The UK’s Hidden Gems – South Lakes Safari Park

As a family we love days out and have written about many on this blog over the course of the last three years. We also love discovering new and exciting places to visit, so this Hidden Gems map is a great place to start. I have just submitted our hidden gem so I thought I would tell you a little bit about our favourite place to visit.

South Lakes Safari Park

Located in Dalton in Furness up in the lake district. South Lakes Safari Park is a brilliant place to visit all year round. With fabulous seasonal activities, the chance to see and feed some brilliant animals and amazing quality food this is one zoo I highly recommend. We have spent many happy days here even though it is a four hour round trip and the girls still talk about this as their favourite place to visit for the day. Well where else would you make memories like this?

Feeding the penguins is not the only experience that makes amazing memories.  Elizabeth absolutely loves feeding the giraffes and each of these activities are only a nominal charge, which goes towards the conservation activities that the safari park supports.

The most entertaining part of the park belongs to the lemur enclosure, which is a massive open area populated by emus, peacocks, wallabies and of course lemurs.  If you take the kids into this area they will be giggling at the crazy emus and silly wallabies.

Everything about South Lakes Safari Park feels unique and personal.  I use their big cat experience as a prime example.  Never before have I been able to step inside the building that houses these magnificent creatures and only be separated by a gate and metal bars.  When I first stepped inside the building, I immediately got a nose full of the alpha male’s strong urine and his growl had so much bass it was frightening.  When the Sumatran tigers are fed the keepers fixed the meat to wooden poles, so that you can witness these animals majestically climb high

The cafe is an interesting talking point as it’s styled to resemble a tiki hut.  There’s lots of straw and little wooden statues scattered around the place, and if you decide to sit outside you’ve got the perfect view overlooking the giraffe and rhino enclosure.

So here you have our families hidden gem, what is yours?