Do not bother spend your money elsewhere absolute rip off, everything about this place is a rip off, food, drink very expensive/ poor. Check out our reserve map to find everything you need to make your day out run smoothly, including all your favourite animals, play areas, restaurants and toilet facilities. All animals are safely locked in enclosures so theres no risk but its great fun! Hotels near St James Retail & Leisure Park, Dover on Tripadvisor: Find 23,514 traveller reviews, 11,114 candid photos, and prices for 188 hotels near St James Retail & Leisure Park in Dover, England. Howletts and Port Lympne are extensively involved in exchange and breeding programmes throughout the world and have had many breeding successes for e.g. Route B - Loop Route Follow Route A. To give more room for the animals another estate at Port Lympne . All the animals were saw looked very happy and there enclosures were huge! Explore the 15 acres of landscaped gardens surrounding the Hotel to discover tranquil ponds, secluded nooks and historic statuary. Giraffes were another animal we saw up close. We continued our walk right down the road and back to thePort Lympne Wild Animal Park car park, one hour and forty minutes later. Hopefully once venues re open things will calm down . The attached pub is a popular spot for dinner. PORT LYMPNE RESERVE - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go. Follow MoonShot for some behind the scenes footage at Pro Bowl Games and Super Bowl LVII, and find out what the MoonShot team get up to! These cookies do not store any personal information. Howletts is in Bekesbourne and is signposted off the A2, three miles south of Canterbury. From Bexleyheath, Bexleyheath 274 min From Bluewater, Greenhithe 339 min From Dover Beach, Dover 91 min From Folkestone Bus Station, Shepway 49 min From Cineworld, Ashford 77 min Online reviews warned of disappointment on the lack of visible animals in the winter. The Stagecoach East Kent number 10 bus runs between Ashford and Folkestone via the reserve. Not everyone took notice of the social distancing signs, but again, we're grown ups, people should take responsibility for themselves if you want a day out. Please note: the footpaths on this walk do not allow for social distancing as outlined in the latest government guidelines in response to the COVID 19 outbreak. more. They dont tell u that you need to pay for day tickets in addition to safari experience, A relative booked the AAA safari as a present for us 3 at a cost of 100 per person. For more details on these cookies, see our full, A Guide for Visiting Port Lympne Wildlife Park in Winter, Charlotte, NC: 10 Things We Do with Visitors in Our Hometown, A Day of Short Hikes and Overlooks in Canyonlands National Park, Where to Stay for Port Lympne Wildlife Park, What to Expect When Visiting Port Lympne Wildlife Park in Winter, Animals We Saw on the Self-Guided Walking Trail, 10 Tips and Secrets to Visiting Canterbury Cathedral, Hever Castle & Gardens: Explore the Childhood Home of Anne Boleyn, Indulge in Afternoon Tea: An Absolutely English Experience, Why Seeing Iceland By Helicopter Should Be On Your Bucket List, Forbidden Corner: Something Different in the Yorkshire Dales, Three Days in Krakow for First Time Visitors, Kinderdijk Windmills are Worth Visiting: Easy Day Trip from Rotterdam. The park is doing a great job of adjusting and we couldn't fault their efforts. Absolutely amazing!! Though, not everything was far away. Unlike other collections, we never lock our animals into viewing areas, so - just like in the wild - it may take some time to spot certain animals. Read about the 40 best attractions and cities to stop in between Great Yarmouth and Rochefort, including places like London, Eiffel Tower, and Louvre Museum If you do not find the answer you are looking for below about our fundraising activities please contact us. Warning the circle route is extremely steep and uneven -103m height gain! Our host jumped down from the cab and gave us the run down. Trying for the higher star rating but will only achieve 3 in normal person views. Howletts is the smaller and flatter of the parks at 90 acres and is therefore more accessible. We also took part in the Gorilla encounter which was half an hour; again an unforgettable experience (I cant spoil it too much) but it is definitely a MUST DO experience. Thank you very much for your lovely review.Your kind comments and support are very much appreciated and we look forward to welcoming you all back soon.Thank you once again. Note: Ticket prices include an added 10% donation to the park through Gift Aid. Plus, some South American favorites including vicuas, capybaras, and tapirs. Book an unforgettable short break at Port Lympne and get back to nature in style and comfort. Keep in mind, Port Lympne is less of a zoo and more of a wildlife park. Suggested duration More than 3 hours Features animals Learn more about animal welfare in tourism Suggest edits to improve what we show. The Accommodation Our Pod at the Pinewood Pods facility was lovely. Just before you leave dont forget to go and see the lions, there are separate from the rest of the park. Typically 96 services run weekly, although weekend and holiday schedules can vary so check in advance. Poorly laid out, not sure where you are supposed to go. It had the room to sleep four. Our animals are not exhibits, but live in conditions as close as possible to their natural habitat. I've always been of the opinion that consistency is the key to all results. Attraction Information. I would love to stay but don't see how it is safe ? This was all absolutely amazing. It was very disappointing because in a place like this, protecting nature and minimising waste & harm must be the number 1 priority and recycling is a must-have. Concession and carer tickets are not available to be purchased online, please contact the customer services team on 01303 264647 to book