Recommended by Emma McEnteggart with children ages 5 and 7 on Sat Aug 07 2021

Such a great visit on Friday 6th August. Me and my two girls aged 5+7. It was busy and this was evident when looking at the car park on arrival. However, there is plenty of on grass parking when the main parking area is full (wear wellies in wet day as it was very muddy!) We approached the main entrance, the queue was very well managed and lots of hand sanitising stations were dotted around. The staff all had face masks on too. We booked in (we are members) and headed straight for the butterfly house. We queued no longer than 5 minutes to gain access and the staff were managing the crowds really well, limiting the amount of people in there at any one time. We had pre booked our soft play session online, and headed there for our 45min session. Again the staff all had face masks and advised us it was at our discretion once in whether we should wear them (I’d “guesstimate” 70% of people had them on) We also visited the newly refurbed outdoor play area which is AMAZING and so much more child friendly than it used to be (no “death drops” anymore!) much easier to spot your child now too as it’s very well laid out! We only live ten minutes from the zoo, so do visit often HOWEVER we never get bored of this place and I would highly recommend getting membership. Some days we literally pop up to play at the park/soft play (and I get myself a coffee and enjoy five minutes quiet time!) Enjoy!

Recommended by Erica with children age 7 on Thu Jul 23 2020

Had a nice day out with my daughter, my sister and my father, who is in his 70s and very Covid wary. I was a bit surprised that Whipsnade still allowed so many visitors on the same day and there were crowds in places when queing to see the penguins and the lions. All of the walk throughs are closed, so all animals are in their outside enclosures, which seem to be very overgrown, so this made the animals hard to spot at times. Not many food options available currently, so take a picnic ! The food that was available, only saw one fast food van, was very expensive. Whipsnade is a nice day out. But very pricy. £97 for 3 adults and 1 child. Then we paid another £25 to take the car in. It’s a huge zoo, not sure we would have covered it all in a day, on foot.

Recommended by Chloe with children age 2 on Wed Jun 17 2020

We are zoo members and whilst we are still having ongoing issues with online booking, we did manage to book a morning slot on the phone. We usually visit at least twice a week so we have missed the zoo a lot! We queued at around 9.45 for our 10am start session (10-2, you don't have to leave but the zoo recommends that you stay no longer than 4 hours. The afternoon slot is 2-6pm) and the queue was reasonable, it did go further back behind us down the ramp and into the tunnel from the car park. Have your ticket (printed or on your phone) and membership card, if applicable, ready and place these onto the table at the front of the queue to be scanned. Toilets were clean and whilst only the toilets by the entrance was seen manned and cleaned by a staff member during our visit, floor markings are clear and all guests were sensible with using them. There are new hand gel points outside of each toilet block too. We saw one kiosk open for cold drinks and ice creams, the one by the penguins. No other kiosk or cafe was open, but I believe that from the second week they will open more for take away only. The shop was open with a queue, 1 way system and direction from staff. Walking around the zoo felt perfectly safe. Arrows and 2m paw prints are sprayed on the floor and only on a few narrow paths did we have to move onto the grass to safely pass others. We left at 1.50 and when we got back to the car a staff member was stopping people going into the underpass to allow those guests leaving to safely exit to the car park. They were also talking on a walkie talkie to relay to a colleague presumably back at the entrance. Overall we loved being back and can't wait to book again - hopefully they sort out members' log ins though! My only complaint!

Recommended by Andi Russell on Tue Jun 16 2020

With recent government updates that some zoos and safari parks are reopening to the public we were excited to look at some options for alternative days out for our daughter. Whipsnade is always a favourite as you combine an amazing, large and varied zoo with lots to see, surrounded by the most beautiful countryside. Having had large online queues for other venues with not a lot of availability, we were very happy and a bit surprised to get straight online for tickets to Whipsnade (who’ve planned socially distanced entrance to whole park) have been able to book for the next week and given a choice of a morning or afternoon time slot. Our daughter goes free as she’s under 3. Not super cheap for adults but worth it as there’s loads to see & love the scenery, so we’ll take a picnic too as though I’m sure they’ll have takeaway options this also keeps cost down and means you can find a nice hopefully quiet spot to just sit and enjoy.

Recommended by Charlene Kitchener with children age 10 on Sun Jan 20 2019

Whipsnade is a nice place to visit but is very expensive. On top of the entry price it is a further £12 if you wish to park in the zoo and enjoy the drive around experience. A further £4.50 per adult, plus children's fee which I forgot, to ride the train. Which I would say is necessary as everything is so spread out. The food and drinks are over priced. It has several little wonderful additions which I haven't seen in other zoos, such as watching the metamorphosis process in the butterfly house and a very large play area. The walk through Lemur area looked great but was closed. It is worth a visit if you are able to spend the money to enjoy everything and make the most out of the day.