DAYS OUT: London Zoo in winter

Many people will think of London Zoo as purely a summer attraction – the threat of the cold and rain putting them off a day in Regent’s Park.

But when we visited our favourite capital attraction in late January we found that even on the coldest of days, its pull is just as strong.

One of our daughter’s latest school projects is on rainforest animals, and while sadly a flight to Brazil was not an option, we soon realised that there is a rainforest of our own right here in London – at the zoo.

We left Rainforest Life, one of the zoo’s latest exhibits, with a scrapbook full of notes and pictures of Amazon animals – including sloths and blue poison dart frogs, which impressed the teachers, and moved on to enjoy a fun afternoon exploring the rest of the zoo.

While a stay at Land of the Lions, where you can sleep the night in a hut next to the roaring beasts in a recreation of the Gir Forest National Park in Gujarat, India might be a bit chilly in January, there is so much more to do, both inside and out, to keep you warm in the winter months.

The joy of London Zoo, as well as the fact that it is a fantastic wildlife research and educational facility, is that it is ever evolving.

New exhibits include not only Rainforest Life and Land of the Lions, but also In with the Spiders, where you can literally walk with spiders, and Butterfly Paradise, another immersive experience – just make sure you’ve brushed yourself down before you leave.

Traditional favourites such as the Reptile House provide further shelter from the weather, should the worst of the winter strike.

All in all London Zoo is the perfect day out, rain or shine and, as we found, as popular with the tourists in January as it is in July.