Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens

Great Yarmouth is a well-known seaside town that has a rich maritime heritage, famous golden mile promenade and amazing places to eat. That's before we even mention the long stretches of enticing golden sands that attract many visitors each year. 


Great Yarmouth is considered be some to be the perfect holiday destination. You’ll never be short of things to do in this special seaside town. Luckily, Visit Great Yarmouth created an incredible opportunity for us this year to discover all the amazing things that Great Yarmouth and the surrounding areas have to offer. 


So far this year, we had the best time exploring the heritage, discovering the under-sea world at SEALIFE, and enjoyed watching life in miniature at Merrivale Model Village. It was thrilling to ride rollercoasters at The Pleasure Beach and sit in one of the very few purpose-built circus buildings in England. Great Yarmouth makes the perfect destination for a day trip, weekend break or longer holiday. There is an abundance of tourist attractions, suitable for every conceivable taste and budget. 

Although summer is over, there are still plenty of fun activities to enjoy in this seaside town. The last weekend of our half term was full of rain, but we were ready for another adventure, so we piled into the care and drove towards Great Yarmouth. We didn't get quite to the golden mile, but a little village of Filby. Wellies and umbrellas were at the ready as we set out to explore our next adventure to Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens


There's no better activity for a rainy afternoon than a trip to the zoo. Crowds are smaller, days are cooler, and changing leaves bring a burst of colour to the amazing surroundings. You can make the most of your day with plenty of animals to see at Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens, even when it rains.

Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens are set in the middle of the most beautiful grounds and gardens of Thrigby Hall, which was built in 1736. These stunning gardens include raised walkways and viewing platforms that allows you to get up close and personal with these amazing animals. At Thrigby you will find so many interesting animals like meerkats, red pandas, a variety of leopards, otters, huge crocodiles, noisy gibbons, and so many more. These incredible enclosures made our experience at Thrigby so much more than we ever thought, of all the zoos we have visited, we have never had the opportunity to get so close. It was incredible.


You can explore Thrigby using their unique network of walkways. You can follow the bridges across the lake, climb the Jubilee Tree Walk to get magnificent views of the park and venture into the Tiger Tunnel. There is also the Tiger Tree Walk which takes you directly over the enclosure and the Tiger Viewing Platform where you can be inches away from our magnificent Sumatran Tigers. Walk through the treetops with the Gibbons and follow the walkway around the trees over the Leopard enclosures. Discover Cats Cloisters and enjoy the Aviaries.




The Tiger Enclosure

Thrigby Hall Conservation Fund supports numerous conservation projects both locally and further afield and has also funded many research projects. This is a huge passion for our animal loving little girl. You can support this by adopting your favourite animal at Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens. Animal adoptions make a really unique gift, and more details can be found by going to their website.


Our daughter would love to adopt one of the endangered Sumatran tigers at Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens, so as you can imagine, this was without a doubt one of my daughter's favourite enclosures. We soon found ourselves that were no more than two feet away from two tigers with just a double fence between us. It felt so crazy to be so close to them. At one point it was that close that we got splashed when a tiger drinking from their water bowl. AMAZING.


The Tiger Tree Walk high in the trees is not for the faint hearted. It is a special walk constructed in the trees which surround the tiger enclosure to provide the opportunity for an excellent bird's eye view. You have to walk along with walkways with one foot in front of the other, holding onto the side as you slowly shuffle along. It was incredible to watch the tigers from up high, however at times it did make my heart race.


The Leopards

There are three species of leopard at Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens; Snow, Clouded and Amur, all of which live in separate enclosures, but in the same area. The fact that they were all so close to each other was very nice. 


Due to the rain, we weren't expecting to see any leopards. But they were all out full in force, so we wanted to make the most of an incredibly unique opportunity at the Snow Leopard Enclosure. As soon as she saw the baby Snow leopard, my daughter was immediately intrigued. The little cub seemed to be in a very playful mood, so my daughter began to jump on the spot and the cub copied. It was so sweet to watch them play together. So as my daughter continue to run along the enclosure, the cub copied her and even tried jumping from the wooden platform where her mum was trying to have a snooze. 




We have timed our visit well because as they were playing there was a talk at the Snow Leopard enclosure. It was really interesting to hear fascinating facts about the Snow Leopards and watch them eat. My daughter couldn't wait to ask the zookeeper some questions and told him all about the playtime with her new friend Aurora. My daughter was pleased to know that she doesn't often come out to play when it is busy, so it was a wonderful opportunity to play.


The treetop walkways really feel like you are walking through the enclosures. You can climb and find yourself right next to a leopard feeling thankful that there is some fencing between you, walk along the pathways to watch them beneath you and it gives quite the view from the bottom too. My husband was filming a leopard in his enclosure on the opposite then all of a sudden there was a huge roar from behind his which gave us all a bit of a scare.

The Swamp House

The Swamp House and Forest House are another incredible enclosure. It's nothing you expect as you walk in. You will find two species of crocodile (Mugger and Salt Water) and an American alligator in residence, as well as a number of reptiles, including Burmese, reticulated, short-tailed, green tree pythons, geckos, giant toads, mangrove snake, lizards and Asian water dragons. 


