Thank you to all who rrc, I try and return the favour as much as possible.
Thank you to all who rrc, I try and return the favour as much as possible.
Member since:21.01.2008
Reviews:58
Members who trust:66
I visited many attractions this summer holidays with my two sons aged 3 and 1. Bristol Zoo was one of the most expensive, but I am not convinced that it was the one which held best value for money.
How to get there ----------------------- The zoo is a short bus or taxi trip from the very centre of Bristol where all the shops are. For more information on how to get there visit www.bristolzoo.org.uk.
Opening times and Prices ------------------------------------ It opens every day except Christmas day from 9am to 5.30am, with last admittance 1 hour before closing.
Adult £12 Child 3 -14 years £7.50 (under 3's are free) Senior/Student £10.50 Disabled visitors £5.85 Family ticket
£35 (2 adults and 2 children)
(These prices include a voluntary donation of about 10% which you can ask not to pay if you wish, this does seem to be a new trend at places like this)
What can you see there? ---------------------------------- Obviously being a Zoo there are many animals to see, and also as the name suggests there are lots of garden areas to see as well. Due to the garden parts it makes the zoo a very large area with lots of walking involved so if you are taking a very small child a push chair is a must, and access with a push chair is not a problem until you hit a busy gift shop.
I was disappointed that there were no elephants, giraffes, zebras, camels and many other animals that I remember seeing there as a child were missing. I can understand that the larger animals were not in environments big enough for them, and that the space Bristol zoo has to expand is limited but I did feel a little cheated at not being able to see these animals (on a different note you can see all except the zebras at Twycross Zoo which we also visited this year). I don't want to see miserable animals in small cages but there really were no big animals except the gorillas.
The animals they did have there were not that keen on being outside as it was quite an overcast day when we visited. They had a lemur enclosure where you could walk through and get close to the lemurs, however they chose to stay inside their cages. They have a special penguin and seal enclosure where you can watch the animals swim above you at certain points, however none of them wanted to go in the water (I know this is not the fault of the zoo but it was disappointing). There is a newly established butterfly house which was lovely to walk through, they had information cards at the door so you could try and spot all the different species.
There were Mere cats (also staying inside), Prairie dogs who were out and playing, otters (inside their den), lions, flamingos, Gorillas on Monkey Island who we watched being fed,Llamas etc. There is also a reptile house, a bug house and a lovely aquarium, a new feature since the last time I visited was a special twilight zone, here you could observe animals who go out in the dark,however it was so dark with such a weird light used inside it took a while to regain focus when you left the building.
Food/Cafes? ------------------ We took a picnic with us which we ate by the Pelican Cafe as they have table you can use even if you bring your own food. The prices in the cafe were quite reasonable, with a pizza stand selling pizzas for around £5 which I didn't think was too bad. We only bought ice creams which cost around £1 each, so again not a bad price.
There were mini kiosks dotted around the zoo so you could pick up a drink or light snack (such as crisps or ice creams) when it was needed.
The main toilets were by the cafe with a few more dotted around the zoo, these were clean and had plenty of paper and soap.
Gift shop ------------ What is a day out without your child demanding a good £20 worth of gift stock? They have a lovely gift shop here actually, with a sectioned off huge soft toy department. You could get the normal gifts such as pens, pencils etc with Bristol Zoo etched on them, plus they give you 10% off when you show them your receipt for entering the zoo. They also sold cold drinks and sweets. I managed to get away with spending less than £5 which I thought was great, although my mum who had come with me spent about £12 on stuff for the 3 grandchildren (my niece also came with us)!
Would I recommend a visit? -------------------------------------- I would so long as you realise that you will not see any of the larger traditional animals that you would have seen as a child.
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Sep 5th, 2008
(Sep 4th, 2008)
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