London Zoo, Regents Park, London

I've been here a few times and I always have a great day out seeing the animals and wandering around the relaxing area.

Ok so this is a city zoo, they don't have the space that the safari parks have, and that calls into question whether they should be allowed to keep some of the bigger animals, and that's up to you to make your mind up about, but it’s not what this review is about.

When I arrived at the zoo, it was a beautiful day and I expected big crowds, but actually it was fairly quiet and we didn't have to wait long to get in.

The park is clean and fairly well maintained although some of the exhibits could do with upgrading. You do get the feeling though that the zoo really does care about it's animals and that's nice to see.

Some of the exhibits have more recently been upgraded and I love the new style they are using of wood and glass. The Komodo Dragon has one of these newer enclosures and has lots of space to explore. There were also lots of really useful and interesting boards displaying information about them. Did you know female komodo dragons don't need a male's contribution to produce young?!

The enclosure I was most looking forward to seeing was the tigers. It's so much better that the old one, really beautiful and it's clear a lot of work has gone into making it a better home for them. In an ideal world, of course they need more space than even the new enclosure can provide, but I'm just happy to see they've provided the best they can. The tigers can't be too unhappy either seeing as one of the females had just had cubs!

Most of the enclosures are the old style (lots of metal bars) but more and more are being transformed into these lovely wood and glass, more natural looking spaces that make me feel much happier about being a customer at the zoo.

We stopped for lunch at the Terrace Restaurant expecting to struggle to find a free table and to pay over the odds for rubbish food. I was genuinely shocked! The restaurant is huge and had plenty of seating. It's set up a little like a canteen with different food stations depending on the type of food you want (pasta, pizza, salads etc). There are also coffee bars and stands displaying delicious looking cakes and treats. I picked cottage pie and it was absolutely delicious! I was really surprised at just how good the quality was, and the portion size was very generous too. It's not cheap, but no more than you would pay in any good London gastro pub.

The gift shop also sold some lovely items, your normal cheaper souvenirs as well as more expensive homeware pieces and decorations.

Overall we had a lovely day. It’s not a cheap day out but I don’t mind paying a bit extra towards a cause that does actually do a lot of good work for animals (irrelevant of the zoo side of things).

London Zoo upset us and we wish we hadn't gone. To see birds of prey clipped, caged and in one case clearly agitated started the trip on a bad note and this was made worse by the confined cage-spaces for the primates. The new Penguin exhibit was at least less constrictive but the efforts to landscape in a natural way were minimal. We avoided the large mammals as there is no place for these beasts in an urban zoo. The reptile house was ok and the aquariam again was ok and didn't feel so overtly cruel. As well as sadness we were left with the thought that in 2012 this type of urban freak-show is unnecessary and could be done better with virtual exhibits and educational videos. We understand that the Zoo funds conservation projects but this is a very dirty compromise. The information about the specific care of the animals on view is sadly lacking. Please don't visit this 21st Century anachronism.

There is an 'optional' 10% donation and by, in their own words, agreeing to pay this, they can fund conservation work. However, the price quoted always includes the donation. On the website there is an option to view the BASE PRICE. When you are paying at the gates the optional donation is automatically added on to the ticket price, without a word, as it were. I had to query it twice to get them to admit that there was a base price without the donation AND I PAID IT ! I did feel a bit mean (and I will probably pay it if there is a next time) but I don't like being deceived and voluntary is voluntary, you should be given the choice. Shady tactics from such an organisation.

The zoo itself is in need of major investment. Old disused enclosures from the late 60's are still there looking like one of those TV programmes where the human race has died off and the vegetation has taken over ! Some of the animals look sad especially the lions and tigers who should really be in a safari style park.

On the plus side, penguin beach is fantastic as is their feeding time show. The meerkats and otters look extremely happy. The gorillas have a super enclosure and look very content and the gift shop is well worth a visit.

Worth to take your kids for a change..they will enjoy for sure and I enjoyed too..

