We went to longleat for a family day out. It's a bit pricey especially if you are a large family but we had a great time. Different attractions for all ages. The boat ride was good as we got to feed seals. The safari park did not disappoint. We decided to go through in our car and were thrilled as we got up close with the giraffes. The monkeys were brilliant but be prepared for any damage to your car. Apparently they like Ford cars. Great day out.

The safari drive was superb. Risked the monkey exposure (top tip, keep moving if you don't want monkeys on your car). £1 buys a cup of food for the deer - wonderful experience!

Boat trip was great - well worth the queueing. Not often do you see a sealion 4' away - for £1 you can buy a cup of small fish to feed to them.

There is another fabulous area with penguins (can walk with them and get really close), stingrays that you can stroke and a fabulous bat cave. All animal enclosers were very clean and they are very well cared for.

Aside from all this is the house which was also fascinating. Loads of places to eat and drink which were not too expensive.

Book on line using Tesco voucher codes to save a fortune. Would buy an annual ticket if I lived nearer. Well worth a visit :)

I visited Longleat Safari park during August bank holidays and have mixed feeling about it.

The queue was awfully long even to enter the park despite having pre-booked the tickets. We are asked to directly go in and collect the tickets after waiting in he car queue for over 30 minutes. Then we had the next queue to collect tickets which was over 30 minutes again, that's over 1 hour lost just for collecting the tickets which was booked days in advance.

Then half the so called restaurants on their website were closed leaving very limited options that too over crowded. Then the 'Jungle Express' was closed for maintenance for the whole day - disappointed again.

Good things:

Hedge maze was awesome. You could actually get lost and it is far more difficult than what it looks like.

Jungle kingdom was OK - very few animals; this is much better at Cotswold wildlife park.

Jungle Cruise - This was good, you get a good view of the Seals and Gorillas, but the Hippo bit could be better; it was hardly visible.

Safari - This was really good. You get a dangerously close view of Tigers, Lions, Cheetahs, Monkeys and Wolves. This was quite good and was well worth the money.

Note: Monkeys can be quite naughty and we had few cars with broken bits after the drive through the monkey village. However, you have an option to skip that part if required.

The weather may have been dull, but, our day was very bright. This is an absolute brilliant place to visit what ever age you are. So much to see and do. The history of the house, the splendour I could go on and on. The gardens absolutely beautiful. Everywhere is spotless. We walked through penguins, meerkats, birds saw snakes, small monkeys too many to mention. We took the Safari bus we saw Lions, tigers, elands, rhesus monkeys again so many to mention. Plus why spoil it for you. I would definitely recommend the Safari Bus as the driver points out the animals, little anecdotes( as he had worked with the animals) plus he told jokes?. Also because the monkeys enjoy stripping wing mirrors, aerials etc. The river cruise was excellent too. Yet again informative. Plenty of food outlets. Staff so friendly. The animals are so well looked after and seem very happy with their habitats. Please go I am sure you will enjoy the day.