Summer Abroad with Kids :: A Visit to the London Zoo

In the summer of 2016 our family set off to spend 8 weeks in London. We would explore the city and live like locals, renting a flat in Westminster. This was a far cry from our beach home in Florida and took a little adjusting to. We thrived in our new home away from home and had a jolly good time with many adventures along the way. This post is one installment in my series: Summer Abroad {with Kids}.

A Visit to the London Zoo

The weather in London has been stunning lately. I really think this city gets a bad rap when it comes to weather. Since it's been so nice the kids and I decided to take a day and spend it at the London Zoo. Now I should tell you that Jacksonville has an amazing zoo. No aquarium, but our zoo is out of this world. For this reason we typically don't even bother to visit zoos when we're on vacation. But they really wanted to so we decided to give it a go. I knew the London Zoo would have to be something special to really wow my kids, and it didn't disappoint. 

For starters, this zoo is massive. It even has an aquarium (take that Jacksonville). If you're an American, think Animal Kingdom or Busch Gardens, but without the rides. That's the quality, cleanliness and size of this particular zoo. My kids loved wandering around to see all of the animal exhibits.

My favorite part of the zoo was Gorilla Kingdom. I swear, it seemed like every enclosure had some type of baby animal in it. We sat for a long time just watching the mamas and their babies interacting. The kids thought it was amazing, especially since they'd never seen baby apes that close up (and neither had I for that matter).

While everyone loved Gorilla Kingdom, I must say that the kids' favorite part of the day was the Lemurs. When they say "In with the Lemurs" they aren't kidding. You are literally walking around inside the Lemur enclosure.

I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that we went into this area 6 times during our visit. If you go, I recommend attending one of the Lemur talks. They tell you all about them, but the also feed them at this time so they are very active.

Trying to get a good Lemur picture!

Overall our day at the London Zoo was nothing short of amazing. The beautiful weather helped in that aspect, but the zoo itself is well worth a visit if you're visiting London with kids.

Thank you to the London Zoo for giving us complimentary admission in exchange for this review. All opinions are my own and we would have gladly paid to attend this wonderful zoo.

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Tucson with Kids {Reid Park Zoo}

In July of 2015 we spent a week in Tucson, Arizona visiting friends. Tucson is very different from our home in Jacksonville, Florida and the kids had a great time exploring new museums and restaurants. I'll be taking a few posts to review all the fun and exciting things we did in Tucson. You can click here to read through all of them.

Destination: Reid Park Zoo

Date of Visit: July 2015

Kids: Cole (age 8) & Kiley (age 5)

Length of Visit: 1/2 Day

We headed out one morning for a visit to the Reid Park Zoo. Reid Park had a baby elephant born last year and the kids had voted in the naming of baby Nandi so we thought it was only fitting to pay a visit while we were in town. My son is obsessed with elephants and I mean, look at how cute that baby is. Reid Park is a really nice little zoo. It was smaller than the Jacksonville Zoo, but a great way to spend part of the day.

Admission: Admission prices vary by age. Adults are $9 and kids (2-14) are $5. We actually used a b1g1 coupon my friend had, so that helped with the cost.

Food: There is a cafe right on property, so you can spend the entire day there and not have to leave for lunch. We packed in snacks and drinks and just ate them when we wanted to sit and rest. 

Tips: Tucson is hot in the summer. If you go to visit over the summer I recommend going to the zoo early to avoid the heat and crowds. Bring lots of water!

If you're interested in other things our family did in Tucson, click here. You can also read about all the National Parks we visited while traveling out west by clicking here.