Best Safari Parks in the UK

Updated: 23 August 2026

The first time a baboon sat on my wing mirror at Longleat, I nearly stalled the car. My kids thought it was the best five minutes of the whole holiday. That is the thing about safari parks. The animals are on your side of the glass. Sometimes they are on your car.

This guide covers safari parks specifically: places where you drive or walk through open enclosures. Zoos with paths between pens make a different day out, and I cover those in my guide to the best zoos in the UK. Some parks below blur the line, and I say so plainly where they do. Most “best safari park” lists skip that distinction, and it changes what you are actually booking.

I have visited six of the ten parks below. For the rest I did the research and checked current prices. Every safari park in this country prices by date, so treat the August 2026 figures here as a guide and check the calendar before you book.

Best UK safari parks at a glance

Woburn Safari Park

Woburn sits inside the Woburn Abbey estate in Bedfordshire. It is close enough to London and the M1 to work as a day trip from the capital. One ticket covers both halves. The Road Safari takes your own car at walking pace past lions, elephants and rhino. The Foot Safari is a separate walk-around section once you park.

Ticket prices (check latest prices)

Woburn prices dynamically by date rather than publishing a flat rate. I am not going to invent a number here. Book through the official site and the calendar shows the exact price for your date.

Most of the drive accepts soft-tops and convertibles. The Kingdom of Carnivores and African Forest sections do not, and staff redirect you to a viewing area instead. Motorbikes cannot enter the drive at all. A “Little Ranger Rovers” mini-driving experience for children launched in 2025 and still runs. Worth knowing if you have a car-mad six-year-old who keeps begging to steer.

Longleat Safari Park

Longleat opened in 1966 as the first drive-through safari park outside Africa. It still feels like the benchmark the others measure themselves against. The drive passes lions, tigers, wolves and a genuinely impressive Big Game Park with southern white rhino. A separate walking section and the wider estate – gardens, a maze, a house tour – fill out a full day.

Ticket prices

Standard advance online pricing runs from around {P}39.95 for the main season. Longleat pushes advance booking hard, and online prices run roughly 15% cheaper than the gate. Pre-booking is essential for events like the Festival of Light. Walk-up tickets exist subject to availability. The site is cashless, so bring a card.

The vehicle rules here are the strictest on this list. Longleat bars soft-top convertibles and cars with soft vinyl sunroofs from the drive-through entirely, not just from certain sections. If your only car is a convertible, check Longleat’s own vehicle guidance before you plan the trip around it. I have watched people get turned away at the gate over this.

West Midlands Safari Park

Based near Bewdley in Worcestershire, this is the one I would point a family towards on price alone. One combined ticket covers the Safari Drive and the Safari Walk. A separate rides area takes a wristband add-on if the kids want more than animals. My youngest spent the drive with her nose against the glass waiting for giraffes. She went completely quiet when a lion ambled past close enough to fog the window.

Ticket prices

Online adult admission starts from {P}17.40. The ride wristband costs an extra {P}8.75 per person. A 12-month flexible ticket starts from {P}32, which pays for itself after two visits.

A new White Lion Viewpoint opened on the walking trail in late 2025 with a redesigned pride habitat. The park has since added paid overnight lodges overlooking the enclosure. Soft-tops cannot enter the Carnivore section, and every car must keep its roof up for the full route.

Knowsley Safari Park

Knowsley sits on Merseyside just outside Liverpool. It centres on a five-mile drive where lions, rhino, camels and ostriches wander loose around the cars, the longest drive route on this list. It is also the slowest, in a good way. We were still crawling past the baboons twenty minutes after we meant to be eating lunch. One ticket also covers a Foot Safari area with tigers, giraffes, sea lions and an Amur Tiger Trail, plus play areas and animal talks. Despite the reputation, it is not drive-only.

Ticket prices

Advance online booking costs {P}22.38 per adult. Buy at the gate on the day and it rises to {P}25.38. Annual membership starts from {P}87.

