Five Tips for a Great Day at Twycross Zoo

As the summer came to an end, we headed over to Twycross zoo

to take a look at the new Gruffalo Discovery Land.

Here are my 5 tips for a great visit.

1. Before you get there, book your tickets. It's always cheaper to book your tickets in advance online. There are also some great offers to be had. In the past, my family has benefitted from free entry with a Blue Peter badge, free entry for dads on fathers day and free entry for educators with my school badge at certain times of year. Blue Light cards also give discounts.

2. Visit The Gruffalo Discovery Land early in the day. It's Twycross' newest attraction and it gets busy by the afternoon. We went through the ticket booths, turned left and walked back on ourselves to get in there as the first thing that we did. This meant that my children where able to press the buttons and do the games without queuing or rushing.

3. Time your gift shop visit! When we left the zoo in the middle of the afternoon, the gift shop was rammed and the queue was snaking around the shop. Everyone gets funnelled through here as they exit so that perhaps explains why it gets so full as most people are leaving. I'm a bit of. meanie with gift shops, but if your children have got money to spend, a mid morning visit might work better. There are other gift shops at Lorikeet Landing and inside The Gruffalo Discovery Land.

4. Remember towels and swim stuff! There is an excellent splash pad which is open during the summer months at Twycross Zoo. I remembered our things at the last minute but other parents were clearly not so lucky and children were being dried with jumpers. (We've all been there!)

5. Download the map. There are no paper maps as part of the zoo's efforts to be more environmentally friendly. It's very useful to have one though. I photographed a map displayed on a board but we had already done a lot of walking forwards and backwards by that point. (Carrying a 3 year old is tiring!) This makes sure that you don't miss anything and and get to visit your favourite animals.

So, there are my top tips. Please feel free to share your own tips in the comments to help others.

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