Longleat – part 2

From the point of view of convenience for returning to Longleat on Sunday, Longleat campsite was not so convenient.  To walk back to the estate would have taken about 5 minutes.  You can see the car park from the entrance to the campsite.  To get there in the van however, was a long and circuitous drive through country lanes which took nearly 20 minutes!

Nevertheless we eventually arrived back at the Longleat estate and proceeded to enjoy the indoor activities.  These included the mirror maze, Animal Adventure, Old Joe's Mine, a simulator ride, the State Chariot and Longleat House.  In fact the weather was mostly dry despite the horrendous rain of the previous night but we were happy to continue with the indoor activities.

The mirror maze was fun.  It was actually quite tricky to find King Arthur's sword Excalibur.  I don't think I would have spotted it if my clever son Richard had not sussed out how to find it.

The simulator was okay – not the most interesting I have been on.

We almost didn't bother with Old Joe's Mine because it looked like some gimmicky tourist thing.  We were so glad we did.  The 'mine' is where they keep a colony of bats and is a low light area.  It was fantastic being among the bats and having them flying around you.  We could get up really close to them whenever they settled.  The young keeper in there was most knowledgeable about the bats and we stayed talking to him and asking questions for quite some time.  This turned out to be one of the highlights of the day.  The photo is a little fuzzy because you are not allowed to use a flash in there and the bats generally didn't stay still for very long.

On the Saturday we had sampled 'safari burgers' for lunch and they were a great disappointment.  Expensive and not very good.  On Sunday we discovered the Cellars Café and this was fantastic.  Great food, reasonable prices and a pleasant setting.  Highly recommended.

The tour of Longleat House was also wonderful.  It is a beautifully maintained and decorated house.  We were quite unprepared for the extent of its splendours – artwork, furniture, the ceilings are amazing, costume exhibits, books, silverware.  I was totally engrossed.  Unfortunately we were not able to view Lord Bath's murals which was a shame.

We finished our weekend with Animal Adventure.  This is an area with small animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs and more exotic animals such as porcupines.  It is aimed at younger children I would say.  There is also a butterfly area – although they were quite difficult to find. 

There was the opportunity to hold a snake and a tarantula.  I would have quite liked to have held the snake but there was a queue to do this and I was really tired by then and couldn't face standing around.  Dan and I went to find somewhere to sit, but Richard and 'ö-Dzin waited and did get close up and friendly with the snake and the spider.  Thank you to Richard for the photographs on today's posting.

Longleat is a great attraction.  The passport ticket is expensive but you get a lot for your money.  I don't think it would be worth it for one day, but if you can spread your visit over two days then I would say it is reasonable value.