Colchester Things to Do

Colchester Zoo has some of the best cat and primate collections in Europe. See a White tiger eye to eye in White Tiger Valley, or get closer to the Zoo's Chimpanzees at Chimp World.
Other award winning enclosures include Penguin Shores for the breeding group of Humboldt's Penguins, Serengeti Plains for African lions and Kingdom of the Wild for giraffes, rhinos and Pygmy Hippos.
If you haven't been to Colchester Zoo for a while you would hardly recognise the place, in the last few years we have added several new attractions, there's more facilities, new enclosures, interactive discovery centres, undercover picnic areas and new shops.

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You will not be disappointed with a visit to this lovely zoo. They really do give their animals the best habitat possible. Each time I go back, I can see where the money has been spent.

There are a lot more picnic tables and benches to sit and relax on(update 2009) and there are plants and shrubs everywhere, and this time I went (April 2009, ) the spring flowers were in bloom.

I will upload a travelogue of the zoo to show you the habitats of many of the animals. Since I last visited, the Orang Utan enclosure has been finished, it has been a long time in the construction and completion, and the sole inhabitant has a huge outdoor area, as well as a large indoor area for him to stay in. The surrounding area of his enclosure has tree roots etc., that were dug out for the constuction, featured in a small garden area. I have taken photo's of this since is shows just how much Colchester Zoo is into conservation.

If you book online there are savings for adult, child, concessions for pensioners etc., and you can print your ticket on line, thus saving waiting in a queue to pay as you go straight to the turnstile. There are also gold cards which will enable you go to as many times as you wish during the yearly period purchased. Please log onto their website for all the information regarding, times, prices, birthday parties, special days, adopt an animal, be with a keeper for a day etc. etc.

Please look at the travelogue to see this lovely little zoo.

As a city destination for a history vulture, a day trip or weekener to Colchester is worth investigating. It has the longest recorded history of any town in England. Even the historian Tacitus makes mention of it (he would have been great as a VT member). Roman remains therefore abound, although the most important 'must see' is the Norman Castle. Like all things in Colchester it resembles an onion or perhaps a set of Russian dolls in that there are any number a layers to uncover. The castle is built on Roman foundations and has many later additions.

The town is also noted for is prosperity during the wool boom of the middle ages and its architectural prowess in the Victorian era. Much of this survived an earthquake (I promise I'm not making that up).

Also has a well respected zoo.

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If you walk behind the castle and either down the path, or up on the grass slope, you can see the beautifully laid out gardens in the park.

The best view, and the views which I photographed, were from the grass mound behind the castle.

I have had to take 3/4 photographs as the layout is so wide you could not get it all in one frame. So the photographs are shown in order from left to right.

It is perhaps wise to start your visit to Colchester by visiting the Tourist Office. They have many leaflets, helpful staff, maps of the town, and books to purchase regarding the surrounding area and counties.

The Tourist Office is fully carpeted, well laid out, plenty of space to move around,souvenirs and postcards to buy.

After closing hours, there is a tv screen in the front window that you press by hand for information on where to stay etc. This gives phone number, locations, post codes for those visitors with Sat Navs.

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Visit the Castle or just walk around and take pictures if you are pressed for time.

These are the beautiful gates at the entrance to the Castle Park and the Castle itself. On either side of the gates inside the park there are beautiful floral beds, and the 2nd photograph shows a floral display with the name Castle Park in foliage.

The Castle has a facinating history, so please click onto the link below and read about it. There are various links to other museums too, but the History of the castle is the most important link.

The Castle was first opened to the public as a museum in 1860.



Oepning times all year round.
Mon - Sat 10am - 5pm
Sun 11am - 5pm

Admission - 2008 prices
Adult £5.20
Child 5 - 15 £3.40
Under 5 Free
Retired and
concessions £3.40
Saver ticket - two adults and any two concessions, or one plus three - £13.90

Group Rate - Adult £4.70 children £3.10 (applies to groups of 20 or more)
group booking - 01206 282937

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The Town Hall in Colchester is a magnificent building, unfortunately I could not get the whole of the building with the clock tower in the same frame, so I took various snapshots of it. Still a beautiful building to see though.

The Town Hall was designed by John Belcher , 1898 - 1902

The tour lets you explore more of the building itself, with very useful info from the guide. (We were lucky enough to have a guide all to ourselves, but the fun of wandering around "behind the scenes" is worth it even in a larger group.) The guide takes you down into the foundations of the castle to show and explain the evolution of the building from a Roman temple to a medieval fortresss, and its 18th century restoration. The climb up the large spiral staircase to the roof is fun in itself, as you check out the historical grafitti. And the views of the city from the roof are charming; with the very helpful commentary by the guide, it becomes a mini-overview tour of the city!