I love March. Everything seems to wake up after months in the doldrums. Daffodils spring up everywhere to brighten up even the dullest day! 

To enjoy the sense of renewal, what’s better than to revisit the Longleat estate, a memorable place I visited with my late sister on a coach trip decades ago!

I still felt the same buzz as my partner and I approached the entrance to the vast landscaped grounds with the magnificent house as a backdrop.

The Longleat Estate

The Longleat estate has an illustrious history. The house was built in the 1500’s. It’s the first one to be open to the public in 1949. When opened in 1966, Longleat’s was the world’s first drive-through safari park outside Africa.

Longleat House

The house is still occupied by Lord Weymouth and his family. I was not particularly interested in a tour of the house as the plush interiors of stately homes look more or less the same. The exteriors of the house were as magnificent as I remembered 

The lion symbol is seen everywhere at Longleat because the African lions were the first to arrive when the safari park was first opened

The day ticket is £39.50 per person for the off-peak period from 3 February to 28 March, £42.95 from 29 March to 3 November. It‘s not cheap, but it’s amazing how much could be packed in from 10.00 to 17.00. As we visited on a weekday in March, we had the benefit of the early spring weather but not the massive crowd. 

Jungle Cruise

This was the main attraction for me as it did not exist when I last visited Longleat. There tends to be a long queue for the boat safari, so we headed straight towards the pier first.

As it turned out we were the first ones there for the first trip of the day at 10.15. Two other people completed our “private tour” around the lake. By the time we returned to the pier there was a queue of people waiting to get on!

These Californian sea lions followed the boat around. When they were being fed, they leapt right out of the water

Longleat attractions

There’re many cute animals and creatures on the grounds. Here are my favourites – the red pandas, koala sleeping on a branch and the colourful Rainbow Lorikeets that look like stuffed toys! 

Drive Through Safari experience

I am not particularly interested in animals. The drive-through was however quite an experience. It’s rather exhilarating seeing wild animals in the open, though they sometimes wandered dangerously near! We took the escape route to bypass the pesky monkeys of which we have seen enough in Hong Kong! 

Home Farm Boreham

We stayed a couple nights at this homely cosy Bed & Breakfast not far from Longleat. After a long day at Longleat it’s great not to have to drive back home at dusk. The bonus was that we were greeted with a cup of tea and a piece of home-made cake on arrival. Now, that’s hospitality!

Here’s a photo to remember the memorable trip by!