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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

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Original poster

Is Twycross Zoo any good?

18 replies

porkbun · 16/05/2013 14:38

We are thinking to take our little daughter (15 months old) to the Twycross Zoo. Has anybody been there before? Is it suitable for a young toddler? Our little one loves animal pictures so we thought might be worth to take her to a zoo and see the live animals. If not, any other zoos would you recommend?

OP posts:

Morgause · 16/05/2013 14:40

Twycross is lovely. Took our DS there when he was a toddler and he loved it.

Original poster

porkbun · 16/05/2013 14:59

How old was your DS at that time? So basically you walk around the zoo and most of the animals are staying in a restricted area, is that right?

OP posts:

Morgause · 16/05/2013 15:54

Yes, but there are smaller animals that can be petted in a small enclosure and donkeys. He was 18 months the first time we went.

He loved the orang utans which you can view from inside a den with a huge glass window.

Original poster

porkbun · 16/05/2013 17:20

Thank you very much!

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Pancakeflipper · 16/05/2013 17:23

We went when DS2 was nearly 2. He seemed to enjoy it. Thought the monkeys were hilarious. Liked the elephants and giraffe. It was a good family day out.

Littlemissexpecting · 16/05/2013 17:24

Would recommend. Great day out. You can take a picnic or they have changed the restaurant by the main entrance that was pretty good.
My niece loved the giraffes at that age.

Original poster

porkbun · 16/05/2013 17:46

I thought they don't have giraffes there anymore, no big cats either. Mainly primates they have. After reading mixed reviews on tripadvisor, I am slightly unsure about whether we should go or not. Chester zoo looks like a much better choice but it is far away from us (we live in EastMidland).

OP posts:

Littlemissexpecting · 16/05/2013 17:54

Apologies just had a look online and yes giraffes gone sorry.
I would still go though.
Is whipsnade too far? Prob same as Chester?
Have you been to white post farm?

Springforward · 16/05/2013 17:58

No, IME. MIL made us go once to see the orangutans. Chester and Whipsnade are vastly better IMO.

BackforGood · 16/05/2013 18:01

I like Twycross, but from memory, (my dcs are a lot older now) I think before the age of about 5, they are very happy at the local children's farms... bit more set up for that age group, usually less far to travel, and generally costing a lot less .
Twtcross is nice, as zoos go though.

Wishfulmakeupping · 16/05/2013 18:04

Not been for a couple years but its a nice day out

ChozRa · 16/05/2013 18:28

I think it's a great day out. There is a lovely walk round the elephants with a Borneo theme - I liked it so much I e-mailed the zoo to tell them! They have snow leopards which are gorgeous and the side window of the cafe is the window to their enclosure so you can potentially have lunch right next to a snow leopard. Really good gift shop too. They've done a lot of updating and improving lately - I think there's a dinosaur exhibition at the moment. But yes, there are lots of primates.

knackeredmother · 16/05/2013 20:29

I thought it was good when I went. Much much better than white post farm as was suggested earlier.

Pancakeflipper · 16/05/2013 22:17

Where did the giraffes go to ?

White Post Farm is a good suggestion. Great giant tortoise.

Original poster

porkbun · 16/05/2013 22:44

We lives right next to a canal, so we feed ducks, pigeons, swans, and other little birds quite often. We have taken DD to see chickens, sheeps, and rabbits before, which she also likes. Great giant tortoise might be an attraction :) Don't know where the giraffes went. From what I can see, it seems like the zoo doesn't have that many animals like it used to have. Might still give it a go since it's not that far from where we lives. Chester and Whipsnade are on our list :) Thanks for all the useful information.

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Ilovehotchoc · 19/05/2013 16:40

It's not a huge zoo like Chester, Whipsnade and Woburn which are vast. We used to find Twycross a nice size when our DS' were toddling as its not too big and they can have a toddle around. There are a lot of monkeys, but they also have plenty of other animals too - penguins, aardvarks, otters, sea lions, meerkats etc. The elephants are amazing and you can get really close to them. There are also a few little play areas and a nice big picnic area. I would recommend it as a first time trip to the zoo for your little one.

MonsterBookOfTysons · 19/05/2013 16:44

Twycross is full of primates but has other animals. My favourite being the penguins. It is nice for a first zoo trip.
I have also been to Whipsnade which is huge and exhausting to get around but also very good. The Elephants there are great :o

AmazingBouncingFerret · 19/05/2013 16:55

I love it but then again I'm only down the road from it so it's a quick and easy day out.

There are a lot of enclosures closed atm so it's not at its best. Last time I was there (a couple of weeks ago) I overheard some bloke saying to his partner that if zoos were dogs then it would be a shih tzu!

(Don't let that put you off though!)

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