Drusillas is a small zoo — about ten acres — near Alfriston, ten kilometres north-west of Eastbourne, and it draws somewhere between 350,000 and 370,000 visitors a year, which for a site that size makes it one of the most efficiently used attractions in the south-east.
It manages that by being unambiguously designed for children under about ten, and by doing that job better than larger zoos that are trying to be several things at once.
The animal collection is small-species: meerkats, otters, penguins, monkeys, lemurs, sloths, bats, reptiles, red pandas, capybara, and a farm section. There are no elephants, no big cats and nothing that requires a hundred-acre paddock — the collection is chosen to be visible at child height.
The route is a one-way system, which sounds bureaucratic and is in practice the single best thing about the place: with small children you cannot lose anyone, you cannot miss anything, and you do not have to navigate.
Enclosures are at low level with viewing panels, tunnels and pop-up domes, and the animals are consistently reported as well kept and the enclosures clean — a point that comes up in visitor accounts repeatedly and across seasons.
Play areas that are genuinely large — bigger, proportionally, than the zoo. Climbing, slides and adventure play across several age bands.
A splash zone for hot days; bring swimwear and a towel between roughly May and September.
Rides — a small train, a few fairground-scale rides suitable for adults accompanying children.
Amazon Adventure, an indoor play building, which makes the site workable in rain.
Hello Kitty themed area — Europe’s first, until December 2021, when the licence ended and the area was rethemed.
A farm section, recently rebuilt and interactive.
Two gift shops and several food outlets.
It is not cheap. For a family it is a full-price day out, and the sensible move is to book online in advance, where prices are lower, and to plan a full day rather than a half — the play areas are what turn it into value.
Age range: it is at its best from toddlers to about ten. Older children will enjoy the play areas but the animals will not hold them.
Busy in school holidays and at weekends; arrive at opening.
Time: a full day. Most families stay four to six hours.
Booking: online in advance, both for price and for capacity.
Facilities: cafés, picnic areas, baby-changing, buggy hire.
Parking: free and large.
Access: the one-way route is largely level and surfaced.
Getting there: on the A27 near Berwick, about twenty minutes from Eastbourne. Berwick station is a short walk away, on the Eastbourne–Lewes line, which makes it one of the few zoos in England you can reach comfortably by train.
Alfriston, three kilometres away, is one of the prettiest villages in Sussex, with the National Trust’s Clergy House.
Cuckmere Haven and the Seven Sisters Country Park are ten minutes further on.
Toddlers to about ten. The whole site is built at child scale.
A full day — four to six hours is typical, because of the play areas as much as the animals.
It is a full-price family day out. Book online in advance for lower prices.
Yes — Berwick station on the Eastbourne–Lewes line is a short walk away.
Yes, the indoor play building and the indoor animal houses. It works in rain better than most zoos.