Last week my family and I went on holiday down south. We started in Fareham staying with my brother and then travelled to Paignton to see my nana. Before our trip I researched places to visit and things to do near Paignton and found Torquay’s Dinosaur World on the Visit South Devon website and thought it would make a great trip as both boys love dinosaurs but especially the tiddler. You can read our full review below.
What is Torquay’s Dinosaur World?
Torquay’s Dinosaur World is a fun and interactive indoor dinosaur and fossil exhibition. It is suitable for all ages, although I wouldn’t recommend taking pram.
It is situated close to the waters front and within walking distance to a number of car parks, making it a great addition to any trip to Torquay.
What to expect at Torquay’s Dinosaur World
When we arrived we were greeted by the owner who clearly loves his job and has a passion for the business he runs which instantly rubbed off on us making us even more excited to start our tour. We were given a quiz sheet to complete on the way round and told to look out for the interactive stations and to get stuck in. There is a clear start and finish and you follow it round from one area to the next.
As soon as you get started you are greeted by some great big and very well detailed models of dinosaurs. The tiddler loved and them and he also loved the fact that they are surrounded by facts, figures and fascinating information that me and the big’un loved reading out loud to him and also seeing if they answered any of our questions.
Torquay’s Dinosaur World has a bit of a museum feel to it however the big difference is that as we wandered around we were actually encouraged to stop take photographs next to the different dinosaurs and to sit on others and get all hands on and dramatic for our snaps instead.
Which pleased the kids no end.
The next area we entered was a replica of one of the most famous scenes from Jurassic Park which the big’un recognised immediately and the tiddler pretended he did too!
From there we went upstairs and were invited to dig for fossils, taking us from film stars to palaeontologists in a matter of minutes, learning as went.
Upstairs, as well as uncovering fossils there was also the opportunity to get creative in the art room where we all drew some dinosaurs of our own, measure ourselves against a life size dinosaur bone and touch some real dinosaur poo!
As we ended the tour our quiz sheets were marked by staff and the teacher in me started to get nervous incase we had failed! But thankfully our research skills had been great and we scored a pretty impressive 100% meaning the boys got a dinosaur expert certificate which they were both pretty proud of.
Our review of Torquay’s Dinosaur World
Overall Torquay’s Dinosaur World was a fantastic afternoon activity for our whole family. We went as a 4 generational family, ranging in age from my nana at 70 to the tiddler at 5 and we all found something we enjoyed and learnt lots of new things about dinosaurs and fossils. It was a fascinating experience and the interactive areas made learning fun. It was one of very few indoor attractions for families near Torquay so if you are looking for something do in inside, or in bad weather I would highly recommend heading here.
Things to know
If you are planning on paying Torquay’s Dinosaur World a visit I would say that you need to have about 2 hours to really enjoy this attraction but if pushed for time you could get round quicker and likewise you could stay a bit longer if you wanted to but ideally I would recommend allowing a 2 hour slot.
The cost of a ticket is £5.95 which I think is really good value for money and the gift shop also has a range of products varying in price with many items being what I would call, pocket money gifts. However in order to leave the attraction you do have to walk through the gift shop, which is always ne of my pet hates.
If you are looking for other ideas for days out near Torquay then we can recommend Living Coasts which is walking distance from dinosaur world as well as the stream train ride with the South Devon Railway and Pennywell farm which is a little further away.
If you are a fan of Dinosaur related days out then check out this comprehensive list of roarsome dinosaur parks in the UK by Mum On A Budget.
(Thankyou to Torquay’s dinosaur world and visit south Devon who gifted us the tickets in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.)