Howletts Wild Animal Park, London

Advantages: Good exercise
Disadvantages: Smelly and not much to see

...for money off trips to Howletts or Port Lympne. I had previously checked out the prices and route on the website which can be found at: www.howletts.net The website is informative and has webcams in some of the cages. Unfortunately when I visited the site the webcam had been struck by lightening and couldn't be accessed. Once in we encountered a slight hitch - my son wanted the toilet after 2 and a half hours in the car. The first set of toilets ...
...a long, long queue. And the state of the toilets confirmed their overuse and undermaintained state. Not impressed. There were two other toilet sites - one in the centre which was slightly cleaner but still only had 3 cubicles. And one at the furthest end which we didn't visit. Also, to get in and out of the park you have to walk through the gift shop. Parents beware of being fleeced. I bought a programme for £1.99 because it had a map and pictures ... Read review

Advantages: A good sized all day attraction
Disadvantages: Its sister park, Port Lympne, is better

...get busy it's normally because Howletts and Port Lympne ask every visitor for there postcode, house number and bring up your details from the electoral roll. The whole point of this is to register your admission as Gift Aid so that they can reclaim 28% extra from Mr Taxman. It's a novel idea for a charitable institution, but I can see other less enlightened visitors getting heated over issues of privacy and feeling that they have to comply. (You ...
...animals through glass windows. Howletts have introduced a new Lemur walk for 2004, and again the little blighters weren't playing ball and staying high up in the treetops. The park is however more baby buggy friendly than Port Lympne with fewer rough/gravel surfaces. There are baby changing facilities and the toilets are acceptable. The elephants enclosure is very open and a sight to watch. We lingered here for some time as the herd played around ... Read review

Advantages: Good day out
Disadvantages: Read op

We went to Howletts wild animal park a couple of years ago and had a pretty good day out. Howletts is a wild animal park situated in Bekesbourne, near Canterbury in Kent. It has a sister park also in Port Lympne, also in Kent. It is a seventy acre parkland, full of wild walks, animal enclosures, picnic areas, gift shop and a restaurant. It also has a few children's play areas. They have a good mixture of wild animals like African Elephants, Indian ...
...famous though for there Gorillas, Howletts homes around fifty gorillas and also has a breeding centre. Ok, when you get to Howletts, you park up in the free carpark, you pay at the gate then take as long as you like to walk around the park. There is a small tractor train also that will take you around some of the park for a small fee and a free bus ride, but we preferred to walk as all of the enclosures have information boards on them about the ... Read review