The four drive-through reserves
You drive yourself past rhino, zebra, lions and camels, windows shut for the lions and monkeys.
Marmoset1000 at en.wikipedia — Public domain · marsupium photography — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Sahaib3005 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sahaib3005 — CC BY-SA 4.0
A rhino ambles past your wing mirror in the green Scottish countryside while Barbary macaques sit on the bonnet fiddling with the wipers: this is Blair Drummond, Scotland's only safari park, open since 1970 on an old estate about ten kilometres west of Stirling. The idea is simple and unlike any zoo: you drive your own car slowly through four reserves, one of zebra, kudu and white rhino, one of lions, one of Asian deer and camels, and one of Barbary macaques. Windows stay shut in the lion and monkey enclosures, the loop takes about half an hour, and children in the back seat get the best half hour of their holiday. Then you park and carry on by foot: elephants and giraffes, with a glass window at giraffe eye level, Lemur Land, a riverside path to the viewing point for Chimp Island - the old boat trip stopped running years ago, so you now watch the troop from the bank - daily sea-lion and bird-of-prey displays, a Dinosaur Forest of more than twenty life-size models, an adventure playground, a little railway and a few modest fairground rides. The site is flat with paved paths, so a pushchair is no trouble, and picnic areas are everywhere; most families bring their own food, because the catering inside is ordinary and not halal-aware. You need a car, which suits most Gulf visitors who hire one in Scotland: from central Stirling it is roughly fifteen minutes along the A84 towards Doune and Callander, from Glasgow or Edinburgh about an hour, and the park is clearly signposted off junction 10 of the M9, with a large car park at the gate. Direct buses run several times a day from Stirling bus station and from Buchanan Street in Glasgow, but without a car you miss the four reserves that are the whole point. Tickets are sold online only for a chosen date, with nothing on sale at the gate, and weekends and the July-August school holidays regularly sell out, so book ahead. The park is seasonal: it usually runs from mid-March to the end of December and closes for the rest of the winter, so check the calendar for any visit outside summer. Allow a full half-day; early morning is quieter and the animals are livelier.
You drive yourself past rhino, zebra, lions and camels, windows shut for the lions and monkeys.
The bit children remember: monkeys climbing the car, tugging the wipers and staring in through the glass.
A riverside path looks across to the chimps on their island, alongside the elephants, giraffes and the sea-lion and bird-of-prey displays.
Blair Drummond, Stirling FK9 4UR
Yes, if you have children and a car, because the experience is different: you drive among the animals instead of looking at them over a fence. Without children or without a car, Edinburgh Zoo is richer and easier to reach, and Blair Drummond can be skipped.
Direct buses run from Stirling bus station and from Glasgow, and you can see the whole walk-round section, but you lose the four drive-through reserves that are the reason to come. Hire a car for the day, or contact the park before booking to ask what it offers visitors arriving without one.