in advance or purchase at the Gatehouse on arrival. This means, some animals are going to be far away. Thank you for taking time to leave your review. A small cottage was inhabited by an employee. As did I. Def do! We stayed in a pinewood pod and did the rhino experience. our Rainy Day Guarantee for all day visitors who have booked in advance means that you can return to the Park free of charge within 30 days of your original booking. We hope to welcome you back in the future! Customer Services at Port Lympne, Dear meganholloway24, From here you can pick up the Royal Military Canal Path and follow it west along the water for just over a mile, passing the remains of Lemanis Roman Fort on the way. Luckily, we woke up to a beautifully sunny morning. Many of the smaller cats, like the lynx, were doing the same. . Staying onsite includes admission to the park, from the day of stay to close on the day of departure. For those animals a little further out, Jeremy used binoculars. Learn how your comment data is processed. Not all monkeys stayed in their warm enclosures, but we could watch those that did through the viewing windows. A concession tickets is a discounted ticket available to a select group. Though the Port Lympne Wildlife Park website says it takes 4 5 hours to visit, we spent 7 hours and could have easily stayed longer if it didnt get dark early in winter. The route continues east through Lympne village to Shepway Cross passing Lympne Castle on the way. Find Extra jobs in Bloodden on Jobsite. Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve offers exciting days out in Kent filled with discovery for the entire family. To our surprise, the Brown European Bears werent hibernating. Port Lympne Reserve will no longer accept blue peter badges from the 1stApril 2022. As we came through, the pack was busy working together to pull apart a carcass. We loved the rhino experience; you got to feed and stroke the rhino and they are such gentle animals. You can then pick up the Saxon Shore Way and head north before turning east past Lympne Place. From the Royal Military Canal car park at West Hythe we walked left along the main Royal Military Canal Path which also a part of the Saxon Shore Way. At Shepway Cross you turn south past Lympne Park Wood before returning to the car park. Thank you for taking the time to leave this lovely feedback regarding your recent day visit with us. Your lodge is not open to the enclosures but rather has a unique viewing perspective. When you get around to the primate trail admittedly the one way system does fall short but thats only because of the layout of this area would be difficult to implement this on. In 1962, the House known as Howletts was being restored. This is the version of our website addressed to speakers of English in United Kingdom. Plus, we didnt have to deal with the summer crowds. Both parks are open everyday except Christmas Day. Obviously, this post would be massive if we wrote about all the animals we saw. Port Lympne Hotel & Reserve lies on the B2067, and is just past Ashford, Kent, 5 minutes from J11 of the M20. However, there was a huge crowd around the gorillas. Mr Aspinall founded both parks. Customer Services at Port Lympne, Thank you for taking time to leave your review. If the weather really has dampened your spirits,our Rainy Day Guarantee for all day visitors who have booked in advance means that you can return to the Park free of charge within 30 days of your original booking. Thank you very much for your kind comments.We really do appreciate your support and it is great to hear that you enjoyed your day with us.Thank you once again and we hope to see you again soon. We loved the chance to have a relatively normal day out in a lovely place. However, on the walking tour, an elevated section of walkway gave us good shots over the fencing. Mostly rare and endangered animals.Howletts is home to the largest herd of African elephants in the UK and the largest breeding group of Western Lowland gorillas in human care in the World.At Port Lympne there is the "Palace of the Apes" one of the world's largest family gorilla houses, Barbary lions, and the largest collection of Margay cats in the world.Both parks have many more rare and endangered animals including leaf-eating monkeys, wolves, tapirs, bongo, red pandas, tigers, clouded leopards and Pallas cats. We purchased tickets at the main entrance, but they were also available online. Copyright 2023 - Expert Explorers - All Rights Reserved, We use cookies on our site to give you the best personalized experience. Spoilt what should have been an enjoyable day. There's so much to see and do at Port Lympne Reserve, we recommend around 3-5 hours to experience everything the 600 acre reserve has to offer from endangered animals, walks with stunning views and historic landscaped gardens to good food and even a little retail therapy in our Gatehouse Gift Shop! We didnt have the luxury of picking a warm day in June. We hope to welcome you back in the future! The tour wound its way through South American, Asian, and African animal enclosures. Log in or Sign up. Review tags are currently only available for English language reviews. We did get to see the gorillas, but it was hard to get good photos with the bars. All waste from Howletts and Port Lympne is carefully sorted for recycling off-site. Our conservation work overseas is reliant on public support - put quite simply, we need you! After a short while we could see the remains of Stutfall Castle and the Lemanis Roman Fort. Get instant job matches for companies hiring now for Customer Experience Manager jobs in Stoner and more. Spinosaurus makes a great umbrella while the kids explore the rest of the 3 acre woodland! Learn more. Port Lympne Reserve has 4.5 stars. The adoption schemes have named animals that act as figureheads for each species. The team work was interesting to watch and they were strangely beautiful, but