London Zoo
Outer Circle Regent's Park Camden Town London NW1 4RY
It is hard to believe that snuggled between the serenity of Regent's Park and the buzz of Camden Town, is the oldest scientific zoo in the world. It's a city zoo, so has no big expanses for animals to roam free. But it's about as humane as such places get, and is home to hundreds of species of animals which are pretty imaginatively displayed – you can dreamily roam through tunnels of butterflies or squeeze through transparent passages underneath the enclosures as you circumnavigate the world from the deserts of Africa to the Brazilian Rainforest. Top enclosure picks include the Galapagos Turtles and of course, the penguins. If you like the idea of sipping a gin and tonic whilst trying to keep up with the Zoo's mischievous monkeys, book yourself a ticket to Zoo Lates – a summertime treat for adults only in which the zoo stays open till 10pm and you get spoiled by a wide selection of bars, bbqs, face painting, silent discos and of course the animals themselves (though they only take place on Friday evenings during the summer months).
