LONGLEAT SAFARI PARK - UK and Ireland Discussion Forum, Holiday Forums

LONGLEAT SAFARI PARK

Anonymous

2006-02-21 08:45:01

We went to longleat last year, it was fantastic,

we purchased a passport allowing entry into everything once each and you can visit whenever you want to during the year to see things you may have missed.
the safari park is immense, huge does not describe it and you can take your time around most of the park and stop to take photos of the thousands of animals. you get a tape or cd commentary to play in your car and there are areas where you can stop to visit shop/toilet/viewpoints around the park. if you have been watching the tv programme on bbc2 then it does not do it justice. its a fab place for all ages.

this can take the good part of a day if you dont rush and enjoy the animals.
then you have the magnificent house , gardens, many mazes, the train ride, bat caves, pedal boat ride along the lake to see hippos,gorrillas and of course the sealions including feeding them.

there is so much to do and so little time. we did it on 2 visits and thoroughly enjoyed it all. my little boys favorites were the butterfly house and the giant hedge maze.

we are planning to go again this year but as we are not on holiday in that area i wonder if anyone knows of a good b&B or hotels/guest houses nearby to stay a couple of nights enabling to take our niece along too as she loves animals also.

Acorncup

2006-02-21 17:20:30

Hi
there is a Centre Parcs complex at Longleat, otherwise look for B&B in Warminster or around there.

Yes Longleat is great fun....but be warned - don't drive through the monkey section unless you don't mind what happens to your car - the little blighters pulled the back windscreen wiper off and wrecked the rear window-washer nozzle!!!!!!

Hubby's car was the centre of attention when he took it to the garage to be repaired :oops:

They'd never seen anything like it and thought it was a huge joke!

So did our kids of course.........

Anonymous

2006-02-21 19:08:57

longleat safari park

Yes sorry forgot to mention about the monkeys, they did that to my car also. i needed a new rear screen wash nozzle thankfully only about £1.00 but next time we will avoid the monkey enclosure.
the car in front of us had both their roof rack strips litterally stripped off but it wouldn't stop us going again.
thanks for the help with accommodation though.

numberplease

2006-02-26 01:35:05

I`d love to go to Longleat, but hubby won`t go in case his precious car is damaged, and I wouldn`t want to miss out the monkey section as it looks like a lot of fun.

Acorncup

2006-02-26 15:00:18

Number, you don't have to go into the monkeys' enclosure, they are in a separate bit!!!!!! But for part of the ordinary route, you can drive BESIDE the monkeys, so you can see them, but from behind a wire fence!!

But from what I remember, you can even go round the park in a Longleat jeep, I guess for people without cars???? Don't know how much this costs though.

Then there's oodles of parking where the house, and other attractions are. It's a great day out, so try and persuade your hubby to take you!

Helen T

2006-04-22 11:43:36

longleat

Hi We're taking our grandchildren age 6 & 4 to Frome for the weekend in the hope of going to Longleat & Bristol Zoo. We haven't been to Longleat for about 20 years. Is there enough to do there if the weather's bad, and is it worth buying the tickets on the internet before we go. Also has anyone heard of a place called Noah's Ark Farm or zoo in that area,and is it worth a visit.

Helen T

2006-04-22 14:03:04

accommodation for Longleat

Hi Lockwood. Don't know if I'm too late to suggest accommodation for Longleat. Found your post really interesting as we haven't been there for over 20 years. We're off this weekend with our grandchildren 6 & 4 and we've found what looks like a delightful B & B in Maiden Bradley 9 miles away. It only has 1 family room with a separate dining room from the other guests (brill with 2 messy little eaters). Its only cost us £60 per night for the room. Have a look at it on http://www.cornerhousebb.com

*Edit to activate link. Pippy*

Pippy

2006-04-22 18:20:44

Hi Helen

You'll find websites for Noah's Ark Zoo Farm HERE and Bristol Zoo HERE.

Pippy

Helen T

2006-04-26 16:18:34

longleat tickets

Do you gain anything by buying tickets for Longleat on line, or is it better to wait and buy them there. Going this Saturday or Sunday. Thanks

nicola1972

2006-04-27 21:03:25

I think it's the same price either way unless your in a group of 12+.
Longleat sometimes do special offers on the online tickets, but there doesn't seem to be any on at the moment. :cry:

I went with a playgroup trip on a coach in the boiling heat and then went back in the car in Sept to finish off the passport tickets.

Well worth the money and we could have done with a 3rd trip!!!