Blair Drummond Safari and Adventure Park

Blair Drummond, near Stirling, is the only dedicated safari park in Scotland. Highland Wildlife Park near Aviemore also has a drive-through reserve, but it operates primarily as a conventional wildlife park. Blair Drummond is worth the trip if you are already north of the border. The safari drive runs alongside a separate adventure park with rides and animal encounter areas, so it fills a full day rather than just a drive-through stop.

Ticket prices

Standard adult admission is {P}23.50. Child tickets (3-15) cost {P}16.50 and concessions {P}20.25. Booking is online only, in advance, and non-refundable, so pick your date carefully.

Vehicle rules here are more specific than at most English parks. Soft-tops can pass through the African and Asian reserves. The macaque and lion reserves turn them away, and staff direct you around instead.

Yorkshire Wildlife Park

I want to flag this one clearly. Yorkshire Wildlife Park, near Doncaster, has no self-drive element at all. It is walk-through, and most lists lump it in on reputation rather than mechanics. It still earns its place. The park holds the UK’s largest polar bear reserve, and the open-plan enclosures for lions and Amur tigers give a sense of scale a conventional zoo cannot.

Ticket prices

Online adult tickets run from {P}27.99 to {P}29.99 depending on the date, tiered by weekday, weekend and school holiday. Gate prices run higher, between {P}31.49 and {P}33.49. Book ahead if you can.

Port Lympne Hotel and Reserve

Port Lympne near Hythe in Kent covers 600 acres of walking trails past gorillas, rhino, giraffes and spectacled bears. The Aspinall Foundation runs it. An optional truck safari costs extra at booking rather than coming bundled into every ticket. It is also the only park here where you can stay overnight. Lodges and a hotel sit on site, so you can take an early or late safari once the day visitors have gone and the animals turn more active.

Ticket prices

Standard admission is {P}32.73 online or {P}36.36 at the gate. Adding a Gift Aid donation takes it to {P}36 online or {P}40 at the gate. Annual passes start from {P}75 for adults. Check at checkout whether your ticket type covers the truck safari. Port Lympne sells walking-only and walking-plus-safari options separately, and booking the wrong one is easy.

Africa Alive

Africa Alive sits at Kessingland on the Suffolk coast. The Zoological Society of East Anglia runs it, along with Banham Zoo. It is an East Africa themed reserve, walk-through rather than drive-through, spread across open paddocks rather than caged enclosures. Rhino and giraffe are the headline animals.

Ticket prices (check latest prices)

I could not pin down a confident current single-adult price here. The figures I found conflicted with each other, so rather than guess, check the official booking page before you travel. Note that zsea.org handles ticket sales on the society’s shared platform, even though the park’s own site sits at africaalive.co.uk.

Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens

Cotswold Wildlife Park at Burford in Oxfordshire is the odd one out here, in a good way. It combines a walk-through wildlife collection with formal Victorian gardens. That makes it work as well for a couple wanting a nice afternoon as for a family safari day. There is no drive-through element.

Ticket prices

Standard gate admission is {P}19.50. An e-ticket bought online in advance costs {P}17.50, a straightforward saving for booking ahead. Most other parks on this list offer something similar.

Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm

Noah’s Ark on the edge of Bristol is genuinely a farm rather than a safari park. It earns its place on the strength of its paid safari-style truck ride, which sets it apart from a standard petting-farm day. Let me set expectations honestly. This is a family farm with a safari-branded extra, not a true drive-through park. That is a fair trade if you have younger children who are not quite ready for the big cats at Longleat or Knowsley.

Ticket prices (check latest prices)

The park tiers pricing by date, and I found conflicting figures across sources. Rather than publish a number I am not confident in, check the live booking widget on the official site. I also could not confirm whether standard admission covers the safari truck ride or sells it as an add-on. Check that directly with the park before you build a day around it.

Drive-through or walk-through – what’s the actual difference?

Not every park here lets you stay in your car. Be clear-eyed about which type you are booking before you set off.

