Animal Collections and Day Trips 2012

adrian1963

adrian1963

Well-Known Member
I have spent the last few days going through coach trips so as I can plan my year trips and unfortunately it looks like Chester Zoo is out for this year as out of 27 coach firms who run day trips and ALL used to go to Chester over the last few years not one this year.

When I enquired as to why no Chester Zoo day trips the simple answer was it’s not worth running any, I did have a problem last year but in the end ONE local firm run a trip but they said it was a massive loss making trip so will not run one this year.

The coach companies I have got this years day trips for have the following day trips for animal collections on their rota.

(Number in brackets show how many firms are running trips to that collection)

West Midlands Safari Park (27)
Drayton Manor Park and Zoo (27)
London (15)
Twycross Zoo (15)
Bristol Zoo (10)
Blackpool Zoo (10)
Longleat Safari Park and House (10)
Monkey World (8)
Birdland and Gardens (7)
Edinburgh (6)
Paignton (6)
Newquay (5)
Yorkshire Wildlife Park (3)
Colchester Zoo (3)

I am quite stunned to think Our number one zoo is not on any of these coaches day trips and yet the WMSP & Drayton Manor are on everybody’s myself I would much rather go to Chester Zoo then the WMSP or Drayton Manor but unfortunatly will not be visiting this year now.

Could this be a sign of things to come or is it just a one year thing as we could be going back into recession will people really start looking at what to spend their money on more so this time round and some of the bigger zoo’s could suffer with a down turn of funds coming from the visiting public.

People on one of the photography site I am a member of are also surprised but one member as said that the reason could be other zoos and animal collections are offering better rates to get the coach companies to go to their collections what do you think.

Will zoos survive if they don’t offer better rates for block bookings just to get visitors through the gates?
 
I assume you don't drive as hiring a car would be much more straight forward :p

However, have a look on National Rail Enquiries website (or other train operating company websites), I am sure you could get a train to Chester station fairly easily from one of your local stations and a bus to the zoo from Chester town centre is a doddle as the park-and-ride goes to and from the zoo car park all day. It will probably be quicker than a coach too, good luck with it.
 
Pootle said:
I assume you don't drive as hiring a car would be much more straight forward :p

However, have a look on National Rail Enquiries website (or other train operating company websites), I am sure you could get a train to Chester station fairly easily from one of your local stations and a bus to the zoo from Chester town centre is a doddle as the park-and-ride goes to and from the zoo car park all day. It will probably be quicker than a coach too, good luck with it.
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As Pootle says, just take the Rail Link bus (note: they now charge a £1 each way for this, it was free until November) from Chester station into town, less than five minutes walk to the bus station. You need to the catch the Number 1 and that will take you to the zoo's main entrance. Same rountine going back
 
Or get the train to Bache station (on the Wirral line from Liverpool-Chester, one stop from Chester) and get the Number 1 bus from there, which I've always found easier than trying to track down the right bus stop in Chester itself. :)
 
it's worth asking Chester Zoo themselves as in the high season they actually put on a hopper bus that collects and drops people off from the station to the zoo - door to door.
they offer a combined zoo/train ticket to make it a bit cheaper too.
 
karoocheetah said:
it's worth asking Chester Zoo themselves as in the high season they actually put on a hopper bus that collects and drops people off from the station to the zoo - door to door.
they offer a combined zoo/train ticket to make it a bit cheaper too.
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I don't think it ran last year.
 
Karrocheetah I was talking about the hopper, sorry for confusing you.

The cheapest train fare I can find is

Birmingham New Street to Wrexham £15.30 and Wrexham to Chester £5.10. This is Saturday prices, restrictions apply in the week.

Do not use the train via Stafford, it is in excess of £30.

You may get a cheaper fare if you book in advance.
 
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This may seem odd but does anybody know just how long it'd take from New Street to Chester? Would it be feasible with 2 easily bored young children in tow? Thanks in advance for any information! :)
 
Brum said:
This may seem odd but does anybody know just how long it'd take from New Street to Chester? Would it be feasible with 2 easily bored young children in tow? Thanks in advance for any information! :)
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1 hour 55 minutes via Shrewsbury on a through train.

2 hours and 20 minutes with a change at Crewe.
 
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