Hello Folks, A quick question for you lovely people, I am down in Bedfordshire for a long weekend in a few weeks for a Wildarena photo day at the Anglian Wolf Society on the Friday - I will have saturday & sunday free and was planning to do Woburn Safari Park (it's been a few years since I last went) & Whipsnade (I've never been as an adult). So my question is really about Whipsnade as I got a little puzzled by their website - so if it's a safari park I take it you drive around it? or have I got that wrong as they are charging £16 for parking alone never mind the entry fee - is it going to set me back nearly £50 for a day there or have I miss read it? also any must sees and advice most welcome - I'm staying about 20 miles north east of Whipsnade so not too far to travel. many thanks in advance
Basically you have two options: 1. Pay £4 for parking (outside of the zoo) and walk around the place. If this option is chosen there are free buses within the zoo which circle round and pick up and drop off at certain spots. However, I'm think that if you choose this option you can't view "Passage Through Asia" without paying for a ticket on the train that goes through (you can drive around if you take your own car in); 2. Pay £20 and take your car in. This gives more freedom of movement, is a lot easier on the feet and avoids an extra charge for the Passage Through Asia section. It's a great zoo, but the fees are eye-watering if there's just one of you in the car. I tend to go with my wife and I still have to bite my tongue when I pay to get in. With two people it effectively works out around £10 extra to take your car in when you consider the difference between taking the car in and leaving it in the car park and deduct what you'd have to pay for the train each. With four people it becomes fairly cost-neutral to take the car in if you all want to see Passage Through Asia. As a result of the above I tend to go at off-peak times of the year when you can take your car in for free or on occassions when concessionary entry has been agreed.
Thanks for that Shorts - I will visit as I've not been as an adult like I said - I will also take the car in then as the option of missing out 'Asia' doesn't compute :O) If I'm going somewhere I want to see EVERYTHING. It'll be a busy weekend - Wolves on the Friday then Woburn & Whipsnade Sat & Sun - any day better at either by any chance to make the decision on which day to do which?
When I was an undergraduate (40 years ago) I used to walk up the escarpment road, from the Edlesborough turn where the coach stopped, then walk round the zoo all day and back to coach stop - I was very glad that the last part was downhill. They didn't have the drive-through section or the free bus in those days. Now I am glad to pay the extra to take my car into the zoo. It gives me more freedom to go where I want when I want, although you have to follow the basic anticlockwise route round the zoo; so I can spend more time watching the animals than walking from one place to the next. There is still quite a lot of walking involved as many of the enclosures and houses are some way from the main parking places (wolves, elk, lions and giraffes for example), so I tend to stop about four times during the circuit and complete two circuits during the day, so that the total distance I drive is not very great - but the time saved is significant. Hope this helps. Alan
