Review Time
What an amazing event. Three generations all had an amazing time. Took us a good two hours to explore the event. Staff were lovely. Especially Lucy at the Costa coffee in the main entrance. We thought this event was good value for money. Lanterns if the wild is a lovely event. It’s beautifully set out and displays are just beautiful. Toasted marshmallows were lively, our only comment would be that they would have been nice half way through rather than very early on. We were thankfully blessed with a dry evening.
This review contains information based on my whole experience with Twycross Zoo between March 2025 & February 2026.
In March 2025, I brought 4 Adult Annual Passes and 2 Child Annual Passes.
Included with the pass are 5 free car parking tickets. What they fail to tell you is that the car parking is a scam.
Despite having the ANNUAL PASSES I have only visited the zoo 2 or 3 times. This has been due to lack of time but it didn’t bother me as the passes were mainly for my brother and his family,as he has 2 young children who go to school near the zoo. I thought it would be nice for them to visit after school with their friends.
Firstly, before you go, whether pass holder or not, you need to book your visit on the Twycross Zoo website. Date and time, you can’t just turn up.
Secondly, the car parking is not free or included with your ticket, you have to pay. As a pass holder you have to add car parking to your ticket even though you have 5 car park tickets included. I did this on each occasion I booked, and on my last visit with was to see the very disappointing Lanterns of the Wild event, I got sent A £40 CAR PARKING FINE.
When I emailed the zoo telling them it was a mistake as I had added the car parking to my ticket. I got told it was my fault as I had not visited customer services on the night of my visit. No where on the website does it state that this is a requirement, plus I had already registered my car with Customer Services on a previous visit.
I have paid the car parking ticket as the customer service through the zoo was disappointing. They would not accept that maybe there was an issue with the booking on the website. They did not apologise only that they were sorry I have had a disappointing experience, very patronising.
I had planned on renewing the passes this year and upgrading as I feel the zoo needed the support. Also booking some of the experiences. Now due to the lack of customer service I have changed my mind so I have saved over £1000.
On entry to the zoo from the main road there is a huge pothole, this nearly nobbled my car and the rest of our entourage’s carriages. There are also several others in the car park.
Once parked depending on what time you get there, is a 5 to 20 minute walk to the entrance. The entrance takes you into the visitor centre where there is a soft play, shop and cafe. So, it gets very crowded and claustrophobic, also noisy with the children on the soft play, but that is to be expected.
On our last visit to see the animals we hardly saw any animals. A lot of the enclosures were empty, a couple were damaged and in need of repair. Some were being renovated. Even enclosures that were supposed to have animals appeared empty. Meerkats and penguins were easy to watch, and entertaining.
In the children’s play area there were wasps everywhere. Several children were stung and none of the kiosks had anything to help, and no first aider or station nearby. This was in August but the bins were overflowing and the wasps were just everywhere. Not so bad in other areas of the zoo, but the bins should have bin emptied regularly. Especially as this was were the children were playing in the water.
I recommend taking your own food and drink. Most of the food options are pricey when you have a group.
The toilets around the zoo were also in a poor condition, the best ones were by the Gruffalo meeting area but still weren’t brilliant. Also, if you do want to buy something to eat, the cafe here was nice and the staff were friendly. They have a good meal deal here for children too and the sausage rolls were nice.
The gift shop as you leave has some nice things. Some of it is a little pricey and a lot is aimed at young children. You can leave from the entrance if you want to avoid the shop.
This is not a whole day visit about half a day. Despite a booking system the zoo gets very crowded. There is also not a lot of seating when it is busy or around the child play areas.
Our last visit was to see the LANTERNS OF THE WILD. We had a 5.15 pm slot. It was so crowded. We shuffled our way round as it was so busy. I have no issue with people taking photos usually but some of the paths were narrow and it just held you up as there was no room to get around them. As it had been raining and they had obviously had a lot of visitors some of the pathways were mud. Slippy, with deep grooves, some huge puddles, but a lot of mud. Recommend wearing a good pair of boots or wellies.
I don’t know if it was because we went at the end of January and it had been on since November I think, but some of the lanterns were damaged, as they are only paper. I couple I think were animatronics but were hardly moving. Where there was a grotto or something for Christmas along the routes, these had been taken away, and were just dark voids. Nothing to replace what was there.
The exit was a nightmare. Just crowds blocking the way.
Looking for a new true conservation zoo to support.
