Europe's 'best zoo to visit' is just one hour from Birmingham and real hidden gem
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When you hear the words ‘Europe’s best zoo to visit’, this little place probably won’t be one you have in mind.
In fact, you may be thinking of the heavy hitters like Chester Zoo, Tierpark Berlin or Pairi Daiza Zoo in Belgium (to name just a few).
But nestled within around an hour’s drive of Birmingham city centre sits this little hidden gem.
It’s Wild Zoological Park, situated close to Wolverhampton, Dudley and Stourbridge just off the B4176 near Halfpenny Green Airfield.
When an email dropped into my inbox entitled ‘Wild Zoological Park crowned best zoo to visit in Europe’ I immediately clicked on it to check the details.
Yes, you may be thinking - another survey! But Vape Superstore investigated the highest rated zoos in Europe, based on a combination of Tripadvisor reviews, Google reviews and the percentage of five star reviews given on Tripadvisor.
I’m a mum-of-three - and was surprised to think of such a highly thought of day out that we, as a family, had never even been to.
To get to the point - we absolutely loved our visit there.
The real highlight has to be the truly amazing bird shows. I’ll set the scene - you’re sat in a vineyard just outside of Wolverhampton and the sky is full of free-flying birds including birds of prey, cranes, macaws, vultures and owls (I’m not even exaggerating).
It really is a surreal experience - and one we will definitely be returning to see. The zoo has the largest free flying macaw flock in the UK.
Animals from around the world can be found in each of the five themed lands. Reptiles Unleashed, Wild Australia, Amazon, Asia and Africa. Demonstrations and hands on experiences are available each day.
Another highlight was the dinosaur show - my children believed we’d actually gone back millions of years and that the huge puppets were real dinosaurs.
The zoo, unsurprisingly, was awarded Trip Advisor’s travellers choice award 2024 - and it really is lovely to see such a small attraction doing so well.
The staff and volunteers are incredibly friendly and helpful - you seem to come out of one show or demonstration straight into another.
And that’s not even mentioning the vital work the zoo is doing to help rare or near extinct species. The talks all touch on this, including the work to help vultures that are being targeted by poachers’ poison in Africa, massively decreasing the species.
To put into context how well Wild Zoo has done based on ratings - Chester rated 19th on the latest list.
Ticket prices, opening times and zoo address
Prices: Adults - £22, children £16, concessions £14, family tickets: explorer - £70 (2 adults, 2 children) or ranger £85 (2 adults, 3 children)
Opening times: 11am to 3pm
Address: WILD Zoological Park, Upper Whittimere Farm, Tom Ln, Halfpenny Green DY7 5EP
Website: https://www.wildzoo.co.uk/
It may be small and hidden away, but Wild Zoo is truly mighty with its excellent bird shows and very important work towards conservation.
A portion of the ticket prices go towards the conservation efforts and the staff are working on breeding programmes to see some of these birds released back into the wild.
Wild Zoological Park is a real hidden gem and must visit day out.
The top five zoos in the UK, based on visitor ratings, are as follows:
Wild Zoological Park ( near Wolverhampton)
Wolds Wildlife Park (Horncastle)
Wild Discovery (Preston)
BCA Zoo (Maidenhead)
Hoo Zoo and Dinosaur World (Telford)