We originally planned to take a trip with some members of our extended family to London zoo. However, the day we actually picked to go there was due to be a train strike. After much discussion, we decided to change our plans and head to Whipsnade which is also operated by the zoological Society of London. Whipsnade is located on the beautiful Dunstable Downs and is absolutely huge!
Parking at the zoo is free and is a short walk from the main entrance. You can opt to bring your car into the zoo and drive round it at a cost of £30 per car. We didn’t realise this when we booked but even if we had we would have still left the car in the car park and walked round.
The thing that struck us straightaway was how much space the animals had. This is so wonderful to see and we’ve never seen a facility like it. The only slight snag with this is you may be viewing animals from quite a distance! How close they get to the viewing areas is completely up to them so it’s luck on the day! You can see their quality of life is so much better than anywhere else so nobody minds.
Because Whipsnade have so much land they are able to home larger animals you don’t get to see at other Zoos such as Elephants, Camels, Rhino and Bears. Smaller animals like wallabies and Mara also roam free around the park which is so lovely to see. We decided to take the little train round to see another view of some of the animals which costs extra but was totally worth it!
Another thing we enjoyed were the many animal talks that go on around the zoo. We didn’t check times or aim for any but there so frequent we came across quite a few! The staff are so lovely and their passion for what they do shines from them. There is a little petting zoo where at certain times you can go in and stoke the goats. We caught this just as the end but my teenage Neice was rather taken with one of the goats we were told was called Elsa!
There are many options for eating in the park but you are also able to bring a picnic should you wish. We opted for a sandwich in the Africa area of the park which was very nice. Prices are as you would expect at a popular UK attraction but you do get value for money especially with hot food.
We spent around 5 hours and a half hours in the park but we walked round and made sure we saw everything!
We purchased our tickets online before we went which works out slightly cheaper than on the day. The cheapest way to obtain tickets is through Tesco clubcard points which I would recommend doing. Whipsnade are part of the help for households scheme which offers discounted tickets to families who receive certain benefits.
We all agreed it was a fantastic day out and a very special place.
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