True drive-through parks – Woburn, Longleat, West Midlands, Knowsley and Blair Drummond. You drive your own vehicle at walking pace through open enclosures. Predators like lions and tigers sometimes come within metres of your window. All five also have a walking section once you park, so none are drive-only.

Walk-through parks – Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Africa Alive and Cotswold Wildlife Park. These work more like an open-plan zoo. You walk between large, naturalistic paddocks rather than caged enclosures, on foot the whole time.

Hybrid experiences – Port Lympne and Noah’s Ark. Primarily walk-through, with an optional vehicle safari (truck or Land Rover, not your own car) as an add-on.

If getting close to a lion from inside your own car is the whole point, stick to the first group.

Vehicle rules that catch people out

Most articles skip this part. It is the difference between a smooth day and a refusal at the gate. Every drive-through park bans motorbikes outright, at every park I checked. Each park treats soft-tops and convertibles differently:

• Longleat bars soft-tops and soft vinyl sunroofs entirely. No exceptions.
• West Midlands Safari Park bars soft-tops from the Carnivore section only. Every car must keep its roof up throughout.
• Woburn allows soft-tops generally but redirects them around the Kingdom of Carnivores and African Forest.
• Blair Drummond allows soft-tops through the African and Asian reserves but not the macaque and lion reserves.
• Knowsley does not publish a section-by-section policy the way the other four do. Check current guidance directly if you drive a convertible.

If your only car is a soft-top, phone the park first. A five-minute call beats a wasted trip.

Planning your visit

The drive-through portion typically takes 1.5 to 2 hours on its own. Add walking trails, rides and shows and a full day runs 3 to 5 hours at most of these parks. Build in time for a proper lunch stop rather than squeezing the visit in on the way somewhere else.

Shoulder season gives the best balance of decent weather and thin crowds: March to May, or mid-September before October half term. Weekdays in term time stay consistently quietest. The animals have indoor shelters, so light rain will not ruin a visit, though sightings drop off in bad weather.

If you expect to visit more than twice a year, do the maths on an annual pass. Port Lympne’s starts from £75 against a £32.73-£36.36 single ticket, so it pays for itself in a little over two visits. Knowsley’s starts from £87 against £22.38-£25.38, closer to four visits to break even. Still worthwhile if you live within an hour or two and go more than once a season.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is the best safari park in the UK?

Longleat has the strongest claim as the original and most complete UK safari park. It offers the widest range of drive-through predators plus a full estate of extra attractions. For value, West Midlands Safari Park is hard to beat at £17.40 for combined drive and walk admission. For the longest drive route, pick Knowsley’s five miles.

Can I drive through in a soft-top or convertible car?

It depends entirely on the park. Longleat bans soft-tops outright. Woburn and Blair Drummond allow them through most sections but redirect them around specific predator enclosures. West Midlands requires all cars to keep the roof up. Always check the park’s own vehicle policy before you travel.

Is a safari park worth it compared to a zoo?

The main difference is proximity. At a drive-through park, lions and rhino can come right up to your car, which enclosure-based zoo viewing cannot replicate. Zoos typically hold more species in a smaller footprint and suit a shorter visit on foot. For the UK’s best conventional zoos, see my zoos guide.

Can I get out of the car during a safari drive?

No, not at any park in this guide, and staff enforce it strictly. Windows must stay up in predator sections. You can only leave the vehicle at designated rest points or car parks. Staff will drive alongside and ask you to leave if you break the rule. It happens most often with people angling for a photo through an open sunroof.

Is South Lakes Safari Zoo in Cumbria still open?

No. South Lakes Safari Zoo closed permanently on 31 December 2024 after years of animal welfare concerns, and other collections took in its animals. If you see it listed as open elsewhere, that information is out of date.

Explore More

• Best Zoos in the UK
• Exploring the United Kingdom
• 5 Great London Tourist Attractions
• Search flights & hotels on lastminute.com
• Find a Premier Inn near UK safari parks