I estimate that I’ve been to over 50 animal attractions – zoos, aquariums, safari and wildlife parks in the last decade, across the United Kingdom, Europe and the USA. Some of my favourites include Disney’s Animal Kingdom and Discovery Cove in Florida, Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Dublin in Europe. For the UK, Longleat remains a firm favourite of mine. Since I only started this blog in 2017 – the year I visited almost no zoos at all (due to being heavily pregnant and then dealing with a newborn baby), I don’t have that many reviews written up on my blog yet, although I do have quite a lot on TripAdvisor!
Would I consider myself an expert? Actually, I would! I’ve also worked professionally with exotics (primarily with reptiles) for over a decade and outside of the blog, that’s my full-time job so I think I have a really good handle on animal welfare and finding the right balance between keeping the animals happy and healthy, entertaining and educating guests.
In the future, I’ll make sure I write up all the zoos that I visit anywhere in the world, this time with a focus on them being family friendly and what’s suitable for children as well as adults as we’ll be traveling with our son in the future (well, at least for the next 16 years I imagine!)
In the meantime, here is a list of all the zoos I’ve visited (that I can remember – there are a lot of small animal attractions across Europe that I’ve forgotten the names of!), which will be updated with links to reviews when published. Feel free to bookmark this link and check back, or why not follow me on my social media such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, or sign up to my newsletter on the right hand side to receive updates.
Zoos I’ve visited in the UK and my Family-Friendly Zoo Reviews
- Bristol Zoo (Review April 2018 and 2020 during the Coronavirus pandemic)
- Blackpool Zoo (Review Sept 2019)
- Chessington World of Adventures, Theme Park, Zoo and Sea Life (Review May 2019)
- Chester Zoo
- Colchester Zoo
- Cotswold Wildlife Park
- Drayton Manor Theme Park and Zoo (Review July 2018)
- Dudley Zoo
- Edinburgh Zoo (Review August 2018)
- Folly Farm, West Wales (Review June 2018)
- Highland Wildlife Park, near Aviemore, Scotland (Review August 2018)
- London Zoo
- Longleat Safari Park
- Paignton Zoo
- Manor Wildlife Park, West Wales
- Marwell Zoological Park
- Red Deer Centre at Highland Safaris (Review Sept 2018)
- West Midlands Safari Park
- Whipsnade Zoo
- Woburn Safari Park (Review May 2018)
- Wye Valley Butterfly Zoo (Review July 2018)
Family Friendly Farm-Attractions or small animal Attractions
- Amelia Trust Farm, South Wales (Review May 2019)
- Cefn Mably Farm Park, Cardiff (Review April 2018)
- Margam Country Park, South Wales (Review July 2018)
- Welsh Hawking Centre
Aquariums
- Blue Planet Aquarium
- Bristol Aquarium
- Deep Sea World, Edinburgh (Review August 2018)
- London Aquarium
- SeaQuarium Weston
- SeaLife Blackpool
Zoos I’ve visited in Europe
- Artis Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Barcelona Zoo, Spain
- Copenhagen Zoo, Denmark
- Dublin Zoo, Ireland
- Lisbon Zoo, Spain
- Loro Parque, Tenerife
- Palmitos Park, Spain
- Paphos Animal & Bird Park, Cyprus
Zoos I’ve visited worldwide
- Discovery Cove, Orlando, USA
- Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Orlando, USA
- Franklin Park Zoo, Boston, USA
- New England Aquarium, Boston, USA
- SeaWorld, Orlando, USA
Zoo Reviews from Friends
I’m not the only one out there who loves animal experiences (although I might be the most enthusiastic!) and here I’d like to showcase some recommendations from friends across the world who have amazing trips and days out to share with you.
