Whether you’re a first timer at the London or a seasoned veteran visitor, each experience is different from the last. It is open year-round with weather permitting, the experiencing changing with the seasons as the animals adjust to the changing temperatures and follow their instincts.
The London Zoo is located in Regents Park and has numerous Tube stations within close walking distance. The only day it is not open is Christmas Day. The zoo offers numerous education opportunities, the exhibits changing frequently to offer new attractions for guests of all ages.
The Big Four Attractions
The Indoor Rainforest
Adorned with the only indoor rainforest in all of England, the London Zoo allows visitors to wander through the simulated rainforest and experience hundreds of species who co-exist in this wonderfully diverse setting. Included in the Rainforest at Night exhibit is the added bonus of hearing rich sounds of the ‘nightlife’ in the rainforest after the sunsets. It’s a beautifully immersive experience.
Penguin Beach
This attraction is new to the zoo and offers the largest penguin pool in England. Visitors can watch the penguins as they play in water or have their meal.
Butterfly Paradise
This attraction was first opened in 2006 to a rousing success. The exhibit is devoted to the conservation and study of butterflies and moths. The exhibits educate visitors about all stages of a butterfly’s life. There are hundreds of butterfly species from around the world.
Aquarium
There are an impressive three halls devoted to the London Zoo’s Aquarium. Conservation programs are prevalent with the seahorse breeding program being the most popular. Visitors can watch in awe at the many dazzling sea creatures swim by or learn about conservation programs across the country.
Not to Miss Events
Junior Zookeepers for a Day
For those kids who can’t get enough of animals, this is a great excursion for them. Children aged 11-15 years of age will have a 3.5-hour experience with close-up encounters with animals and get a free entry ticket with an accompanying adult. They’ll have morning refreshments and get an exclusive Zookeeper t-shirt and cap which they take home with them, a goody bag, and free parking pass.
Children will be in groups of five and work alongside a zookeeper as they work behind the scenes at the zoo, feeding animals and taking care of their cages.
Meet the Meerkats
This experience allows patrons to go inside the meerkat’s home and watch them as they play and search for their food. An expert zookeeper will be on hand to answer questions and to supervise the event.
Patrons will have a twenty-minute meet and feed the family of meerkats, discovering interesting facts while feeding them. The groups are limited to four individuals so there will be a lot of one-on-one time with the meerkats.
Feed the Gorillas
If you have ever wanted to get up close to the gorillas, now is your chance. Whether you’ve wanted to see them play with each other or interact with the zookeeper, you will see it all in this experience. Patrons will be able to feed this wonderfully charismatic gorilla troop all under the guidance of an expert primate keeper. Get up close and personal with our gorillas.
Each group is limited to six people so there will be plenty of interaction time with our gorillas. Visitors will have a fifteen minutes photo op with our gorillas as well as a chance to feed them and have a question-and-answer period with our gorilla expert. There is so much to discover about this incredible but critically endangered species.
It is important to note that visitors will not be in direct contact with the gorillas. This is for safety reasons. Food will be scattered about their outdoor area allowing for numerous photo opportunities to take place by our viewing area behind glass. It is important for guests to notify the zoo if anyone in the party has nut allergies. Masks and gloves will need to be worn during the experience and all guests will need to wash their hands before being allowed to feed the gorillas.
Gorillas and guests will be separated by a 3-meter barrier. All guests should be able to throw that distance in order to get the food to the gorillas in their enclosure. There are ball throwers available to assist though we do recommend this guest experience to be limited to those five years and older.
Meet the Penguins
This is one of the most popular of all the zoo’s attractions. The penguin pool has just recently opened and is the larges penguin pool in all of England. It is a truly unique meet the animals experience at London Zoo.
Meeting our colony of Humboldt penguins is a singular experience where gusts are able to go inside the encloser to Penguin Beach and meet each penguin who will happily waddle over to meet each guest. This experience is limited to groups of four guests so there will be plenty of time to interact with the penguins and get answers to all questions from the penguin expert.
Guests will have fifteen minutes with the penguins which beings after a health and safety briefing from our friendly and enthusiastic staff who will then escort guests to the exciting Penguin Beach. The Humboldt penguins are always inquisitive and will immediately waddle over to meet each of the visitors as the penguin expert will introduce them to the guests. Each penguin has a in individual personality that guests will easily be able to recognize.
Unfortunately, guests are not allowed to feed the penguins because they are on a special diet which is quite smelly and the zoo wouldn’t want our guests smelling bad for the rest of their visit.
That in no way lessens the excitement of the experience. One more note of importance is that Penguin Beach is not like other beaches where guests might wear sandals. We strongly advise guests to not wear flip-flops but wear closed toe footwear instead.
