We often get asked what are the best Things to do in Normandy for Children. The simple answer is there are hundreds, if not thousands of fantastic things so as many of our smaller guests are Animal Crackers this week’s blog focuses on All Creatures Great and Small in Normandy.
Naturospace’s Equatorial Zoo in Honfleur
We’ll start with some of the smallest and explore the amazing Naturospace’s equatorial zoo in Honfleur.
The Naturospace is a zoo unlike any other as you’ll wander a 218-yard footpath, inside a covered and air-conditioned 11,000 ft² space.
You’ll start off in the screening room and watch a new short documentary recounting the life of butterflies: ‘metamorphosis papilionum’,featuring magnificent slow motion sequences shot at 2000 frames per second.The Naturospace Gift ShopTo keep a lasting souvenir of this faraway journey, the Naturospace Gift Shop offers a variety of items related to travel, exoticism and discovery.
You’ll be mesmerised by all the butterflies flying freely amongst rare trees and equatorial flowers, you’ll be transported to the tropical atmosphere as within the Naturospace the temperatures ranges between 25 and 28 degrees Celsius with mist and tropical rain. This indoor, climate controlled space sets you off on a stunning journey with unforgettable moments filled with wonder as you glimpse the beautiful butterflies originating from the Philippines, Malaysia, Costa Rica, Columbia, Tanzania or Madagascar.
They may be small in size but they’re huge in charm and variety.
How many different types will you count?
You’ll also be treated to a forest full of exotic birds –
Nearly a dozen different and unusual species can also be observed at the Naturospace, such as:
• Tricoloured parrotfinches in, as their name indicates, three colours: green, blue and red.
• The southern crowned pigeon, a large terrestrial pigeon sporting an impressive crest of lacy feathers,
• Small, playful and talkative multicoloured parrot species native to the Pacific islands: Swainson’s lorikeets or rainbow lorikeets and chattering lories.
• Small, fun-looking partridges with metallic-coloured plumage from the dense tropical rainforests of Asia and crested partridges .
• A pair of small, colourful, adorable and rare tropical pink-headed fruit doves.
And not only are there butterflies and birds, you’ll also discover some special fish – in the pond amongst the trees you’ll find a pond with Koi Carp.
Children will love to feed them with the granules available at the Shop.
At the end of your journey you can visit the Naturospace Gift Shop to keep a lasting souvenir of this faraway journey, the shop offers a variety of items related to travel, exoticism and discovery. https://honfleur-normandy.naturospace.com/about-tropical-butterfly-house/butterflies/
Watch this charming video to give you a peep https://youtu.be/5h3lyoj6qn4
Mini Animals
Just 11 minutes from Le Pressoir is Alpaga Normandie Miniature Animals. This lovely Alpaca farm has other miniature animals that you can meet: alpacas, donkeys, miniature horses (falabellas), goats, chickens, sheep, etc.
You’ can meet the animals and’ll be charmed by their sweet characters.
One-and-a-half-hour guided tour can be booked on site and guided walks (beach or countryside) with alpacas can be booked by email – contact@alpaganormandie.com
Small, Medium and Large Animals
Cerza Zoo & Safari
Discover 120 species from the 5 continents through 2 walking tours and observe the animals in natural conditions. Here, everything has been designed for the welfare of animals.
The park also offers attractions for young and old alike: The Safari Train takes you to photograph wild animals, the 3D-relief cinema invites you to an extraordinary trip, the Mini Farm allows you to touch and feed the smaller members of the zoo’s residents and the Tropical Space is where you’ll discover reptiles, fish and amphibians in a tropical environment.
We had a small guest who absolutely loves Red Pandas and so we told her parents that they had some at Cerza, not only did she get to see some in real life, she was able to buy a soft toy version in the shop to take home!
Check out all the spaces, videos and info here – https://www.cerza.com/decouvrez-cerza/
And if you go deep, deep down, you’ll discover the smallest of them all…. in fact they’re infinitesimally small – Plankton!
Underwater animals
We highly recommend a trip to La Cité de la Mer to experience a brand new adventure ‘The Ocean of the Future’.
Over 3 floors of spectacular multimedia displays, discover the Ocean, the last wild region of the planet. During your family trip, you’ll marvel at 17 stunning aquariums full of life and colour, especially the abyssal aquarium which is 11 metres deep. We absolutely loved it.
With the kids, you’ll all share incredible moments of wondering together thanks to large glass screens displaying dolphins, sharks and whales… You will also be surprised by the mysterious world of the infinitesimally small: Plankton ! Did you know that plankton is the source of 50% of the oxygen on the planet?
From the surface to the bottom of the sea, the new exhibition reveals our blue planet and it’s promises. A world we need to protect now!
Take a look – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rchjRbPl0FM
And it’s not just for the kids – there’s plenty to interest the grown ups, from a nuclear submarine to various wild and mysterious sea based craft. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6Gj61DgDgc
Animal neighbours
And within a few steps of Le Pressoir you can see our neighbours miniature donkeys (they’re super cute) and wander further down the lane and you’ll come to a small river where if you stand awhile you’ll probably see the wild Coupu.
What is a Coupu?
Coypu are native to South America and were originally introduced to France and the UK for their fur. Thankfully those days are long gone but they have remained in the wild around us.
They have webbed rear feet and orange coloured front teeth. They are semi aquatic rodents who feast on vegetation and burrow into river banks.
Just up from the river is our neighbour’s stud farm so you’ll often see the beautiful young foals in the fields with their mums.
And not forgetting our two animal crackers – Cooper & Chilli.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our roundup of our animal themed Things to Do for children in Normandy – if you have any suggestions of your own, we’d love to hear them.