Awful day out! Where are all the animals?! We were looking forward to a family day out after myself and my husband having an extremely busy week running events and we were very disappointed - even our 6 year old said before we made any comment about how bad it was. We also pre booked the feed the lorikeets at 2:30pm - when we arrived there was a queue and people paying to go in. When we came to the desk we were told it’s been busy and the lorikeets may be too full to eat! We went through anyway as naturally the children were excited. The keeper inside said they were only letting pre booked in which was a clear lie as we just watched families pay to come in. Why let people come through who haven’t pre booked? Just work on pre booked basis. There were over 70 people in there so no wonder the Lorikeets didn’t want to eat any more! Taking money for nothing and highly unfair on those who had pre booked. The enclosures themselves seemed very small and un kept. Our 13 year old said we see more animals at our family farm. The snake house has 1 snake out of the 2 enclosures there. Activities around the gruffalo trail were broken and not working. For a day out that has code over £80 for a family of 4 - it was extremely disappointing and we would not recommend going to anyone. There are far better zoos such as Cotswold wildlife park, longleat and West Midlands safari. Do not waste your money here. Very sad.
Awful day out! It’s was bound to be busy because it was the summer holidays but it was so poorly managed. Layout is chaotic and the flow of people wasn’t managed at any of the pinch points. At some points people were struggling to move past each other. Toilets were disgusting and the queue for the ice cream stand took about 30 mins. 1 line to pay and then you had to queue again for your ice cream. Also barely saw any animals. Worst day out of the summer holidays I’ve done only free activities up until now and it felt like a total waste of money.
Unorganised set up, backwards and forwards to see everything. Some of the animals looked bored stiff. Leopard walking round in circles in small enclosure, disturbing to see. Rediculous food pricing, hotdog and a few chips £11.50.Will not be returning.
There are quite a few animals there, but I hated the layout. It was chaotic, with no natural flow. I must have counted 6 enclosures that were simply abandoned. Much of the zoo looked dated and run down. Paint was peeling all over the animal side of the gorilla enclosure. I looked at a picture we took there 14 years ago and the amount of decay is unreal. I liked seeing the animals, but majority of the primates seemed bored stiff. I'm glad we took a pack-up with us, as for 2 adults and 3 kids it cost us almost £130 and the food prices were crazy high. £2-50 for a can of coke??? The carnival theme attractions like hook a duck were expensive too. You have no choice but to have an annual pass, but I don't see myself using it to return. My kids seemed to enjoy themselves, which is what matters most to me and the only reason I'm not giving a 1 star review. I managed to see part of the back of a tiger and felt sorry for the leopard who seemed to be in an enclosure alone and just pacing. My wife was in a wheelchair and really struggled to see a lot.
Didn't see many animals as the enclosures were over grown and in need of considerable maintenance. The animals we did see looked sad and not well cared for. The staff were mainly young people who didn't seem to see the animals distress. I was asked for my email address when I purchased the tickets but said I was unable to give it for personal reasons, I was then told I wouldn't be eligible for the 'come to the zoo anytime free for a year' entitlement. My e mail address is personal and it should be my decision who I give it to. We would not be coming back to this zoo again.
I was so disappointed with my recent visit to Twycross Zoo. Took my four year old grandchild who wanted to leave after a hour. The lack of visible animals, viewing through glass is not easy due to the reflection on the glass. The animals that were visible looked bored. There was a lack of interactive attractions for children to explore about the animals. The Gruffalo trail was dated. You cannot just buy a day ticket you have to purchase an annual pass, which I will now not use. For me it was not value for money.One positive is it is wheelchair and pushchair friendly.
I'm sad to say that this zoo has had a massive fall from what it once was. My older children now in their 20s loved this place when they were young, abundance of animals and nice enclosures. You could hear the howler monkeys from the carpark!On returning with my two year old it was hard to hide my disappointment from her. I get that animals can't be put on show, and it now declares as a conservation project and all that jazz, but as others have said it is a game of spot the animal. Those that were visible looked bored and not stimulated, difficult to spot for adults let alone children.Most enclosures look old, run down and neglected, broken glass, or wood over viewing windows with minimal holes to look in. One of the small monkey enclosures was full of branches with dead leaves on it, not an animal in sight.The layout is difficult to navigate, minimal signage, and routes that are tight and cramped, huge puddles in front of doors, covering most of the dirt paths, like the enclosures paths and walkways falling apart. There are some newer areas, but these are so busy and with no natural flow through them become clogged and just uncomfortable to be in.Food is expensive and generally subpar, but the staff at the kiosks were friendly. A reminder of the 80s with old fairground games costing way to money for garbage prizes, cheapening the whole experience.Sad to say this place has seen its better days pass-by, now clutching on for dear life. They need to spend a lot of money or give it up move the animals to better zoos and close.Drive an extra hour or so North and go to Yorkshire wildlife, which also has free parking.
Claim your business profile now and gain access to all features and respond to customer reviews.
starexoticparrotsforsale.com
joyrideharness.com
walkinpawsflint.com
biketowleash.com
debbiesdoggiesofharrow.co.uk
shampoodlespetgrooming.com
bestvetcare.com
gooddog.com
unscriptedaquarium.com
alphapaw.com
