The Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens, situated between Cheltenham and Cirencester, has become one of the UK's largest zoological collections and is home to animals from all over the world.
First established in 1970, the Cotswold Wildlife Park has welcomed millions of visitors in the ensuing 40 years. It has an incredibly diverse collection of species and habitats that are subdivided into four main areas. With birds, mammals, primates and reptiles the animals range from ostriches to capybaras, giraffes to iguanas, and majestic lions to cheeky gibbons. On top of that there are fantastic gardens to roam too and many of these take advantage of the park's various microclimates. The elegant Victorian manor sits at the hub of the site and from here you can enjoy the walled garden and the important planting around the animal exhibits. The aim is to demonstrate the diversity of the plant kingdom as well as that of the animal kingdom.
With 160 acres of parkland, 300 species and fantastic gardens too, the park supports a great education programme as well as numerous endangered species breeding programmes and conservation projects. The park provides a whole range of talks that are angled towards the different learning stages, right from foundation and Key Stage 1 to BTEC courses. You can go behind the scenes and be a keeper for the day or enjoy a special animal encounter.
There's also a daily schedule of activities that runs throughout the year and a series of annual events, so you'll never be short of something to see. Many of the annual events take place in the summer season and these often include an MG Owners Club event, and RHS Day and a Lemur Week. It is best to check events and activities online before setting off and you can find the website here.
The Cotswold Wildlife Park makes for a fun-packed family day out and younger visitors will enjoy feeding the animals, riding the little train and exploring the children's farmyard or the adventure playground which is set amongst the trees. Take a look at the website and plan your visit here.
Stay nearby in Buckland Court and you are within an easy drive of the wildlife park. You could even purchase one of their season tickets and visit multiple times. Information on the season tickets can be found at the bottom of this page.
Or find out how to stay at Buckland Court by following the link below.
