, particularly with the giraffes, the animals are better off on the Cork island (of which I am a supporter). Still they have no high platform where you can rub noses with the giraffes, no fascinating show like that of Palmyre's Californian sea lions and the parakeets. The African gorillas, in a relatively spacious compound, are another highlight as are the polar bears, especially if you catch them swimming underwater. Loads of monkeys, tamarinds, chimps, also a reptile house and animals (including a bunch of very lively cheetahs) too numerous to mention. We spent about four hours there and would have gone round again but the time was up! For more info see http://www.zoo-palmyre.fr

Jardins du Monde in Royan…read more Ten euro is the entrance fee to the gardens and they are just about worth it. If you have kids bring them as there is a large children's area plus quite a few of the exhibits are also attractive to the young ones. Highlights are the bonsai pavilion, the orchid and butterfly gardens and the 1800 year old olive tree that stands in the Tuscan garden.