Exploring, London, Things to do

Things to do in London: Visiting London Zoo by Night

ellieslondon

I love London Zoo. I know, I know. Zoos get a terrible reputation sometimes, so if you are generally against ‘the zoo’, you might want to click away now.

ZSL London Zoo have been running ‘Zoo Nights’ for a few years now. The first time I visited London Zoo was in the daytime, back in summer 2015. I ended up spending the entire day there. I was in love. I honestly didn’t think I would like it so much.

A few years ago, when I discovered the zoo runs ‘Zoo Nights’ on select dates in summer months, I got tickets as soon as I could. Summer 2018 was no exception.

london zoo - two black penguins swimming in blue water
The penguins just after their dinner

An Adults Only Zone

In my opinion, the best thing about the event is that it is adults only! Yes, the zoo, a playground and perfect place for family days out, becomes an adults only environment as the sun goes down and it is fantastic. The zoo works hard to create a carnival atmosphere and keeps such activities away from where the animals are.

london zoo - meerkat on sand
Real life Aleksandr!

As you go around the zoo, there are many other things to do including wild yoga, carousel rides, face painting, live comedy, acrobats, music and of course the zoo live talks.

I haven’t managed to get to a zoo talk yet (maybe next year). However, in 2018, on offer were things such as ‘Meet the Pigs’, ‘Live at Penguin Beach: Feeding Time’, ‘Giraffe Supper Time’ and ‘Owl Meet and Greets’.

london zoo - two giraffes in a grassy enclosure
Giraffes on their evening stroll
london zoo - two camels with two humps, furry.
These camels were very unimpressed with being pap’d during dinner…

London Zoo Nights: What to do?

In 2018, Zoo Nights ran from 6pm until 10pm. Most of the animals tend to go to sleep (ahh) around 9pm. This is when the ‘watering hole’ and street food stalls in the zoo really come alive.

london zoo - flyer and map for the event

In 2017, I did what everyone seemed to be doing; see the animals first and eat/drink later. Alcohol is served at the zoo from select stalls. From souvlaki and curry, to crepes and vegan brownies, carnivores and herbivores hang out in harmony at Zoo Nights.

Have you been to London Zoo (or any zoo)? Would you like to attend an event such as Zoo Nights? Let me know in the comments below.

Published by ellieslondon

A London based content writer with a little corner of the internet for ramblings that spring to mind. On a quest to meet fellow creatives!

22 thoughts on “Things to do in London: Visiting London Zoo by Night”

  1. Animals look so happy by being around just the adults sometimes. Such a good, helpful and well-described post with the meaning of fun. Keep it up Ellen xx

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  8. Love this! And a great idea, should make one too!
    Visited the sky garden, I liked it. To be fair, haven’t visited any other high rise spots in London. So nothing to compare too!
    We could do a night bus tour together, wanted to do that for do I long…another one on my list is doing the Ghost tour in London!

    – Aditi
    http://www.aditispen.com

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    1. Thank you 🙂 You definitely should do it! Include things you have already done like I did so it looks like you’re ticking things off! Oooh I’ve never done the ghost tour although I worked near where it started once 😀

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