It’s a great little zoo this. We love the owls and the bit where you can poke your head up into the middle of the Meer-cats lair. The café is also a pretty good hit with vaguely healthy food. They have just done up the playground again as well and it’s superb. You do have to exit via the shop which is always annoying but it’s got enough small things to make it possible to get out without bankruptcy or sulks. A day out at Battersea Park is a whole day if you include the zoo, the pagoda, and terrifying Mummy by climbing up the wall to have a look at the river.

We visited the zoo recently on Bank Holiday Monday and had such a lovely day out. The zoo is in a tranquil setting along the banks of the Thames in Battersea Park. Inside there is a huge children's park with fun slides and swings then several cages set up around a central grass field containing pigs, donkeys, sheep and goats. My little daughter thought she'd gone to heaven when she saw all the animals - many of which were new to her. Whilst it's smaller than I imagined there is a good array of animals. Some of the best include the Meerkats (there is a fun tunel for kids to go down and then pop up in a plastic tranparent bubble in the middle of the Meerkats cage), Lemurs, exotic monkeys including golden monkeys!, rabbits and various birds. The otters were also lots of fun, playfully driving into their little lake. All around the zoo are helpful notices explaining facts about the animals. They're all tailored to children so they're easy to read and remember. There are also great feeding times - generally about 11am and 2.30pm which are fun to watch. For a day out without the crowds of London Zoo, I'd definitely recommend Battersea Park Zoo. There were lots of children there really enjoying themselves. Inside the zoo there is a little gift shop and then several slightly over priced cafes. I went there in anticipation about the Meerkats and came away loving the lemurs! I think my daughter loved the cockatoos the best. The only thing that could be done to improve it is a greater variety of animals and more childfriendly food available. Staff were very friendly and the cafes all had high chairs.

I had a fabulous day out at Battersea Park Zoo yesterday with my wife and 2 girls (aged 2 and 5). At £20 or so for a family ticket it represents excellent value for money compared with Whipsnade or London Zoo. I would say that it’s perfect for younger kids (like my 2 girls) as it’s pretty compact and really easy to navigate around with a pushchair – I’d allow around 3-4 hours including a café-stop and run about in the playground . Despite being relatively compact, it wasn’t too busy at all and unlike London Zoo the kids could actually get to see the animals without being harassed or having to climb on my shoulders. The information is also excellent and really engaging for children. We stopped for lunch at the café which I thought was great value for money and served a good range of snacks, teas, coffees etc. We sat inside but there’s loads of room outside on the picnic tables too and I noticed that there were plenty of people who’d brought their own packed lunches. In terms of the animals, don’t expect to see any large cats, elephants and so on. Nevertheless, there is an interesting and really varied selection of wildlife, including meerkats, monkeys, and emus well as some farm animals like pigs, goats, sheep, and ponies. There are also selected feeding times so you can get closer to the animals (although I think this is only at weekends). We spent the last half an hour in Krazy Kids, a really well equipped adventure playground. Parking in the Battersea Park was £4 (all day Suns and Bank Hols) which I thought was reasonable – the only thing that could have been improved was the signposting to the Zoo from in the Park itself. Otherwise it was a fantastic day out that I’d recommend to everyone.