Inside the Swamp House, visitors can move around on raised walkways giving them an excellent view of the terrifying reptiles. Even better, if you follow the walkway around it takes you down to below the water level and if you are lucky enough you will find yourself eye to eye with a crocodile.




The Primates

The primates at Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens are vast and varied with Javan Brown Languars, Sulawesi Crested Macaques, White-Handed Gibbons, and Siamangs. They have huge enclosures, designed for them to be able to swing around, if you're patient enough you may even catch a glimpse of them swinging from tree to tree.


Walk-Through Aviary & Jungle Aviary

Visitors can discover a wide variety of birds and waterfowl, including storks, sacred ibis, fulvous and mandarin ducks in the Walk-Through Aviary. The main walk-through aviary was quite an experience, there was plenty of space to walk through and spot all the birds and waterfowl. All the birds are kept secure in Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens by netting, which you don't notice. The main feature was the raised Pool Garden that give you so many opportunities to see the ducks and ducklings.


There also a Jungle Aviary that was filled with many birds. It did take us a moment to walk through due to some very stubborn Ibis Storks who were reluctant to move from the platform edge. There are also owls, hornbills and Moluccan cockatoos as we wandered through their Willow Pattern Garden and over the bridges we could see white storks, cranes and geese.



At Thrigby Hall Wildlife Park you will also find Red Pandas that are experts at hiding from the public when they need some well-earned rest bite, Asian Otters who are the sweetest and we even caught a glimpse of them kissing one another, as well as Porcupines, Warthogs and Meerkats.



Thrigby Hall Wildlife Garden is wheelchair-accessible and pushchair-friendly, and there are picnic areas, cafes and gift shops, as well as play areas that cater for children of all different ages. Visitors are able to watch the keepers feed the animals and listen to their informative talks, with the opportunity to ask questions and learn more about them. It’s worth checking what times these take place on arrival or before you visit, so that you don’t miss this fascinating experience.

Cockatoo Café

Cockatoo Café serves a range of hot and cold food throughout the day including jacket potatoes, sandwiches, hot dogs, sausage rolls, cakes, ice creams and other snacks, with vegetarian and gluten free options available. We decided to stop for a bite to eat halfway through our afternoon. Our daughter had the children's sandwich box that came with a cheese sandwich, crisps, shortbread, a Freddo and a drink! My husband ordered a Cornish pasty with a latte, and I ordered a bacon sandwich with a cup of tea. We found the Cockatoo Café really reasonable priced, which isn't something you often find when you're visiting a zoo or animal attractions.


Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens has a variety of different play areas suitable for all ages, including a soft play area for toddlers. But due to the rain our it wasn't safe enough for our daughter to play on them which was a shame. So, we spent as much time as we could at in Tiger Tree Walk and Leopard Enclosures to play with little Aurora. There is a well-stocked gift shop selling a selection of gifts such as clothing, toys, souvenirs and books and a range of local produce including jams, chutneys and sweet treats. Every zoo we visit we like to get a small plush toy and our daughter picked a snow leopard to take home and she name her Aurora of course. 


Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens is vast and varied. There is so much to see and do for families. You can watch the meerkats scurry along in their den, walk along a wooden bridge and look out for wildlife and birds. Go up high to see the incredible views in the Tiger Tree Walk. Over on the other side of Thrigby you can go inside a tropical rainforest and see alligators, crocodiles and the biggest snake you will probably ever see. Hop over to say hello to the porcupines and walk through the monkeys as well as seeing some of their newest arrivals at Thrigby too and big cats. If you're looking for a fun afternoon, don't let the rain stop you. For families with young children, Thrigby Hall Wildlife Gardens is a wonderful place to spend time together.

** We have been kindly gifted our tickets from Visit Great Yarmouth as part of the ambassador program but as always, my words and opinions are my own. Images are subject to copyright, please seek permission before using. **

16 comments

  1. I really do need to arrange a break to Great Yarmouth. I do love tigers they are my favourite big cat

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    1. There are so many fantastic places to visit in Great Yarmouth. It is such a lovely little destination

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  2. omg the wildlife gardens are stunning wow!!! I love going with my kids to gardens like these ones, so cool and fun.

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    1. Thrigby was quite a find. It was an incredible experience to get so close to the animals.

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  3. Looks like a really great place to visit with the kids with lots to see and a really lovely setting too.

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    1. Even though it was raining, we didn't let that stop us! It was a fantastic afternoon.

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  4. The building this is at is gorgeous, this looks like such a fun place to visit.

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    1. Isn't it stunning! It was a great place to visit with so many opportunities to get so close to the animals.

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  5. Love all the beautiful gardens and pictures! It looks like an amazing place!

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  6. The baby snow leopard is so cute! What a fun day out for the family...such an awesome place!

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  7. You post reminds people to still visit Great Yarmouth even though summer has ended. Looking forward to visit Thrigby Hall

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  8. Ohh wow....this is a beautiful wildlife garden to visit for kids as an educational tour. Good sharing. Cheers Siennylovesdrawing

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  9. This is pretty intriguing to hear about Great Yarmouth and all about you and your family's experience there.

    ~ Paula Richie

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  10. This wildlife garden is stunning and great for everybody. Lots of memories can be created with friends and family.

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  11. This place is amazing! That building is beautiful and I would love that bridge/play space on the pond.

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  12. This place looks really worth a visit with family . All the clicks are really beautiful.

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