Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens
Parkland and gardens around a Georgian-Gothic manor near Burford, home to rhinos, lions, lemurs and penguins.
Parkland and gardens around a Georgian-Gothic manor near Burford, home to rhinos, lions, lemurs and penguins.
Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens is a much-loved family attraction set in 160 acres of parkland and beautiful gardens around a listed Georgian-Gothic manor house near Burford. Open since 1970, it is home to more than 1,500 animals across some 250 species, from white rhinos, lions and giraffes to lemurs, meerkats and penguins. A narrow-gauge railway loops the grounds in the warmer months, and the planting is good enough to draw garden lovers in its own right, so there is plenty to fill a full day whatever the weather. About 35 to 40 minutes from Well Cottage, it is one of the most reliable outings for children in the area, rain or shine.
We send guests here more than almost anywhere else on the doorstep, and for good reason. It manages the trick of being a proper zoo and a genuinely lovely garden at the same time, so nobody in the party is bored: children charge from the meerkats to the playground, while the grown-ups can slow down among the borders of the walled garden. Because the park spreads across so much ground, it never feels crowded even in high summer, and the mix of open paddocks and glasshouses means there is always somewhere to duck out of the weather.
The white rhinos alone justify the trip: you'll find them grazing in a paddock large enough to feel genuinely wild, with giraffes browsing nearby in a scene that shouldn't quite work in Oxfordshire but does, beautifully. The gardens surrounding the manor are as carefully planted as any country-house border, and they provide a lovely counterpoint to the animal enclosures. Make time for the tropical glasshouse (warm, lush, and welcome on a grey Cotswold day), the walk-through Madagascar enclosure with its free-roaming lemurs, and the penguin pool. The park is genuinely spread across 160 acres, so comfortable shoes matter, and it pays to plan a loose route rather than doubling back.
The gardens are worth the ticket on their own. The planting around the manor and through the walled garden is ambitious and beautifully kept, with tropical and subtropical borders that surprise people who came only for the lions. Come in late spring or summer and the whole park is at its best, though the glasshouses and indoor collections make it a genuine year-round option. Facilities are straightforward: a café, kiosks and picnic lawns, so you can bring your own lunch or buy on site.
Cotswold Wildlife Park is about 35 to 40 minutes from Well Cottage, heading south through Chipping Norton towards Burford. The park sits just south of the town on the Bradwell Grove estate, and that proximity is worth using: Burford is one of the most handsome towns in the Cotswolds, with its steep high street of golden-stone merchants' houses running down to the River Windrush. A visit to the wildlife park pairs naturally with a wander through town and lunch at one of the inns on the high street, or a browse of the independent antique shops.
The park opens daily from 10am, with last admission before closing, so an early start rewards you with calmer enclosures before the school-holiday crowds arrive. Closing times are later in summer than in winter, so it is worth checking the current hours before you set off. It is open all year round, which makes it a reliable option whatever the weather brings. Dogs on leads are welcome in the open areas of the park (though not indoors or in the free-roaming animal enclosures), and parking is free, with plenty of space even on busy days.
All of this on the doorstep, and your own thatched cottage to come home to. Sleeps seven, less than a mile from Soho Farmhouse.