Whipsnade Zoo

For my birthday last year, we were trying to think of something to do, and finally decided on Whipsnade Zoo as it’s fairly close to us and neither of us have been to a zoo in years. We had a lovely time despite it being a cold day with shorter opening times.

The History of Whipsnade Zoo

Whipsnade Zoo is owned by the charity known as “ZSL”, which was founded in 1826 to promote the conservation of animals and their habitats. You may recognise this charity’s name as it is also the same one that owns London Zoo.

ZSL opened Whipsnade Zoo in 1931, having purchased the land in 1926 and beginning to move animals in a couple of years after buying it. In fact, Whipsnade was actually the first “open zoo” in Europe! An open zoo is where animals are kept in public places, meaning that the visitor is let into the animal’s natural habitat.

Whipsnade Zoo’s Butterfly House

While there are numerous animal exhibits at Whipsnade, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one of my favourites in this post. I absolutely adored the butterfly house, it was breathtaking, and I would happily have spent hours sitting in there, feeling completely at ease.

The butterflies fly around landing on leaves, etc. near the visitors, and you do have to be careful not to stop on any of them! You will also need to make sure that none have landed on you or escape while you are exiting the exhibit.

There are boards throughout the exhibit with information on the various types of butterflies in the house, the lifecycle of a butterfly and other interesting facts.

Daily Talks at Whipsnade

One of our favourite things about the day were actually the various talks that were held in the habitats throughout our visit.

When you arrive, you will be able to find a timetable of all of the talks happening that day, alongside where they will be held. I would definitely recommend taking a look at the ones available as they are definitely worth listening to if you want more information on the animals who call the zoo home.

We were slightly disappointed that we missed one of the talks (it was on the elephants) because it had taken place before we arrived, so if this is something that you’d be interested in doing, make sure to arrive early and plan your visit around these talks.

As it wasn’t peak season when we spent the day at the zoo, we were lucky enough that the talks weren’t very busy so there was no struggle to be able to see the animals and hear everything that was being said about them. However, I’d imagine when its busy you may want to arrive to these talks early so that you have a good view and can hear everything that the zookeepers are saying.

Whipsnade Zoo Experiences

These actually look really cool! We didn’t do any of the experiences unfortunately, some weren’t available at the time of our visit, and the day was planned pretty last minute if I’m being honest. But, if you are planning to go as a gift for someone, arranging one of these is a good idea.

There are the usual kind of zoo experiences on offer, like “zookeeper for a day” or specific meet the animal related experiences (the elephant one is something that I’d love to do if we were ever able to book it!).

You also have the opportunity to stay at the zoo overnight as well! For me, that would be really cool, I used to camp a lot when I was younger, but if camping isn’t really your thing there is also a lodge that you can rent to stay over in. Either way this would be a brilliant opportunity for animal lovers who also like the outdoors.

Amenities

Cafes and Restaurants

There are several places available around the zoo for you to get food and drinks. However, I would recommend checking if they’re open when you’re visiting as some dining options remain closed outside of the peak season.

We ate lunch at the café at the front of the zoo where you enter and exit. Harry had a toastie and I had a sandwich, which were vey nice. Although, I do have to say the cookie was my favourite part of the lunch!

Toilets

So, this may seem a bit weird to mention for some people, but when visiting public toilets, I’m always a little apprehensive about what I might find. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the state of these ones, because while they could probably use a bit of an upgrade, they were clean! I think this goes a long way to encouraging people to want to spend an entire day here, but that could just be me.

Gift Shop

As with most tourist attractions, there is a gift shop next to the entrance/exit of the zoo. It is a lovely little shop full of cuddly toys, arts and crafts and books full of information on conservation. We spent a little longer in here than I’d be willing to admit, indulging our inner child with the amazing souvenirs available.

Getting to Whipsnade Zoo

As we live near to Whipsnade Zoo, we planned to use public transportation, this proved to not be the best course of action. I would definitely not recommend this method to anyone wanting to visit the zoo, as we discovered it is very inconvenient. Therefore, it is best to have your own method of transport if you are a guest of Whipsnade.

There is only one bus that stops near to the zoo, and it isn’t very frequent. Unfortunately for us, our bus back was about half an hour late, no Uber driver was available, and the zoo had closed, so by the time the bus arrived we were completely frozen!

Conclusion

Whipsnade Zoo is a lovely place to visit that we hope to return to in the future (preferably with our own form of transportation!) to finish exploring the various exhibits.

I would recommend this to any animal lovers who are looking to learn at the same time as relaxing in the outdoors.