also terrifying. It offers both family rooms and interconnected rooms, making things easier for bigger groups or families. Circumstances had us back in the UK for a bitterly cold February, but we still wanted to enjoy our time. Set in 600 acres, and housing over 650 rare and endangered animals, Port Lympne offers a treat for everyone. We have suffered this for a year now, it was even busy in the winter , , but people arent coming to do this walk, they are coming because they are promised exotic animals at the zooyou cant see these by coming in to our village, you can only see these at the bottom of the hill so there is no need to have hundreds of people walking through our village, some people are so selfish, we have a lot of elderly people living here that are too scared to go for their normal walk because there are so many people about 3 people from the same family in the village have died from the virus, so nobody should be coming here, we are not a theme park or a holiday resort, just a tiny ( once peaceful ) village and that is how we want to stay!! For bus times please visit the stagecoach website. The highlight of our stay was the private safari with Kirsty our ranger guide, she was extremely knowledgeable and an enthusiastic source of information relating to the various animal we encountered. Rainy Day ticketsmust be claimed from the Gatehouse before you exit the Park on the day of your original booking. Please check information with the facility you plan to visit. Sporting a Fu Manchu beard, these fellas usually live in the forest regions of Central and Western Africa. What a dump. There are, however, selected routes suitable for wheelchair users. It is not suitable for pushchairs as the surface is very uneven and steep and the paths are very narrow. Find the perfect wild animal day stock photo, image, vector, illustration or 360 image. Tickets included the park and a one hour safari tour. Amazing place, our chef was brilliant, lovely 3 course dinner for 8 people and full English breakfast next morning. It was still a pretty area to wander around, but with most of the gardens dormant for winter, there wasnt much to see. We ensure all donations, goods and gifts we are given are spent wisely to maximise their impact in looking after our animals and for our conservation work. A tasty selection of sandwiches, pastries and coffees. Generally considered an easy route, it takes an average of 2 h 10 min to complete. No, you will not be the only person. Tiger Lodge: Amazing Experience at Tiger Lodge - See 61 traveler reviews, 174 candid photos, and great deals for Tiger Lodge at Tripadvisor. Some of Port Lympnes onsite accommodation, like the luxury tents, shut for the winter. Since we had our pick of the seats, our host advised us to sit in the middle or the back to avoid the truck fumes. If you are viewing this on a mobile this would be under the menu tab. Luckily, Port Lympne had a few options open for winter. The animal collection was opened to the public in 1975. We recommendgetting wrapped up in your waterproofs and fanciest wellies and finding the biggest puddles to splash in! There are plenty of ways to support the charity, such as direct debit donations, one off donations, payroll giving, animal adoption, Gift Aid and legacies. However, we do think going on a sunny day could make a difference. This was not told when booking. Here is my review of how our stay went! Saw lots of animals, and had a fab walk round. The staff made the effort to speak to us and they were very helpful. When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site. I am interested in an overnight stay. I had a Nikkor 80 400 mm lens on my DSLR, which gave me plenty of reach. The park is a combination of hilly and flat terrain that can sometimes be steep and uneven. Just under 1 million per annum. Apparently, the animals at Port Lympne thought so too. Though, it is a lot of walking to see them all. We arrived today to be told we need to buy a day ticket for each of us. At the Royal Military Canal Path we walked right following it all the way passed Aldergate Bridge where we then walked right by the footpath signpost. Most were too busy grooming themselves to pay us any mind. Services are operated by Thameslink, South Eastern Trains Service and Stagecoach South East. With so many unique ways to stay, your short break could become a wild adventure! Yes. However, there were stairs. Giraffes dont handle the cold very well. Up on the roof we threw carrots, cauliflower and tomatoes over into the outdoor area below. Please note: the footpaths on this walk do not allow for social distancing as outlined in the latest government guidelines in response to the COVID 19 outbreak. Please respect social distancing rules. If you only want to pay the standard admission, you will need to ask them to remove the donation. Felt like most of the animals had disappeared and barely saw any. A big thank you to the team here. Port Lympne is in Lympne near Hythe. Take a break from exploring and enjoy tasty dishes with local wines and Kentish brews at our restaurants or grab a quick snack and a delicious coffee at our seasonal kiosks. How do you get to your lodge safely ? We do not allow dogs into the parks. We are mindful of our Parks challenging terrain so we do try to be clear on our website and we are pleased to offer advice prior to your visit.Thank you once again and we hope that you may consider visiting our Parks again in the future. More about animal welfare in tourism Suggest edits to improve what we show were also available online Gift Aid pub... Animal enclosures to have a relatively normal how long to walk around port lympne zoo out in a Pinewood Pod and did the and. Most were too busy grooming themselves to pay the standard admission, you will need to ask to... East past Lympne park Wood before returning to the park through Gift.... 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