Paignton Zoo
Reviewed by Petra Aston and family
I recently visited Devon on holiday with my 2yr old twins. One of the highlights was visiting the Zoo in Paignton. We were joined on our zoo trip by my sister in law and her family, who had booked their tickets online at a discounted price and were pleasantly surprised to find that the tickets could be used on any day rather than having to book them in advance for a specific date and gamble on the weather, so this is definitely worth doing.
As we drove into Paignton, and not knowing the area at all, it felt a little odd driving into the centre of a small town to visit a Zoo. Directions to the zoo and its parking area were clear and well-marked.
Parking at the top of the hill provides a lovely footpath walk down the hill to the zoo entrance which as you approach becomes thick green tropical/jungle foliage and gets you in a good mood for an adventure. The entrance is compact with the shop, as with many parks, adjacent on the exit side.
There was plenty of staff on hand to help with information and advice, although it was a little disappointing that there was no free Zoo guide/map considering the entrance price. Having brought a guide book, I was very impressed that it wasn’t just a map of the zoo, it was also a guide to all the animals in the zoo and a lot more. However I do think a simple fold out map could be made available free of charge.
Walking through the entrance hall, we have arrived at the wetland area which was very impressive with the flamingos and other birds. Our first stop was the reptiles tropics including anacondas, fish, frogs, tropical birds, tortoises and many more. I was very surprised to see unique, poisonous frogs and large snakes. Some of the glass cages looked dark but I suppose it just represents their natural environment in the tropical. Seeing an anaconda is still a highlight for me even though I am not a big fan of snakes and wasn’t too sure about their small cages. The reptiles’ tropics house leads to the desert house. As the name already says you can expect to see animals and plants from the deserts. Having left the building I was surprised to find a hand washing station which we all thought was a very good idea, especially for young children. After that, we decided to carry on our adventure and went to the crocodile swamp. This area was very fascinating as we saw a salt water croc close up and under the water – this was very cool (mostly for the adults!). Salties really are mean looking prehistoric relicts. Also this area included some activities which my kids enjoyed doing.
After that we headed towards the spider monkeys, red pandas and some birds cages. The spider monkeys and their enclosures are excellent – some real characters in there. Unfortunately we did feel sorry for some of the birds at this side of the park as they looked lonely in this big cage with no friends, the large parakeets especially. It would be lovely to see that those parrots would get a friend to share this lovely big cage with.
The kids then decided to head to the ranch which is where the free roaming interactive goats are, which are after your snacks if you are not careful, pigs and other small animals. The kids loved that bit a lot as they could stroke them and also had a good look at them. We then enjoyed a lovely walk through the outdoor area where the Rhinos, Zebras, the Gorillas and a lot more. We had timed our walk so that we could watch the elephant feeding at 2.30. They have laid out a lot of vegetables and salad for the elephant around the area and the elephant had to walk around to get this food. So we all could see the elephant in action and were also told some information by the zoo worker. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the view the camels had from their area, a lovely view to the sea and coast of Devon. Those camels are very lucky! The other thing which we all thought was very interesting was to see the kitchen in which the food for the animals was freshly prepared on a daily basis. You can also have a look in the hatching area, which sometimes gets very busy and other times is quiet. Our last station was the nature trail, where we enjoyed a lovely ice cream made in Devon which was scrumptious. We were really lucky to see an orang-utan with her little one. Kids were a bit shocked to see the big apes playing and running around in their area. Our last stop was the big cats. The pride of lions and the two fabulously beautiful tigers had big areas to roam around in.
Overall we were all very impressed with the zoo and layout, all areas are accessible for wheelchair and pushchairs. The way it is constructed means that both pushchairs and wheelchairs have the same view to all the animals. It was also very good to see such a variety of animals and that they were all out in the field to play and not hidden or locked away. We had such a good day and gained a lot of information. This zoo is very child friendly and the animal even had Makaton signs showing the sign for each animal a la Justin from Something Special. Our kids love learning all the new signs. We were also surprised to see that the baby changing area was heated, which is what you need for your little ones on a colder day.
We would definitely recommend this Zoo as a family day out, for smaller and bigger kids. There is something for everybody young or old. Outdoor play areas, indoor play areas, a narrow gauge train ride, petting zoo. Nobody will get bored there. I am sure we didn’t see everything there as it’s an ideal sized zoo to keep everyone engaged and we are so glad to have gone there. As the weather was very kind to us, we had the perfect family day out in Devon.
We would give this Zoo a good 5/5.
Rating: 5/5 
For latest tickets prices click here.
For more information or to book tickets online visit www.paigntonzoo.org.uk
