Top tips for a family day out at Whipsnade Zoo

– This is incredible.
– Isn’t this fantastic?

I was chatting to 2-year-old Baby Girl who was sitting in the back seat while I was driving the car on a rough road through Asia.

We hadn’t made it to the real Asia, but we were very excited to be in Asia in Whipsnade Zoo, which turned out to be very different from any other zoo we had visited.

Visitors to this zoo can choose between parking at the free car park or drive into the park for £20 for non-members (plus admission) or £10 for members. To get around the park without a car, it’s possible to jump on the steam train ride or walk around, but when driving there are a few special passage ways to drive, which I think makes the experience quite unique.

As I was driving through the passage in Asia, I kept trying to tell Baby Girl where to look, ensuring she looked out of the right window to see the animals up close. We had herds of deer only metres from the car, and it suddenly felt like we were very far from London.

Since we weren’t staying for the whole day, it was also brilliant to have the car and stop at the different car parks or park on the right hand side in the park anywhere where there weren’t double yellow lines.

The main attraction for us was the Asia section of the park, as we had really made the trip to see the elephants. When we stopped in the Asia section, we also walked over to the tigers and the Base Camp area to catch the sea lion show – another highlight for 2-year-old Baby Girl. In this area, there’s also a large outdoor playground and an indoor play area, where it’s best to register for a slot on busy days.

There are a number of catering outlets in the zoo, but it’s also ideal to bring a picnic to Whipsnade Zoo. I was impressed with the number of brilliant picnic spots to choose from, such as a lookout area or the green grass surrounding the outdoor playground.

Baby Girl was shouting ‘more, more, more’ when we left the elephants yesterday, and I’m sure we will be back to see them again soon. I loved being able to drive around the zoo to see more in a short space of time and get a bit of a safari feel.

It’s amazing that this brilliant attraction is so close to London–but yet feels so far away.

It took us around one hour to drive to Whipsnade Zoo from South West London. Whipsnade Zoo is the sister zoo of London Zoo.

Tags: Activities for children, Attractions, Family day out, London, Whipsnade Zoo, Zoo