Hertfordshire Zoo — Attraction in East Hertfordshire

This zoo was a little gem! As someone who is a regular visitor of zoos, I can say this felt different. The walk from the car park to the entrance had a certain energy from the get go. With Planet Zoo-esque music playing it built an anticipation that felt foreign, almost theme park like (in a good way).

The entrance fees were high for what I anticipated the value to be from a 30-acre collection that I knew nothing about. One thing I did notice was you could purchase keeper experiences on the day at the entrance, there was a board that had a list of experiences and the majority were crossed off, I presume this was working very well for them.

Once you get into the zoo, the energy remained different, it was palpable. You start in a commercial food courtyard area with an attached dinosaur world trail with animatronic dinosaurs. Music is playing the whole time and created an atmosphere that created a more than just a zoo "vibe". It was really noticeable; I have never really realised just how much music can alter perception.

You leave the food courtyard to enter the animal collection, a nice segregation between the music and the animals. The animal collection was beautiful and wonderfully themed. The bird display area was fantastic; the flight display was full of reminders that it was opt in for the birds and they could leave and return to their enclosures at any point if they wanted to tap out (which some did). The staff knew when to nip a segment in the bud and move onto the next bird, some were out for a few minutes and others longer. Whatever the birds wanted.

The reptile collections boasted nice large enclosures, I was particularly impressed with the giant constrictors space. Large elaborate, complex habitats with a myriad of choices for the snakes. It was great to see.

I had reservations regarding the big cat enclosure sizes, but even though they were smaller, they were certainly complex with cleverly designed elements. Enrichment was visible in nearly all enclosures. From a visitor perspective, the theming around the enclosures were second to none, clever engaging signage and interactable objects really got members of the public to stop and read. Imagine that.

The inside areas for the jaguars and sun bears were particularly impressive, the jaguars had a very tall den area with platforms and branches reaching up above views from a ground perspective. From a wooden walkway above you could see just how tall and complex this really was, must have been 30ft or so. Educational material about how they would climb up into the rainforest canopy really tied it all together. It was a similar story for the sun bears but not so tall.

The only area that let the collection down was the back right of the map where the zebras, tapirs and capybara were. The zebra enclosure was near appalling. Other enclosures in this area were just as shocking.

However, I could see this was a much older tired looking area of the collection so I can only presume there are plans to fix up this remaining area of the zoo. You never know what plans are already in place or what budgets, grants etc they are waiting on so I won't harp on too much on it. In my opinion, I would place the two zebras, the capybaras, the tapir, the emu etc on surplus and get them off to other collections and level the area or just make the whole thing just for zebras. Again, this might already be shared thinking. But it is noticeable for now.

All in all, I think this zoo has a very bright future, I think they have gotten the commercial elements right, its forward thinking in many areas. As for the zebra area, as I can see the zoos vision and I expect they are working on it. They just need a little bit of grace afforded to them as they work on it.

One of the best zoos I have...

What a wonderful zoo! Truly cannot believe we have not visited sooner. Highly recommend this place for a visit, especially if you have young children! Heads up, this will be a long review...

The car park has plenty of parking, with an overflow carpark across the road from the main entrance. However, I would say crossing the country lane/road from the overflow carpark did not look majorly safe. It could do with some form of speed control on the road or a dedicated crossing for pedestrians.

Also in the main carpark, there wasn't really a crossing or dedicated pathway to utilise when walking from your car to the actual queuing section to enter the zoo. So people just seem to meander through the carpark while people are driving. The entrance to the zoo was easy and the staff were friendly.

The dinosaur walk was genuinely wonderful and far exceeded any of my expectations. Our children absolutely loved it. The train ride through the dinosaur section was ok. I do not think it's worth the money though. Other zoos offer these style of rides that last longer and included more things like interactive experiences with animals etc and they don't charge extra for them.

