New Forest Wildlife Park, Ashurst, Southampton, Hampshire
The kids will be thanking you for weeks when you take them to the New Forest Wildlife Park, not far from Southampton, so it's one to factor in if you're staying in the area on youir large group holiday in the UK. Trails take you through the woodlands where you can see the animals in the beautiful natural surroundings of the forest; they have quite a collection too - four types of otter, Eurasian Lynx, grey wolves, wild boar, wallabies, five species of deer, and European Bison among others. Imagine seeing a bison in the woods!
No doubt the young ‘uns will still have plenty of energy even after you’ve been all round the park, so they can use up any excess at the adventure playgrounds, one for bigger kids, one for smaller ones. Depending on which one you choose, there are zip wires, sand pits, a log jumble, and climbing frames. Then you can go to the Forest Kitchen Restaurant for a baked potato or something, and onto the gift shop to wrap up your day by choosing a momento of your visit. Look out for keeper talks and feeding times, and for regular events like Wolf Awareness Week and a Halloween Creepy Crawly Count.
Open Daily 10.00am-5.00pm or dusk, except Christmas Day and Boxing Day
T: 02380 292408 All information correct at the time of writing