Christmas in my adult life has been a time of year I have always felt was a bit of a let-down. I think that came from not being able to divide myself in two which left me feeling like I always let someone down on the day by not seeing them, or just generally because the magic wasn’t there anymore. That said, everything changed once I had my own kids!
Every year I look forward to Christmas now – the magic is back! From buying the tree and decorating it as a family (even if do rearrange the placement of decorations the kids have done once they’re in bed!), through to seeing their faces light up when we visit Santa, it is the by far my favourite time of year.
And where better to visit Santa that Longleat Safari Park?
This year was our second visit to go on the Santa train to visit Santa. Not only that, but we also got to drive through the Safari Park followed by walking around the incredible Festival of Lights. Honestly it is one of the best days we spend together as a family and with close friends every year.
The Wonderland where you visit Santa is magical and complete with ‘snow’ and woodland animals which light up in the evening to give a true wintery festive feeling, and of course there's also a glorious Christmas tree!
Santa is naturally very friendly and welcoming and the kids are lucky enough to get a gift during their visit too which always keeps them entertained at lunch afterwards!
The Safari – if you haven’t been before – is great fun too. From Flamingos through to Wild Cats there are incredible animals to see, and the kids loved getting to see them from the confines of the car but up close! Just watch out for the monkeys…..we were complacent about their cheeky antics after our first visit where they did nothing to car, yet this time they decided various bits of our car were fair game for them!
Last but certainly not least was the Festival of Lights which was themed Myths and Legends this year.
The lights switch on at 4pm & Longleat transforms into another world. It is truly beautiful when everywhere you look is lit up by stunning lanterns in the chosen theme. We always conclude our day at Longleat by watching the Festive light display on the giant Christmas tree complete with Christmas music…nothing gets you in the Christmas spirit quite like that!!!
There are so many other parts to Longleat to entertain the kids too, such as:
Adventure Playgrounds
Rides
Soft Play
Bat Cave where you walk through with bats flying free
Feeding some animals
A maze
All in all, this is a great day out which we will do again next year and would thoroughly recommend. Please do sign up if you would like any more information.