Giant rabbits and more at Hanwell Zoo, west London

London might have its own world-famous zoo but there are some great smaller zoos to discover – a free zoo in a north London park, as well as little Hanwell Zoo, a 10-minute drive from my home in west London (formerly free but now with a small entrance charge).

Known to locals as the bunny park, there certainly are rabbits, but also small animals and birds from around the world as well as a Butterfly House at this little zoo, previously known as the Brent Lodge Park animal centre.

So while you shouldn’t expect another London Zoo, even in miniature, it’s a lovely place to take young children and toddlers. So with the sun shining on Saturday, that’s exactly what we did.

It’s not the easiest to find – directions using the postcode point you to Church Road, but stop short of telling you exactly where, and on our first visit, there were no obvious signs. So follow the road past the church to the end, and you’ll see the entrance.

And one very helpful tip from a friend, if you’re as baffled as we were and have a smartphone to hand, is to go to satellite images of the area, find the maze (pretty easy to spot) and that will point you in the right direction.

Once you’re in, it’s a relaxed wander past the various enclosures, starting with a tortoise to get you into an ambling frame of mind and past the butterfly house – open from Easter until the end of summer (previously paid entry, but now there’s no additional fee).

We timed it just right and found a member of staff inside, who showed us caterpillars at different stages of development, and pointed out one cunningly concealed creature, cleverly disguised as a leaf.

The rest flitted and fluttered, stopping for the occasional drink or sip of orange, all bright colours and incredibly delicate wings. And just in case you thought nature was all lovely and pretty, we also spotted a tiny frog munching through one unfortunate butterfly.

Out of the tropical heat, we spotted Continental Giant rabbits, a couple of kune kune pigs, prairie dogs staring back with equal interest, the wallaby-esque mara and two tiny marmosets – which delighted Minnie, who’s currently obsessed with watching Rio. [EDIT: The marmosets have also moved on but you can see lemurs and meerkats now]

Somewhere was a third – all from the Animal Reception Centre at Heathrow where they were seized by customs authorities. The porcupine and dormice stayed resolutely indoors, but a peacock was roaming in pecking distance, and there were some fabulously bright green love birds chirping away.

Toddlers’ teatimes wait for no-one however, so before we could explore the maze (supposed to be wide enough for two buggies to pass), the playground or track down a few of the other farm and pet animals, it was time to head home.

Now I know where it is, it won’t be long before we’re back.

Hanwell Zoo: Need to know

Entry costs £4.50 for adults, £3.50 for children, with membership also available, and tickets entitle you to entry for the morning or afternoon session.

Hanwell Zoo is open from 10am to 5pm from April to mid September, 10-4pm from mid September to the end of March – check the site for the latest opening hours. Last entry is one hour before closing.

Images copyright MummyTravels

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