We took my little boy on his first birthday. It was as much an outing for us obviously and we enjoyed a nice walk before entering the Zoo. It was like going back in a time warp to my childhood except at least in those days they had Elephants. The Zoo really doesn't appear to have moved with the times. For a Capital Zoo it's very small, appears to be under funded and lacking in a number of species which would be better attractions. Numerous compounds are under renovation, there's no bears, elephants or certain of the big cats. London needs to pull it's socks up and invest in this important establishment to make it on par with other national zoos. We did enjoy the day, the penguins have a nice new area, the gorillas entertained and the lions and tigers basked in the October heatwave. Come on though Boris give the Zoo investment to make it the best in the World.

Well I thought for my mums birthday I would take her out somewhere different to usual locations. I thought of London Zoo as a different location the website looked good. I ordered the tickets online but they were pretty pricey the same category as a ticket to Thorpe Park. The entrance into the park is difficult to find might help downloading a map from Google maps if your not a Londoner- there are a few entrances. We took a nice long walk past regents park and took that entrance into the zoo. good thing about buying an e-ticket is you can walk straight in so I didn't have to queue :)

Once inside it was nice how they laid out the different areas. There was many different species of birds. My favourite part of the trip was the vast range of snakes London Zoo.I liked the camels and the penguins and the gorillas were really cute and performed to the crowds they like the attention. The gift shop is good with a wide range of things- we bought magnets and some sweets.

The main reason I was disappointed with the trip was because I didn't get to the the tigers. If you go to a zoo you need to see tigers. I saw lions but the tigers were nowhere to be seen I saw zoo keepers in the actual tiger cage but no tigers in sight.

What probably added to the disapointment was the heavy showers we had during the afternoon there was not a lot of shelter in the park hence people being soaked, we managed to find a cafe which was packed full of visitors. We was lucky we found a seat food was quite expensive though.

Overall I did expect more from London Zoo in terms of animals. I think this is more catered to children then to adults. It was still nice a day out overall, but I doubt I will come here again unless they bring in more attractions.

London Zoo: disappointed, my suggestion would be that they should have fewer large animals & give them double the space, the lions, tiger (new habitat being built currently), giraffe (only inside area or small concreted outer area), zebra etc., all had very little space & their enclosures are very antiquated. Indeed I think the giraffe enclosure hasnt changed since Johnnie Morris did Animal Magic! Whilst I appreciate you have to have certain large animals to draw visitors, I do think some of the animals themselves would benefit from being transferred to Whipsnade & would have a happier existence.

It strengthened the argument for larger animals only being kept in safari parks as opposed to zoos.

The meerkats, otters, smaller primates etc., all seemed comfortable and their habitats were appropriate for their size and needs.

The rainforest exhibit was excellent.

The staff were knowledgeable and helpful.

The whole zoo needs a huge overhaul & yes it is expensive but given the number of visitors on the miserable wet Sunday we attended(queued for just over 1/2 hour & it was very busy all day) clearly they are getting quite a substantial income & the tickets are not cheap.

The animals do look well & its very clean - just very disappointed that given the years that have passed since I visited as a young girl they have done so little to the habitats for the larger animals, which given their message of conservation you would have thought must come first.

Disappointing.

Poor layout which required a lot of walking without seeing the animals.

No elephants, chimpanzees, rhinos, zebras, etc.

Expensive

We went for the August Friday evening opening, and were very disappointed.

For £17, the "picnic" is very poor value, but is what we've come to expect from a taster menu that is Gordon Ramsay by association.

The event was advertised from 18.00 - 22.00, but many areas were closed by 20.00, and all animals ( even the indoor and "nocturnal" ones !) inaccessible by 21.00. Oddly, tourist shops, cafes, silent disco...in fact any means by which the zoo can grab more money, remained open until 22.00.

No extra lighting was laid on either. It looked like no effort at all had been made.

A huge disappointment which left me thinking of everything I could have done with the wasted admission and food payments.