Chessington World of Adventures

Chessington Zoo has been open since 1930, however Chessington the theme park opened in 1987 and continues to grow in popularity each year, currently attracting around 1.3 million people annually. It is the 20th most popular adventure park in Europe and is owned by the people behind Thorpe Park and Legoland in Windsor. Chessington offers nine different themed areas, a zoo and a sea life centre, children and adults alike can wander through the mock temples of Wild Asia, travel on the Mexican runaway train and sail on boat rides through the Far East, while the younger visitors have Toytown, with crazy cars, a carousel and toy trucks. The zoo has amphibians, a monkey garden, penguins and sealion presentations, as well as gorillas, lions and a series of creepy caves with snakes and iguanas designed to spook visitors young and old. Each area has a restaurant serving food to suit the theme or a fast food outlet in the vein of Burger King. There is even a safari-themed hotel on the premises for those wanting to stay for more than a day, complete with swimming pool, spa and restaurant.