Paignton Zoo

This Zoo is just such a great asset for Paignton, I don’t go as often as I should really, but when I do it is just a fabulous day out and there is so much to do here and there is such a variety of animals which some other zoos do not have. I love the monkeys they are funny, I can spend hours watching them. Make sure you take your camera with you!

best zoo ever been to absolutly fun for all family takes all day but well worth the trip and money wide range of animals to see u wont be dissopinted

As zoos go, this one is as good as it gets. Once you start wandering the meandering paths, you forget you are in a city. It’s stunning here. I’ve taken my daughter to plenty of big zoos in the US: San Francisco, Oakland, and Oregon, to name a few. But none of those did I willingly want to go back to. Paignton Zoo is different. It’s so pretty here, if I lived nearby, I’d want to revisit often. The setting is beautiful.
We were lucky enough to get to feed Duchess the elephant and two of the giraffes (Tonda and Yoda) while we were there. Quite an experience for my daughter and one I’m sure she’ll remember for quite some time. What memories are made for.

This is a huge and wonderful zoo (hard to believe it originally expanded from one man’s private animal collection, opened to the public in 1923). Make sure you give yourself a few hours to get round everything!
A couple of highlights for me were:
Cossoway — An unusual looking bird, the written description for which indicated that It doesn’t like humans (and who can blame it). In the wild it is known to attack them and It certainly gave me a look.
The Sumatran tiger was cool, as were the massive pair of lions who had been put together in the hope that they would breed (but looked too lazy to fool around).
There were a lot of other awesome animals. Too many to list to avoid boring folks!
The drawbacks were:
Gibbons make such cool noises (as I discovered at this zoo (
)), but here they were cooped up in such a small area that they didn’t seem to behave the same… there was certainly less noise from them.
The ‘nature path’ was a real waste of time. I saw 1 squirrel.
But basically — well worth the visit!

You wander around for hours and hardly ever get a glimpse of an animal. Why? Because they’ve all running around free in acres of greeness and trees and jungles and whatnot. What about the good old days when they used to put furry things in cages and make ‘em stand still so kids could make faces at them? That’s what I call a zoo. Even better if you could bag a penguin and take it home for supper.

Wow, This is got to be one of the best Zoo’s in the country, so much to do and so much fun for the children, we are annual members and now you can get into the living coast on the Paignton zoo membership so it makes it great value for money having an annual pass.
The only down side is the restaurant has a weird system for getting your food, one queues for the hot, such as roasts and meal of the day and another for the jacket pots and curries so if one of you queue;s and needs food from both sections it means one of the meals goes cold, but small issue on the scale of the fun at the zoo. Higly recommended

The best zoo ive ever been
much to do and see. they are always adding new bits. recently the croc section. great picnic areas and free play areas for kids, indoor and out. Afull day out with lots of walking. restuarant and bar there but bit expensive so take your own picnic.

If your visiting this end of the country, would really suggest you set aside a day for a visit here — really is a great day out
They have a fantastic array of different animals as you would expect from a zoo i guess! dohhh But the park is laid out very well and everything is signposted clearly — so easy to find everything
I cant wait for the better weather to come to pay a visit — Unfortunately they lost their giraffes in a fire a few years ago — but they have now replaced them — cant wait to see the new additions soon!
Be warned the zoo is very hilly & involves a lot of walking to get around and see everything. But equally there are lots of places to sit around for a rest or picnic

If you are visiting South Devon then Paignton Zoo is a great day out. You may have seen it on the BBC, they made a series about the zoo.
The zoo has a good bus connection to Paignton and if you arrive by car there is excellent car parking with an overflow car park for the busiest days.
The zoo has excellent facilities with a restaurant, education centre and play facilities for children.
The zoo has apes, elephants, camels, lions and many many more animals. The zoo is on a large site and there is alot to do in one day. You can get a cheap ticket to return for a second day or if you want to visit more often you can get an annual membership.

Paignton zoological gardens is a lovely place, with many different animals to visit. They have spent a lot of time creating suitable environments for the animals, and there is a lot of information to take in. I think it is suitable for all ages — we took our 2 year old girl for her birthday! I would definitely recommend a visit, although it’s a little hilly in places so not great taking a buggy everywhere.
They have toilets around the site, and baby change facilities too. There is a large restaurant, with outside seating for warmer days, plus they have a bar.

