The Edinburgh Zoo is a wonderful, large zoo with a lot to see. I would suggest arriving early to…read moreavoid queues and large school groups. The property is really large and you will certainly get a workout in as it has plenty of steep hills. I was disappointed that the pandas weren't out for viewing during my visit. I wish the zoo would have made that information available before I bought my ticket. The highlights of the zoo were the giant anteaters and the tiger sleeping pressed up against the glass viewing window! The view from the top of the hill at the back of the zoo was great too. Overall, I was really pleased with this zoo. The only thing I would change would be adding more signs around the property. Everything is so spread out, so it can be quite tricky navigating your way around. There weren't many staff out and about, so there aren't many opportunities to ask for directions.

I'm not sure how I feel about the Edinburgh Zoo; I don't think it's a destination spot if you're…read morevisiting for the first time. If you live locally or come to the city often, sure, make your way to the zoo eventually. They have some great events: social for new parents to meet other new parents, afternoon teas, photography workshops, and more. They are home to more than 2,500 animals including: camels, monkeys, pelicans, zebras, highland cows (...obviously), giraffes (a four back of bachelors named Arrow, Gerald, Fennessy, and Gilbert), a red panda, tigers, meerkats, a bear, a very large penguin pool with LOTS of gentoo, king, and rockhopper penguins (you can watch them live on the zoo's website!), flamingos (their oldest one was born in 1961!), and more. Unfortunately, you won't see all of them when you visit: I would say about 30% of them weren't there (for various reasons: rehoming, new structures being built, vet visits, it was the wrong time of day, etc.) when I came. There is, however - and this won't make sense unless you've seen it - an unexpectedly LARGE dinosaur presence here. IYKYK. Thankful for the conservation work they do here and in the protection of endangered species around the world, but I'm not sure this is a spot I need to have repeat visit at.

East Links is a nice farm/theme park/petting zoo just outside Dunbar. You just can't miss it…read morebecause there is a large brown castle with 4 towers sporting the English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish flags. They have various animals that I have never seen before like lamas, rheas, wallabies and even a highland cow! A newborn baby donkey was born on Monday and it was so cute when I saw it while we whizzed past on the train. You even get to feed baby lambs in the petting area which is the cutest thing ever! The fortress is good and has large freefall chutes going to the bottom which are really fast and I actually had to hold onto the sides to slow me down a bit! There are rat tunnels (which are very dark and scary), nets, bridges, ropes and a ramp to the top if you feel lazy. On the 4 towers, there are cannons which you can shoot tennis balls out of. There are 3 go-kart tracks, 2 of which are for small children but the one behind the fortress is for hardcore teenage drivers, like me! There is also mini golf (tokens are required to hire balls) and an indoor ball shooting arena. The prices are a bit ridiculous for the size of the place. It is about £15 per head and you will need to pay even more once you get inside (the tearoom, shops, animal feeding dispensers and golf ball dispensers charge you.) The tearoom was actually quite nice for a theme park café but the prices were quite steep! I was charged £4 for a bottle of Irn Bru and a honeycomb traybake. Ridiculous prices. The food was good though and it was the first time I had ever tasted Irn Bru. It doesn't taste as orangey as it looks. It's like Fanta with a weird vanilla twist to it. The toilets are straight ahead as you enter and they were clean with no bad smells, plenty of soap and hot water that was actually hot. The Dyson Airblade dryers worked fine too. I will be back at East Links in the summer because I didn't actually get to see everything in one day! The sweet shop on the way out is not to be missed too.

East Links farm is a brilliant, well priced day out for all the family…read more At first glance it seems quite small, but further investigation proves differently! There are animals to see, horses to feed, a train ride to be taken, trampolines to be jumped on, a hay barn to be hidden in and much, much more. You can buy animal feed and bird feed to use at your discretion I believe it was only around 25p a portion which was great. The onsite shop is small but lovely with a small range of reasonably priced items. There is a huge barn with tables for picnic consuming which is a blessing with Scotland's weather! We really enjoyed our visit and would go back any time. Highly recommended!

