London with toddlers and children – part 4: Day out at London Zoo, Regent’s Park

7 September 2010 Stewart

The Zoo is the World’s oldest scientific zoo, but perhaps more widely recognised as the Zoo used in the filming of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

London Zoo is a in Regents Park accessible by bus or tube (with a walk). See the tips for travelling around London by public transport. The zoo is quite expensive compared with other zoos I’ve visited. They implement tiered pricing which means it’s cheaper to go off peak, but the savings are fairly small.

Animals at the Zoo

There is a large collection of animals and it’s difficult to get around the entire zoo in a day. We got to see most of the zoo, but didn’t get to explore the aquarium properly or see the flamingos, bugs or butterflies.

There are all the usual animals you expect to see at a medium sized zoo such as giraffes, lions, tigers, camels, penguins etc.

As well as the usual enclosures there are some walk-through enclosures including Meet-the-Monkeys and a Tropical Rainforest where animals could cross the low fence separating the visitors from the rest of the enclosure.

Monkey in the Walkthrough Rainforest at London Zoo

There is also the opportunity to meet and stroke some animals in the Animal Adventure area. There was a rabbit to stroke when we went through, but they also have an enclosure that sheep could go into (although they were all at the other side of their private fence when we went through).

Some of the larger animals (Elephants, Rhinos etc) have been moved to the larger Whipsnade Safari Park which is also owned by Zoological Society of London (ZSL). This is similar to most other zoos as these animals need a large area to be kept comfortable.

Play areas

Having a paddle in the stream at ZSL London Zoo
The kids loved the play areas around the site. In particular the artificial stream where they could take their shoes and socks off and paddle.

There were also two fairground rides, although these were a little bit expensive.

Fairground ride at ZSL London Zoo

Eating at London Zoo

There is plenty of choice for places to eat at the Zoo. We ate at the Oasis Café sitting in the outdoor table area. The food was good and there was a good choice for children, although the food was expensive.

There is no baby changing in the gents toilets in the café (although there is in the ladies toilets) and the toilet areas were particularly bad.

Summary

We had a great day at the zoo, but it was very expensive, I think that there are many other zoos around the country that are almost as good for much less than London Zoo.

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