If you are looking for a great day out this is where to go. There are lots of animals to see and things to do. I would reccommend going in a car that you don’t mind getting damaged as some cute little monkeys decided to pull off my windscreen squirter things. You can see tigers, lions, zebra, monkeys and lots of other animals here. You can also take a look around the house in the grounds which is a wonderful sight. Take a look at paintings from the past and learn a little about what life was like in the olden days. A wonderful day out for families, couples and groups of friends. There is something for everyone here. Oh but one thing - take a picnic with you - the food is very expensive for what you get!

By far the most famous part of the whole Longleat thing, and I have to admit I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hoped. A major factor was that we were in a bit of a hurry, so it was pretty much a case of ‘got your picture?’ right… drive on… Having said that, with cars queuing for the best views there was a bit of pressure to move on in some places anyway! And that was on a quiet day. I guess therefore it’s fair to say that one disadvantage of the safari format is that it makes it difficult to stop and observe animals at length…. It can also be difficult getting good pictures through a closed window!

As you go in there’s a chance to park up and stretch your legs. You can wander up through the Wallaby Wood, and observe the giraffe from raised lookouts. In both cases you get a really good view, and it’s nice to see the animals in enclosures which give them plenty of space to move around (the giraffe seem to choose to hang out close to the watching humans!)

Then onto the drive… The area with monkeys is optional for those that wish to avoid getting their car trashed! We had been worried as we couldn’t manage to get our aerial off. But a keeper I talked to in the loos (did I mention Longleat staff are very friendly?) reassured me that if we couldn’t the monkeys probably couldn’t either. Also problems mainly occur when cars are stopped, and it was a quiet day so no traffic jams. Apparently if monkeys start on you, the thing to do is to drive on slowly so they jump off. We went in, and though we thought for a moment they’d gone in for the day, eventually we spotted them and were rewarded with a close up of babies playing. The driver was too scared of damage to stop for long though!

The first few enclosures other than that you are allowed to keep windows open, which was a relief as the air conditioning had packed up. Driving past rhinos with the window open in the sunshine was everything the experience was billed to be. And the ostrich had kindly nested right by the road and dad was displaying at all the cars. Excellent! Unfortunately I didn’t spot the ‘you can get out here’ sign by the tapirs until I looked at the photos. Shame as I like tapirs and really would have liked to get closer. There was also a chance to buy food to feed deer through the car window. We passed on that.

Then it was windows closed as we moved on to see the big cats and wolves… So, no air con, windows which really needed more than the quick wipe I’d given them, and a camera without much zoom. Plus unfortunately it seemed all the ‘dangerous’ animals were having their late afternoon nap! One tiger was watching something outside the fence. Other than that most were just lumps curled up in the grass. The second large pride of lions showed a little more life. As cars queued for the closest spots to where they lay, they had their heads up, watching the humans… It was very clear that we were the entertainment as far as they were concerned, and I don’t think we were doing anything special. As we drove out of their enclosure a pheasant was pecking about near the gate. I wonder how safe it was.

So, in some ways it was a little bit of a let down. But I think that was partly luck, and being in too much of a hurry. If I went again I’d make sure to make the most of early opportunities to get out etc, and make sure the window was nice and clean! Once you’ve driven round, there’s no going back to the start…

And actually, having gone through my photos now, it’s amazing how much there was to see. And I have got some good pictures… I feel perhaps I’m being mean giving it 4 stars: it might have been a 5 star with more luck and more time!