Hertfordshire family days out – Paradise Park
We recently visited one of our favourite parks in Hertfordshire. We had a wonderful day out at Paradise Park on perhaps the hottest day of the summer on bank holiday Monday. How that heat feels like a long time ago! Here we are with this beautiful lion sculpture.
We live a 30-minute drive from Paradise park so normally take a trip there a couple of times a year. This time there was lots of new things which it made it even more special. Going on the bank holiday Monday also meant it was very busy but this didn’t affect the day at all, Paradise Park is so big we rarely felt like it was too busy.
The Animals first
The boys got to choose what they wanted to go see throughout the day. Dylan got to choose first and we headed to the animals and the big cats. Paradise Park has so many big cats to see and most of them were up and active. I think they were loving the heat, maybe reminding them of their real home.
We saw the white lions, the cheetahs and the tigers were chilling on their platforms. The best bit was the jaguars and we arrived there at the most perfect time. The mummy jaguar was playing with her baby jaguar. I’ve never seen a baby jaguar before, seriously like the cutest animal in the entire world. The mum was so good with her baby who kept jumping on her back and head. Loved it.
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We continued onto the monkeys who are always good value with the boys and doing something fun. The penguins were all out and standing tall right next to the viewing platform. I just love the meerkats and could spend ages watching them. They seemed to think there was a threat above them so were all standing on the back legs watching the skies for ages. Here are the lemurs just chilling!
The wolves were out prowling around their cages and the white tiger was having fun in the sun. I managed to capture him sitting on his yoga ball and eating his blood ice lolly!! There is a new Amazon exhibit that has been built ready for this summer. This is the new home for the anaconda, which is huge. You must see it to believe it, the photo doesn’t really do it justice.
Soft play and lunch
The boys requested soft play and lunch next after doing a round of the animals. There is a big indoor soft play area that the boys spent a good hour running around. There is also a café so we got lunch from there. I could have brought packed lunch but I had one rucksack which was filled with water and swimming costumes for the splash park (which was far too busy so we didn’t actually go there!). The food cost £20 for the four of us and I had a nice meat ball panini. The boys had the children’s lunchboxes containing sandwich, drink, fruit, crisps and a chocolate bar.
Crazy Golf
The boys then requested a round of crazy golf. This was £2 each for them. I didn’t play as I knew they would take forever! There is an 18-hole animal themed crazy golf area. It’s very creative and well laid out. The boys focussed for the whole time and completed the round. I was the score taker and resolver of disputes. Jack loved it too, despite taking 10 shots to get the ball in the hole for many rounds. The boys then had £3 each to get something from the shop. The boys do exactly what I used to do in gift shop and bought stationery!
Woodland Walk
Ice creams were next on the agenda which did cost a small fortune £8 on four ice creams. The boys had a choice of the train ride or ice creams and all managed to agree on ice creams and understood the choice to be made. We went for a walk around the woodland walk with our ice creams and just chilled out. We saw the deer, foxes, more wolves and the reindeer. Who doesn’t love a reindeer.
Outdoor play area
We finished off the visit with some time on the assault course in the outdoor play area. Lots of the play equipment has been replaced this year. The park felt new and refreshed. We all had lots of fun and look forward to coming back again. Maybe to visit Father Christmas next time.
This is a collaborative post where the park tickets were gifted, but all views are my own.
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