Description
Looking for the best things to do with kids in Great Yarmouth? Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens is an exciting wildlife park and family zoo featuring a brilliant collection of rare and endangered Asian animals. It provides an engaging day out where visitors can explore historical parkland, walk across elevated treetop platforms, and watch daily animal feeds.
Standard online advance adult tickets are priced at £17.00, while children aged 4 to 16 cost £13.50, and senior citizens enter for £16.00. Booking your tickets online in advance helps secure the best price and speeds up entry at the gates.
If you are looking for the best place for a day out with family and kids that combines exotic animal encounters with 250-year-old landscaped gardens, this destination is an ideal choice. It offers a relaxed, non-commercial environment where children can see snow leopards, tigers, and red pandas up close.
Beyond the Main Attraction
- Great Yarmouth Seaside: Traditional golden sandy beaches, seafront arcades, and family amusements just a short drive away.
- The Norfolk Broads: Expansive network of navigable rivers and picturesque lakes offering scenic boat trips nearby.
- BeWILDerwood Norfolk: Huge award-winning forest adventure park located further inland for high-energy outdoor play.
- St Benet's Abbey: Historic medieval monastery ruins set beside the River Bure for an educational local excursion.
What Visitors Love:
- The independent, non-commercial feel provides a refreshing alternative to massive, overcrowded theme park zoos.
- Elevated treetop walkways offer uniquely close encounters with big cats and primates that kids adore.
- Staff members are exceptionally friendly, knowledgeable, and clearly passionate about animal welfare.
- The compact layout makes it easy to walk around with younger children without exhausting them.
What Visitors Don't Like:
- Public transport options to the rural location are very limited, meaning a car is practically essential.
- Catering queues can build up during peak lunchtime rushes in the school holidays.
- Certain outdoor paths can become muddy during periods of heavy autumn or winter rain.
Attractions & Live Exhibits
- Asian Big Cats: Sumatran tigers, clouded leopards, and snow leopards.
- Primates & Tree-Dwellers: Gibbons, macaques, leaf monkeys, and red pandas.
- Reptiles & Amphibians: Saltwater crocodiles, pythons, geckos, and turtles inside the Swamp House.
- Birds & Waterfowl: Aviaries, cranes, cockatoos, and various waterfowl species.
- Other Small Mammals: Meerkats, Indian porcupines, and small-clawed otters.
- Play and Exploration Zones: Adventure play area, climbing frames, tree ropes, and mazes.
New for 2026
- Pumpkin the Red Panda Exhibit: Newly expanded and refreshed habitats welcoming new red panda additions to the park family.
- Upgraded Digital Ticketing System: Streamlined online booking portal designed to speed up morning arrivals and offer seasonal discounts.
- Enhanced Accessibility Walkways: Further improvements made to timber boardwalks and ramps to ensure smoother pushchair and wheelchair access.
11.29 miles