We visited Northumberland Zoo with the 3 of us on a Sunday and spent a few hours there. It is a…read morelovely small zoo that has some unique animals, though, whether it is a snow leopard or the Livingstone bats. The zoo is well maintained with friendly staff and decent catering. Well worth the visit.

Now called Northumberland Zoo. This is a family run zoo and everyone is very friendly. They still…read morehave the farm side but also snow leopards, a monkey house, raccoons, lynx, scottish wild cats, an arctic fox and more. Value for money with a cafe and soft play for the kids. Well worth a visit!

I have been to Blue Reef a couple of times and have always enjoyed it. It is a great day out for…read moreadults and children alike. There is plenty to see and activities for the kids. There are guides who appear to be very knowledgeable about the sealife at the centre. There is a vast array of different sealife including sharks, seahorses and loads of others. This is a fairly cheap and decent day out, especially if you have one of the promotional leaflets where you can get a child's place free with a full paying adult. Definitely one of the better aquariums I have been to!

I've been visiting here ever since I was a child. It's a fun day trip with lots of exciting…read moreinformation to see. There is also a small cafe and gift shop (somewhat pricey!) however, there are several fish and chip shops, ice cream shops and other small cafes nearby if you wish to eat some place else. Overall, a great day out for the kids and family

Absolutely love this zoo, although it's a bit far out it's worth the journey. There is so much more…read moreto see and do here than at Edinburgh zoo. You.are able to get up close to the animals and pet them like we did with the goats and ponies. I loved the bears and watching them play fight was amazing and the parrot say 'come on then'' in a Scottish accent was hilarious and it just seems that the animals here have much more character and are well looked after which is great to see. As well as the animals there is also go karts, trails, beautiful gardens and more and it is such a fantastic day out!

I love it here - I work a couple of miles away so I bought an year's pass for £45 and now I try and…read morego at least one lunchtime a week. The zoo isn't massive but there's a lot to look at. The enclosures are big and well laid out - they all have indoors spaces so the animals can choose whether to be indoors or outdoors and there's been a lot of effort put in to making each enclosure resemble the animal's natural habitat. If the weather is less good when you go, you might find the animals huddling indoors and sometimes you won't see something if it's hiding in a heavily wooded enclosure (it took me several visits to see the Scottish wildcat) but on nicer days most animals will be outside and there's so much to see that you won't care if you miss one or two. Anyway, good zoos should be there for animal welfare first and human 'entertainment' last - this place definitely seems to follow that approach, which is why it gets a big thumbs up from me. They have a number of rescue animals - the bears and lions are all ex-circus animals who have been rescued and brought here with the help of public subscriptions. The bear enclosure is really just a massive bit of forested hillside that they've fenced off and I think it's great that these animals have such a large and natural space to wander around in. They have a few walkthrough enclosures which are fantastic and let you get a bit closer to some of the animals. There are plenty of information boards telling you what you're looking at, with details of where each animal is from and its conservation status. They have daily handling sessions (£2 extra) and feeding sessions (£5 extra) which are clearly advertised. I don't have children but the play area is massive and looks quite good fun, and the staff I've spoken to have all been really friendly too.

Incredible park with a little zoo, bridges, beautiful lawns, restaurant, quaint walking paths…read more Perfect for families looking for something to do for free. There is a suggested donation of £1 at the zoo, but totally worth it.

Amongst the big shopping centre, hospitals and masses of people with their dwellings, you are lucky…read moreto find a nice big green space-you are even luckier if you have a Dene beside these fields! Tucked away from the city centre, Jesmond Dene is a short bus ride away and offers a slice of nature that is rare to come across in such a big city. It is well worth the travel as this little hidden gem provides the peace and tranquility you would only expect to get in the countryside some hours away. Definitely makes Newcastle a worthwhile place to be!

OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG!!!! I don't know how much squeeee I can put into a review. This was…read morejust so much fun. I'm not a city girl by any means, but I'm also not a country girl. Yeah, I've been around animals a lot, but not those of the barnyard variety, so I am oh so terribly fond of Sheep, Goats, Ponies, Donkeys and the like. My Scotsman knows this and so he took me to the Mabie Farm Park. Think Petting zoo, but to the extreme. When you pay your small entry fee under $10, you walk the path, past a trio or was it a quad of adorable animals begging for food, so you feed them. The buck toothed alpaca is just adorable, you don't want to give them everything, so you meander inward, over the cobblestone bridge and into the interactive play area. There are bunnies, ferrets and other wee fuzzy bits that are elligible to be petted and talked about. There's a sign that tells you what times the demos are. Next are the big piggies, who snore loudly and are just as you think of pigs.. They're not in any hurry to move about for you. It was a hot Scottish summer day when I visited, so I don't blame them. From there, its into the Goat and sheep pen with a few calves peppered in for extra cuteness. There was so much squee in the barns I really had a hard time processing it. There were go-karts, a swing pit with hay to land into. Some various quarter style rides. Then the back fields held larger animals who either were bullies in their pens (That one white mule) or just insanely full of adorbe. The mule rides were very popular. Besides the animals, there are a bouncy house, jump pads (the floor of a bouncy house), two different ground slides, one which you ride a little wooden scooter down, swing sets, big wheels to ride, paddle boats, though the pond is a bit low. I KNOW I'm missing something, I just know it. Lets just say, take your kids there, take anyone there who's young at heart. it's totally worth the spend.

More of a childrens playground than a farm. There were certainly farm animals there, goats, sheep,…read morehorses and donkeys. But most of the entertainment came from the bouncy castles, the huge slides where the children sat on little plastic trays to slide down the hill. There were also donkeys separate from the others doing donkey rides. It rained the day we went so we avoided the dirt buggies, but other people were using them and they certainly lived up to the dirt name. A good day out for everyone, and definitely worth the money.

This farm was right next to our Airbnb and so we just had to visit! It's not too big so this is…read moregreat if you want to squeeze in a visit while you're exploring. There is a cafe but it was closed when we were there. Entry is free, and there are stations to wash your hands. I didn't see any employees while I was there though, just a couple of other tourists. It was pretty empty so I felt like I had everything to myself. I saw some cows, sheep, chickens, ducks, lambs, and they were all adorable! You can't feed them but they are so friendly they sometimes let you pet them.

was a lovely warm sunny day visiting Gorgie City Farm &…read moreCafe 8/8/19. I think I came here a very long time ago so it was great to see all again. Walking around seeing all the animals was great and taking some photos of my experience. The weather was so hot, it felt like my head was burning a bit. Very impressive what I saw from goats, chickens, pigs, birds and many more. The young goats where so cute, I wanted to fit one in my pocket lol. I would recommend this place to anyone, if you love the outdoors and animals. You can get a Lothian Buses number 25 from Princess Street in Edinburgh and it will take you straight there also Gorgie City Farm is free to anyone too. Check out my article on Gorgie City Farm on my Blog below https://socialsandi1.com/2019/08/08/gorgie-city-farm/

Very fun and good for young kids I'm 14 and still enjoy it till this day and it is very cheapread more

Situated in what appeared to me to be the deserted old fishing town of Maryport (I swear we did not…read moresee a soul on the streets as we drove down to the attraction!) this is quite a small family attraction which kept a group of twenty-somethings entertained for about an hour and a half. Not bad going for the fairly inexpensive entry fee. I do like aquaria, and this one proved to be great fun with the staff very friendly, knowledgeable and entertaining and the exhibits very accessible to adults and the little people (me and children). I loved the ray pool, where feedings, talks and demonstrations are held regularly, and the fish are really friendly and love to be stroked. The cafe was a pleasant enough experience, and good value, though the menu was nothing remarkable, however checking out their website, they now serve thai foodrandomly!