WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre re-opens on 12 April 2021

Locals in Gloucestershire will soon be able to find solace from the latest lockdown by getting out into the hundreds of acres of beautiful wetland nature at WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre which re-opens on Monday 12 April. 

Online tickets will be available a week in advance on Tuesday 6 April on Slimbridge’s website. To keep everyone safe and socially distanced, Slimbridge is managing numbers by asking every person who visits to pre-book their tickets, including those who visit for free such as members, children under four and carers.

Visitors can look forward to roaming around the outdoor areas of the centre, families will enjoy visiting the play areas and seeing a range of wildlife including flamingos, kingfishers and harvest mice. Avid birdwatchers will be allowed to visit the twelve bird hides that are dotted around the site. There will be some restrictions with limited capacity in hides and some indoor facilities closed. Kiosks will be open for takeaway drinks and snacks and the gift shop will be open for visitors to browse a range of gifts. Over the coming months there will be some new experiences for visitors to enjoy, include the new family-friendly ‘Wetland Heroes’ app which launches in time for opening.

Gary Haseley-Nejrup, Centre manager at WWT Slimbridge says; “We cannot wait to welcome everyone back to our stunning wetlands which are currently bursting with spring wildlife delights such as kingfishers, avocets and warblers. We’ve hugely missed our visitors. And we think our animals may well be looking forward to seeing some new faces!

As a conservation charity, we are incredibly grateful for the public’s support through these challenging times, it has meant the world to us.  Thanks to local peoples’ and supporters’ generosity we have been able to carry on caring for our wildlife and our wetlands even when we’ve been closed.  Re-opening Slimbridge on 12 April feels like a significant milestone towards a more secure future, and a brilliant way to thank everyone for sticking by us.”

To keep everyone safe, there will be daily limits on the number of visitors to Slimbridge. The centre is asking people to check back if they find the day they want to visit is fully booked, as they regularly review the situation and will increase booking capacity wherever it is safe to do so.