Longleat Safari Park - best way to plan the day?

[Shufflebumnessie]

We're heading to Longleat Safari Park on Saturday (thsnk you Tesco Clubcard!). We've never been before and just wondering if there is a best way to tackle the Park so we can fit as much in as possible. 2 adults, 2 children (12 & 7).

After reading through the website we're thinking of doing the boat trip first and the Safari towards the end of the day, just before we head home. Does that sound OK?
I know both children will want time in the play area.
Is there anything else we should prioritise? Is it likelythat we'llbe able to fit everything to one day?

Thanks in advance.

Do not drive through the monkeys in your own car. It can make for a very expensive day.

This.

I can see your logic with the safari; personally I would do it first and then have as much time as you want in the rest of the areas, but either end is good.

Also, the food is expensive and not that nice so bring your own picnic and just spend on ice creams. The petting zoo takes longer than you think as it's lovely.

Yes to boat trip first. Try and get on the first one of you can, we were lucky enough to have the boat to ourselves on the first trip of the day so got a great experience!
The koalas are not to be missed!
I'd do boat first, then walk about a bit, then train, lunch, giraffes and finish at the safari.
The giraffes are separate and do a feeding thing which you can do (branch was £2 when we went a few years ago). Make sure you don't miss them because it's spectacular and the Lima walk through is there too. As others have said, do not go through the monkeys! Have a lovely time!

Definitely do the boat trip first, we went just last weekend. Got on the second trip running in the day, by the time we got off, people queuing for at least 30 mins.
Do the walk round bits and then hit the safari in the car on your way home (only if you are not worried about your car being damaged). We had a brilliant day, enjoy! (I do currently have a hole in my bonnet from where I lost a.. nubbin? to a monkey, yet to find out if this is critical to the cars performance 🤣)

Giraffe feeding not open til May, too cold. They're in their own paddock at the mo.

Don't forget to feed the lorikeets though!!

We did the safari drive through twice. Before lunch and on the way out last thing...
Ime the park if you have time spare... Costly day if the park is the main attraction...

I'd definitely try the boat first we've not bothered with the queues last couple times we've gone they were around an hour wait couldnt justify it

Definitely boat first. Everyone heads straight to safari so it's the quietest time of day.

I would get on the boat trip as early as possible as the queues get very long later in the day. Same for the train if it's running.
I agree with previous posters about the monkeys. They love to pull bits off cars. You can see them pretty well from just driving past & then you can watch them pull bits off of other people's cars!
A tip I was given by a member of staff is to do the safari late morning/lunchtime. This is because there are deer you can feed. You buy a cup of food for a pound & feed the deer from the car. However, if it's early in the day & the deer are hungry and impatient they sometimes kick the cars. By early afternoon, they've had enough so they're not interested in the food & it's a waste of money.
You can also buy tiny pots of nectar for a pound to feed the lovebirds. It's quite a rip off but we always do it because it's such a lovely experience. They come & land on your arm/shoulder/head & eat the nectar out of the pot.
There are usually some good animal talks so make sure you know what time they are on. Not sure if that is published on the website.
The maze is fun too. We always finish the day in the playback with the big castle. It stays open longer than some of the other attractions.
I also agree a picnic & ice cream is the way too go.
Have a great day!

Only been there once so can't really advise on what order to do things in but definitely do not drive through the monkey area. I left without my rear wiper thanks to them!

The bus trip through the safari is great. The tour guides have so much interesting information, and you can watch the monkeys attack literally every car driving through. I thought people were joking, but nope!

Thank you all so much. We'll avoid driving through the monkeys!!
Can't wait to go but I'm not convinced we'll get everything done in one day. I'll have to save up more Clubcard vouchers 😆

No go through the monkeys it’s brilliant and hilarious.
unless you really treasure your car

one car had its washer jets bitten off, trim taken off and then repeatedly hit the car with it and then the deers kicked the shit out of it.

best. Day. Ever

the others haven’t been touched

Oh and yes feed the lorikeets. It’s lovely.

Totally agree with everyone about not driving through the monkeys.
We did and watched as they literally stripped off windscreen wipers etc on other cars. We thought we had got away with it and arrived back in the car park to check the car and they had caused lots of damage to the rear of the car.
£300 later... never ever again.

I second the PP's comment about the deer. Last time we went (several years ago now) was with a brand new, straight off the production line car. Obviously we didn't drive through the monkeys in it but I didn't give the deer a second thought. Got home to find what I thought was a bit of mud on the door, was actually a deer hoof shaped muddy dent where one particularly hungry one must have got impatient.

The bat cave is great!

The monkeys are great, just remove your wipers and aerial if you have one and ensure windows are fully up. DO NOT STOP!!!! We had no issues with our car but the idiots in the land rover ahead stopped and had them all over their vehicles, we swerved around them

You can use the park transport instead of your own car by the way

I definitely recommend packed lunches, lots of snacks and drinks. Particularly if you do the safari at lunchtime, you can eat as going round. Food is over priced and not very nice, as well as the main food area being hugely overcrowded.

Yes definitely packed lunches, last time we went it was almost £5 for a (not very nice) sandwhich.

We've never had an issue going through the monkeys as long as you've not got lots of antenna or stuff sticking off your car they can't get to a lot.

Don't expect to see the hyenas, the hyenas can't walk around near the cars they're in a cage which you can't really see into, the last 3 times we've been ds has been really looking forward to seeing them and not got to. We're hoping he will be fooled by the new pack of painted dogs they've got when we next go.

Idiot is a bit strong. I bet they’ve got some stories about the day the monkeys played.

you’d probably call me an idiot, but I’m happy for them and don’t take a new car for that reason. I’m motor trade so can get parts at trade, and know they aren’t going to catastrophically damage the car.

Most of the time they seem to just chill on the roof, have a rummage in your scuttlepanels for treats and check for loose items.
other times they’ve completely ignored my car, I can tell you which visits the kids enjoyed the most.

We went through the monkeys without issues. We had come straight from center parcs car park and the base of the windscreen by the wipers was full of fir needles. They are obviously extremely tasty to monkeys!! We had them jump up, grab a few handfuls and run off to nibble their prize alone.

We have been a few times now and always have fun.

My tip is to get bus tickets for the safari bit. It does cost more but both times we've done it the drivers have given really good talks about the history of the individual animals, told anecdotes about them etc. And you get to see the monkeys running off with other people's parking sensors, not your own. We felt we got so much more out of it than driving round in a queue going "look, kids, it's a zebra". Maybe we just got lucky with our drivers of course.

Thanks for all the tips, we had a great day despite the freezing wind, torrential rain and hail!!
@Scaffoldingisugly Sadly the bat cave closed a few years ago and the bats were relocated offsite.

We did the boat trip first, followed by the train and the safari at the end of the day. It worked really well.
On the Safari we got a great view of the lions and the male was roaring! Plus, we had a cheetah running around the car, which was amazing to see.

DD was overjoyed to see real Koalas (none of us have ever seen one in real life), the meerkats running around your feet were fab & a Lorikeet hitched a ride on DH head for ages!!

We skipped the maze as the weather was unpredictable but I'm sure we'll go back in the future.

Thanks for all the info, it really helped us make the most of the day.