Butterfly World Ltd — Attraction in Preston-on-Tees

We got to see a butterfly hatch! Beautiful place, so many beautiful species, loved they have a map to show you where in the world they came from and their names because my girls just soak up facts about animals. Then there were meerkats which was a very pleasant surprise! I loved that you paid once and could come and go so if the heat got too much you could leave, play at the park and come back again. The reason for a loss of star was the severe lack of information on rules. There were only two signs - one of which wasn't until half way around which said not to pick any plants or leaves but by the time we got to it my 4yo already had a few in her hand and felt awful for it. These obviously were not any big beautiful flowers, but tiny little ones that were in huge groups and many many on each plant, mainly found on the ground but still was worried about getting into trouble. Then my eldest found some lovely birds and noticed our second time round they had wondered far from their food so she grabbed two pieces of grub from their food bowl to see if they'd allow her to feed them but she got told off by a staff member - no problem with staff telling my children off if they're being naughty but there was nothing to tell us she couldn't so we didn't know. Then we were told off for "catching" the butterflies. We didn't realise they meant us at first as we weren't catching but they did multiple announcements and we realised it must be us. We were just putting the backs of our hands next to the leaves a butterfly was on to see if they'd stand on our hands. I am an avid rule follower and would always make sure my kids follow rules and etiquette but we were not given any and yet we were still told off for things, and...

We enjoyed our visit, we were very lucky to land on a very sunny morning which made a big difference to butterfly movement. Fascinating seeing butterflies up close and so many different kinds. There are a few different animals, reptiles and meerkats in tiny vivariums and enclosures, feels like they need more space, probably would have appreciated more space for butterflies instead of other animals. Fish in the butterfly enclosure were a nice touch. We went just after opening and fish food had already sold out, would be good if they could spread availability out over the day or limit per family. Should perhaps talk to little kids before they enter about catching and touching butterflies rather than disturbing all visitors with loud tannoy shouting not to catch or touch them. Very alarming and constant. We would have liked some kind of short display or presentation at the beginning about butterflies and the enclosure, facts and how they are looked after or other interesting bits; even a video on wall would have been helpful. Would recommend parents take a butterfly sheet for spotting or colourings in for kids to copy the patterns. Overall enjoyed, however probably wouldn't go again due to price, size or maybe if we had family visiting that hadn't been before. Visit took approximately 45mins-1hr, we walked very slow and went round 2 or 3 times, could have took longer but was very warm inside. Would have considered visiting again if tickets were valid for more...

Fantastic and unusual place to visit. The giant hothouse (and it IS hot... I'm guessing around 30 degrees Celsius, so leave your coats & jumpers in the car) is a tropical oasis. A jungle of trees, plants, flowers & orchids surrounds the large pond, presumably to help keep the humidity high. The pond, complete with little waterfall & footbridge crossing it, is stocked with beautiful and enormous koi, adding another interesting aspect to the visit. There are a number of spots to sit and watch the butterflies do their thing, if you're lucky one or two may even rest on you. There's an area where the chrysalises are hung in neat rows whilst they complete their metamorphosis, and an additional area which houses other creatures which appreciate the heat and humidity including several snakes and lizards, a small family of meerkats(including 2 adorable babies when we visited) and a colony of ants. The ants are housed in an 'ant farm' allowing you to see their tunnels through its glass sides, it's connected to a pathway made from plastic pipes which crosses the room to a food source, some pieces of fruit. Thus you can observe them dutifully walking to the fruit, cutting pieces from it and carrying them back across the room and into the depths of their...