8 animal attractions to visit with kids in and around London
Spring is in the air today, and I’m starting to think about outdoor attractions to visit with kids in and around London. Here are some of my suggestions for places to go for an animal-themed day out:
ZSL London Zoo
At ZSL London Zoo, families can explore a wide range of animals from around the world, including lions, gorillas, giraffes, monkeys, penguins and tigers. In addition, there’s an area where visitors can get up close to farm animals, and there are plenty of talks and shows, including a penguin demonstration at Penguin Beach and animals showing off their skills in Animals in Action in the zoo’s amphitheatre. When visiting on a rainy day, the rainforest section will keep you warm indoors and the Reptile House is another good indoor option. On particularly hot days, there’s a water play area that can be fun for young children (Read more HERE).
ZSL Whipsnade Zoo
Another unique outdoor attraction is ZSL London Zoo’s sister zoo ZSL Whipsnade Zoo, which makes for a completely different experience since it’s possible to drive around the zoo. By taking the car into the zoo, families can drive through a car-only area called Passage Through Asia to see animals in a different environment, and when we’ve visited Whipsnade highlights have included this drive, as well as seeing brown bears and elephants, watching the Sea Lion show and visiting the Butterfly House. The zoo also boasts an impressive outdoor play area Hullabazoo Adventure Play with six giant towers, rope bridges, cargo nets, slides and swings, and soft play at Hullabazoo Indoor Play, where visitors can pre-book sessions in advance.
Hobbledown Farm and Adventure Park
At Hobbledown Farm and Adventure Park in Surrey families can see a variety of animals as well as enjoy the large outdoor play areas and indoor play barn. In the outdoor play area, built in a medieval theme, children can dig for marbles, bounce on jumping pillows and much more. There is also a zorbing arena, a high ropes course with zip wire for older children, and in addition to seeing farm animals, families can enjoy bird flying demonstrations and a Wallaby Walk-Through, where visitors walk on a pathway and the wallabies roam around freely.
Bocketts Farm
The farm park we’ve visited the most is Bocketts Farm–a truly charming farm park set in the beautiful hilly Surrey countryside. We usually buy a pack of animal food upon arrival, and the children enjoy feeding the cows, sheep and goats in the barn and the rabbits and guinea pigs inside. In addition to meeting and feeding animals, families can enjoy the large play areas outside, which includes jumping pillows and climbing frames. Older children can enjoy pony rides, and there’s a farm walk trail to follow too. Indoors Bocketts Farm boasts a soft play area with slides, little tractors to drive and a big tractor to climb into. Last time we visited it took us around 35 minutes to drive from Fulham.
Odds Farm Park
Another farm park that is easy to get to from South West London is Odds Farm Park near High Wycombe, which I was invited to review a few years back and it then took us around 50 minutes to drive there from Fulham. Odds Farm Park has a water play area with 80 metres of channels, streams and pools, which opened in 2018, and the numerous play features allow young visitors to move water through a series of pumps, channels, rivulets, wheels and gates. Odds Farm Park also has a large animal barn with sheep and goats, rabbits and guinea pigs, as well as other big outdoor and indoor play areas. The outdoor adventure play area features a fort, bridges, balancing beams and slides, and families can also try driving mini Land Rovers for an extra fee (call to check if this is open on your day of visit) and enjoy tractor and trailer rides around the farm, weather permitting. The soft play area inside features long slides that are fun for both young and old, and a compact soft play space for under 5s.
WWT London Wetland Centre
At the WWT London Wetland Centre in Barnes, families can escape the city and go for walks in the peaceful surroundings, help feed the birds, see otters, play outdoors and much more. The outdoor play area includes a climbing wall, water games and zip wires.
Battersea Park Children’s Zoo
At Battersea Park Children’s Zoo families can see animals like monkeys, meerkats, pigs and donkeys up close, and children can run around in the outdoor play areas featuring climbing towers, swings and water and sand play. There’s also a popular pretend fire engine to climb into, and the zoo is compact, making it ideal for families with young children who will appreciate that there’s less walking involved than in larger zoos.
Willows Activity Farm
With a pretty and fun Peter Rabbit Adventure Playground and a wide range of activities, I’m also a fan of Willows Activity Farm near St Albans. We were invited to the first anniversary of the Peter Rabbit Adventure Playground in 2017, and I was taken aback by the lovely themed play areas. The Adventure Playground, designed for under 6s, encourages imaginative play and brings together locations and characters from the CBeebies animated Peter Rabbit series. The sweet playground blends in with the rest of the farm park, and features different talking characters and themed areas, such as Mrs Tiggy-Winkle’s Kitchen, the Jeremy Fisher Music Pond, the Peter Rabbit Secret Treehouse, and Mr Mcgregor’s Garden. There is also a Peter Rabbit Theatre, where there are live shows with characters from the CBeebies Peter Rabbit TV hit. In addition, young visitors can enjoy meeting characters at special meet-and-greet sessions (see schedules online for shows and character meet-and-greets). The farm park, which it’s taken me around an hour to get to, also boasts a large barn with horses, cows, sheep, rabbits and guinea pigs.
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