We ate lunch in the Pangaea Restaurant near the dinosaur walk and it wasn't too bad at all. There was plenty of seating and the service wasn't slow. We all enjoyed our food and didn't manage to finish it all, so portions were more than ample.

There seemed to be plenty of activity areas, climbing frames/park apparatus for the children. We didn't utilise all of them but they all looked great. Plenty for them to do here.

Something not many people review but the toilet facilities here are, in my opinion, excellent. Everywhere we seemed to be, there was always a toilet only a short walk away. They were dotted about all over the zoo and I'm pretty sure almost every one had baby change facilities which was amazing. Truthfully, for people with young kids like us, it is so important.

Now to the animals. We had an excellent experience. The animals looked healthy and happy to me. I've read some negative reviews about the size of some of the enclosures but I did not see any problems. I'm a big cat fan and this zoo did not disappoint. We managed to get great views of all of the big cats, except the jaguar as we just missed them but obviously this is not the zoos fault. There was a jaguar talk on but we just missed it due to timing on our part. I managed to get a photo of the tiger jumping up at the glass at me, which was one of the best experiences of my life. Also got to see the beautiful snow leopard which for me was just bliss. My only gripe was in the lion section, you walk into an enclosed area which has some small glass viewing windows but every one of the windows is scratched so severely from the lions side that they are hard to see through. They need replacing but there are still other ways to see the lions.

I've also got to mention the bird section. We managed to watch the 3pm bird talk/display and it was brilliant! Arguably the best I've seen at a zoo. I've got to commend whoever designed this area of the zoo. Having the display section in the centre, with the birds aviary's around it is simple but genius. The team and how they work together in the display is also of high quality. I would say make time for this show if you visit. It's worth it!

Overall we had an absolutely wonderful day. I will be recommending this place to all of my friends and family and we will be visiting...

What a beautiful day out! Took the class on a day out to the zoo and had a genuinely really pleasant time. We started at the dinosaur trail, and these are always a classic - but this one was special. The dinosaurs were animatronic and moved/spashed water and hid in the bushes. Really quite interactive and plenty of designated places to take some photos. I’d say this trail is wheelchair/buggy accessible too!

There were plenty of restrooms dotted around. Almost all exhibits had a bathroom nearby, which was fantastic. There was also one smoking shelter by the flower archway/giftshop which was hidden nicely and had a bench and two bins.

The enclosures were a pretty dignified size for the larger animals, like the sunbear and the lions - which was wonderful for them, but it did mean we didn’t see too much of them (to be expected). However, all of the larger animal enclosures had viewing points that were accessed by stairs and meant you could try and scout out the sleeping lions from a birds eye view! (the capybaras, snow leopard, penguins, lions, sunbear, tiger all had view points). The indoor enclosures were quite a short walkthrough in a humid space but it was a good laugh. The armadillo was.. the fastest animal in the room by far.

They had two ‘walkthrough’ experiences which was really fun. You could walk through a push gate entrance to see the goats upclose, and they provide hand sanitiser and a hand washing station at the exit too! You can also walk through a push gate entrance to walk beside the Emus and Wallabys! Although, I do recommend being cautious around the Emus as they had an attitude. (I understand…)

As for the food? Incredible. I counted 3 total large canopy seated areas, entirely shaded and plenty of benches to eat packed lunch or food purchased from the stalls or restraunt. The restaurant was reasonably priced (£9 for a burger and fries - student said ‘five guys would charge double and they taste the same) so I think that was a compliment, because the food was packaged well and looked great! The chips were skin on fries and cost £4 and oh my! The portion was phenominal we shared between three people.. and I love chips. There was also another restaurant by the sunbear, and I can’t comment on the food as we did not buy any but the staff filled our water bottles which was nice! (bottle of coke was £3.50). They also filled our water bottles at the main restaurant too!

All in all, we had a good time. The gift shops had a great selection in both, just note that they do not take cash in the zoo and it’s hard to get signal - so transfer any money over beforehand! Great day - great...