Have a nice time

One tip....
Take a packed lunch.

We thought we'd get something at one of the food places but found it to be very expensive and wished we'd gone to Tesco and bought some sandwiches :roll:

LOCKWOOD32

2006-04-28 00:11:16

Yes i agree the food is expensive and not of brilliant quality unless youre not bothered about burgers and hot dogs with fries of course.
The passports are well worth the money though as you can come and go any day to finish of your viewing of the attractions. we did it in two days and i believe it is cheaper than seeing everything sepearatly and paying each time. we are hooked to the BBC2 series and now know where everything is when it shows them. im sure youll have a great time.

Helen T

2006-05-02 16:41:25

back from Longleat

hi we've just returned from a fab break. We stayed the first night at the Premier Inn Alveston Bristol. Great room with a pub attached which made full English Breakfasts. We spent the 1st day at Bristol Zoo which has improved so much over recent years. The kids had a great time. We then travelled down to Maiden Bradley (just outside Frome)and stayed at a fantastic B & B (INVALID URL I have never stayed at any B & B of such quality for what you pay. The English breakfast was served on 2 plates as there wasn't enough room on one. There was aglass of sherry for hubbie & I and juice for the kids in the room every day, as well as an array of toiletries for men women & children. On the way down a car crashed into the back of us so we couldn't shut the boot, so the hostess Carmen offered us the use of her jeep. Nothing was too much trouble, and we were onlly 6 miles from Longleat. Far too much to do here in one day so we can use our tickets again before the end of the season. One tip I would try and get there early otherwise there are big queues.

nicola1972

2006-05-02 16:48:45

Another tip to go along with going early,
is to do the boat safari first ( if you want to go on it- we thought it was better than the actual safari!! it was very hot on a non air con bus though) as you can spend along time in the queue there.

Helen T

2006-05-02 17:23:08

safari boats

I agree with that Nicola. By the time we got there the queue was 2 hrs long, so we didn't bother. We went on the train however and were very fortunate to have the seals playng right alongside us for a while. quite right about the food as well - nearly £6 for burger & chips.

tisonlymoi

2006-05-15 20:17:36

Do they not still do the safari bus which allows you to go into the monkey enclosure and watch everyone elses car's get taken apart by the little blighters?

We used to live in Warminster and used to go to Longleat every weekend with our little boy - we used to buy the passport and just come and go as we pleased.

Our favourite time was during the foot & mouth crisis - from memory I think it was just the lion & wolf enclosures we could go in so we drove in (normally did the bus) - we were a few cars behind the meat truck delivering breakfast so the lions were all up and feeding - literally feet away from us in the car - it was amazing.

Really miss the place now but we get our fix watching Animal Park - great to see the same keepers there after all these years.

Pippy

2006-05-15 20:30:54

Do they not still do the safari bus which allows you to go into the monkey enclosure and watch everyone elses car's get taken apart by the little blighters?

Sorry, I can't answer your question, but I have to admit watching them 'inspect' the cars as they go through is great fun! :shock:

I used to go to boarding school in Warminster and we often used to go to Longleat at the weekend. It's a great day out

Pippy

Helen T

2006-05-16 09:19:36

safari bus

Hi! Yes they still do the safari bus for those with soft top cars or who've caught a taxi there etc.

tisonlymoi

2006-05-17 19:49:41

I think you can pay to go on the safari bus tho' so even if you've got a 'normal' car you can still use it - that's what we used to do at any rate. If I remember right we used to pay at Pets Corner to do so.

Pippy I used to work at Creme De La Cod - couple of nights a week after I'd had my eldest as I couldn't return to work (there was only one nursery in Warminster and the Principal (as she liked to be known) was terrifying for us as adults let alone the kids)!

Sorry I digress - yes Longleat is a FAB day out and once you've been you will compare it with every zoo you'll ever visit in future.

Monkey World in Dorset was great too!

Oklahoma

2006-05-18 23:14:57

We had a fantastic long weekend at Longleat. We took our caravan to the caravan club site there, it's right next to all the attractions. We went to the house very early before it opened, but the friendly doorman advised us to go to the boat safari first as it gets very busy later on. We got on the boat straight away and was so pleased that we took his advice. We spent ages in the maze, just couldn't get to the centre of it!!

Will definitely go back in the future

Pippy

2006-05-19 04:31:39

We spent ages in the maze

Don't mention the maze! :yikes

I almost had a panic attack in there as I couldn't find the way out! :oops:

Pippy

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