Twycross Zoo - Close Encounters on a Rainy Day

As can usually be guaranteed for the half term it started off a bit rainy, but we'd been invited to Twycross Zoo for the day, so coats and umbrellas in hand off we went.

I haven't been in a while and there were a few new additions including Close Encounters - The World of Reptiles and Spiders (New for 2025) as well as The Gruffalo Discovery Land and the Wet 'n' Wild Play Park, which despite the weather was in fact being played on by a couple of very daring kids.

We stopped at the Lorikeets first, a great hideaway with lots of bright and colourful birds flying around, you can buy a small pot of nectar to feed them, when we finally found one hungry enough it was a joy to watch them eat, their little tongues slurping the nectar.

Next, we went over to the newly opened Close Encounters, it was super toasty in there and we got to see some reptiles and spiders I'd never even heard of before, some of which proved harder to find as they blended in to their surroundings.

A bit peckish we grabbed some doughnuts from The Doughnut Den and walked through to see the Chimpanzees and Gorillas, followed by the Giraffes who were all very understandably inside. 

A rather wet walk round the Rhino's before on to my faves the Penguins and Flamingos, who both looked to be enjoying the wet weather even if we were getting soggier by the minute.

With that being the case we headed to grab some food from the main restaurant located at the mai entrance, there you can keep a watchful eye out for the Snow Leopard, who did make an appearance as we were finishing up.

We headed back out for a second look around the Close Encounters (in case some had deicded to show themselves) before one last walk round to see if we could see the Tigers but alas they were hiding away like the smart animals they are inside, in the warm.

We had a walk over to the Butterfly House which was a welcome warmth and dry space as well as quick walk around The Grufflalo Trail, which I absolutely loved and despite the kids being a bit older I think they secretly loved it too.

As well as the real animals there were also a lot of amazing Lego animals about the park, so realistic I genuinely thought one of them were real, a faux pas the children didn't let me forget for the rest of the day.

We really loved Twycross Zoo, not only is it a chance to see animals we wouldn't usually get to see it also offers an insight into the devastating effects of things such deforestation, climate change and the plight that many of the animals face.

Finally and what I really love about the tickets is that they are available for an entire year, which makes popping there for a few hours even better value. 

We were given tickets in exchange for the review, however all words and opinions are my own.