Paignton Zoo is a fantastic day out for all the family. The animal enclosures are wonderful as the animals welfare has obviously been taken into account. The Zoo sprawls over a large area so even when its busy it doesn’t seem too crowded. There are plenty of places to stop and eat a picnic or buy food. There is a soft play area near the rinho enclosure which offers adults a well deserved break where they can have a coffee. The zoo is a great day out and well worth the entrance fee.

Paignton Zoo near Torquay is a great day out for the whole family (it is a zoo after all!). As the zoo covers quite a large area, most enclosures are impressively large and animals seem to be well looked after. In addition, efforts have been made to provide as natural a habitat as possible, which is great for the animals but may mean that visitors only see glimpses of e.g. the orang-​utans on their little island. It can get very busy on weekends, so make sure you arrive early to ensure you get a good parking spot. Prices are normal for a zoo, and proceeds go towards the welfare of the resident animals as well as conservation projects locally and abroad. Highly recommended.

Paigton Zoo is a great day out for all the family.
There has been extensive and continual refurbishment over the last couple of decades and the depressing cages /​concrete of older zoos are more or less eradicated here.
There are plenty more interactive exhibitions than the old look through the bars approach to zoos.
The real important element of Paignton Zoo is the involvement in vital breeding, conservation and education projects around the world.

Very large zoo, with good conservation credentials. A huge amount to see and do, suitable for all ages — be prepared to spend all day (and most of it on your feet). Big car park, and bus stops outside. Paignton Zoo is internationally renowned for it’s conservation work with endangered species.
Recommended for a day out, but it can get busy in the middle of summer.

A* zoo! Really fantastic day out for all ages, we have been back here time and again and it never gets dull. The animals are all really well cared for, experts all know what they are talking about and the enclosures are a decent size. They have entertainment on throughout the day, we saw a fab bird display last time we went. It is a fair walk around the zoo so be prepared. Well worth the money, you can spend the entire day here, and dont forgtet to have a look around the gift shop, some lovely souveniers for sale to remind you of your visit.

This is the best zoo I have been to. There is so many animals to see and things to do. The enclosures are enormous and the animals loo so content at being there. They are obviously well cared for and tended. The keepers appear to be experts in their fields and are more than happy to stop and chat to you if you have any questions. There is also a train which goes round the scenic bits of the park which I would recommend doing. There are plenty of places to buy food and drink although we took a picnic to save money. They are loads of places you can have picnics and even an indoor area if the weather isnt too good. The gift shops sell an extensive range of goods which you expect. The admission prices are high, but in my opinion they are worth every penny. It doesnt seem like a zoo, but more a safari sanctuary.

This is a fantastic zoo, the best we’ve been to. It’s really moved away from the old style cages over the years to more open enclosures and habitats. Excellent range of animals to see, all the ‘biggies’ like giraffes, tigers, lions, elephants and many types of monkey also some unusual ones like tapirs and cassowary. The gorillas are a particular highlight to see how they play on their ropes and equipment. It’s a large park with some hilly slopes but all pushchair friendly. There’s lots of other stuff to keep kids busy for a full day like outdoor play area, indoor ball pools, train around the zoo, face painting, some shows and feedings.

I love Paignton Zoo but havent been for a visit recently, lovely place, plenty to do and see, the Animals are well looked after and their toilets are clean and tidy :) a great café to go and have a drink or a bite to eat, Its well worth the visit especially for young children or a family.
¹⁰⁄₁₀

Very nice zoo with lots of different animals, some of the enclosures were small but all animals seemed happy. Only problem was the enormous walks to see any of the animals, we went on a hot and humid day and were knackered after an hour or so walking amongst the trees.

The best zoo we have ever visited (and we go to loads!)
Easy to find
Easy to park
Easy to get inside (no long queues)
Easy to navigate around (Some other zoo layout’s see to have been designed by the local one-​way street designers)
When ever we visit Paignton Zoo, we always end up spending the entire day here, some places cost a load to get in and your finished after an hour, not at Paignton Zoo — well worth the money!