What are the opening hours?

Monday 9:30am - 4pm Tuesday 9:30am - 4pm Wednesday 9:30am - 4pm Thursday 9:30am - 4pm Friday 9:30am - 4pm Saturday 9:30am - 4pm Sunday 9:30am - 4pm

The Living Rainforest

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The Living Rainforest

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See amazing rainforest plants & animals year-round at our indoor visitor centre in West Berkshire
(charity number: 1085057)

At the Living Rainforest, visitors can experience a living tropical rainforest ecosystem and see over 900 species of unusual plants and animals in three glasshouses. On site, we also have a cafe, shop, outside patio and play area so you can make the most of your visit. Our award-winning school visits programme is very popular and, every year, we welcome around 25,000 schoolchildren and teachers on guided tours.

28/10/2026

Poisons and Potions Pt. IV
Dieffenbachia

Today, it’s time to delve into the horrendous history of one of the most shocking plant stories in the rainforest, that of leopards lily, or ‘dumb cane’.

27/10/2026

Phil asked us to share her Halloween portrait. We have some notes 🧹👉

Never one to miss a trend, Phil insisted on a glamorous photo. She may have exaggerated slightly.

In real life, Phil is a brilliant climber. No broomstick required.

Come and meet the real Phil (no hat) at The Living Rainforest this half term.

26/10/2026

Chilly half term? It’s warm and tropical in here! 🌴🎃

Our spooky half term fun is in full swing, and we had a cauldron-full of little witches and wizards in today! Here’s what’s on until Friday 30 October, all included in your ticket:

🧙 Potion making at the Rainforest Apothecary
👃 Guess the rainforest smell
🪲 Bug tasting… if you dare!
🐾 Animal feeds (today’s crowd loved watching Harry the armadillo tuck in!)
🎨 Spooky pastel silhouettes, plus Halloween colouring of Cinnamon, Edwin and Rio
💀 Poisons & Potions trail with colouring competition! (booklets £1.50)

Grab a hot coffee in our café while the kids get crafty ☕ And don’t miss our shop, packed with pocket-money treasures like these sparkly crystals! 💎🛍️

🖍️ Check the chalkboard on arrival for each day’s timings.

✨ Every ticket is an annual pass, so you can come back for free for a whole year.

🎟️ Book here: https://livingrainforest.org/booking-information

23/10/2026

Wolf was asked to assess the situation. She did not assess the situation.

Come and see her!

Cold and rainy out there? It’s toasty warm in here 🌴

🎟️ Book your visit: https://livingrainforest.org/booking-information

23/10/2026

Wolf was asked to assess the situation. She did not assess the situation.

Come and see her!

Cold and rainy out there? It’s toasty warm in here 🌴

🎟️ Book via link in our bio

21/10/2026

🌧️ Rainy half term? It's warm and tropical in here 🌴 Spooky family fun starts Fri 23 Oct!

🦥🥕 Cinnamon's already fuelling up… are you ready?

Join us on Fri 23 Oct (perfect for a cold, wet INSET day!) and again Mon 26 – Fri 30 Oct, all included in your ticket:
🧙 Potion making at the Rainforest Apothecary (mornings)
🪲 Bug tasting at lunchtime
🐒 Animal feeds
🎨 Spooky crafts
🖍️ Check the chalkboard on arrival for each day's timings

And every ticket is an annual pass, so you can come back for free all year.

🎟️ Book now: https://livingrainforest.org/booking-information

21/10/2026

Happy Reptile Awareness Day! 🦎🐍🐊

We’re celebrating some of the remarkable reptiles who call The Living Rainforest home:

🦎 Our green iguana: look closely and you’ll spot loose skin on its back. Unlike snakes, iguanas shed their skin in patches rather than all in one go. We think that cheeky grin says it all: Reptile Awareness Day is a big day here!

🐍 Our emerald tree boa spends its life coiled on branches, resting its head in the middle of its loops. Surprisingly, these snakes are born red or orange and only turn green as they grow.

🐊 Our Cuvier’s dwarf caiman is one of the smallest members of the crocodile family, but still has plenty of attitude!

🦎 Our Philippine water monitor is a strong swimmer and a very curious lizard. She's so much fun to watch!

Many reptile species are threatened by habitat loss, especially in rainforests. Come and meet ours and discover more about the forests they come from.

Which one would you most like to meet?

20/10/2026

🦥 Happy International Sloth Day! 🦥

Did you know a sloth can be home to a whole ecosystem? Sloth fur has evolved to hold moisture, so algae, fungi, moths and beetles can all live in it. The algae gives some sloths a green tint that helps them blend into the canopy. And because sloths move so slowly, predators like harpy eagles and jaguars have a hard time spotting them.

Our free-roaming two-toed sloth Cinnamon is a bit cleaner than her wild cousins! Two-toed sloths have silkier fur that holds less moisture, so it doesn't turn as green. Rafe explains all in the video 👇

👀 Come and meet Cinnamon! She roams freely through our rainforest, so look up and you might find her right above the path. Follow our "Cinnamon was last seen here" sign.

🎟️ Plan your visit: livingrainforest.org

The Living Rainforest is run by the Trust for Sustainable Living, an education charity.

16/10/2026

🎃 Half term starts early at The Living Rainforest! 🎃

Lots of schools have an INSET day on Friday 23 October, so we’ve added an extra day of spooky fun. Our half term activities now run on Fri 23 Oct AND Mon 26 – Fri 30 Oct!

🧪 All included in your ticket:

🧙 Potion making at the Rainforest Apothecary in the mornings
🪲 Bug tasting at lunchtime
🐒 Animal feeds
🎨 Spooky crafts all day
🖍️ Check the chalkboard on arrival for each day’s timings

🌿 Rainforest Apothecary
Discover the ancient medicinal uses of rainforest spices, and use your senses to identify each one!

💀 Poisons & Potions trail, open now
Follow the clues through our glasshouses and decide: deadly poison or secret potion? Activity booklets for ages 4–7 and 7+ are £1.50 each (pre-order when you book), with a colouring competition and a soft toy up for grabs!

💙 Swipe to see our five blue poison dart frogs. Beautiful… but poison or potion? You’ll find out on the trail! 🐸

🦥 And don’t forget to say hello to Cinnamon, our free-roaming sloth, and the rest of our rainforest residents.

✨ Half term sorted… and the next one, and the one after that! Your future self will thank you!

Every ticket is an annual pass, so once you’ve bought it you can come back as often as you like for a whole year at no extra cost, including future half terms and school holidays. Just book a time slot for each visit.

🧙‍♀️ Little witches and wizards are welcome in fancy dress, but pair your costume with wellies, as the rainforest floor can get muddy! 🧙‍♀️

🎟️ Book here: https://livingrainforest.org/booking-information

16/10/2026

Poisons and Potions pt. II 🎃 🧪

- VENEMOUS VARANIDS (?) -

We continue our poisons and potions theory with another mystery, what exactly makes an animal venomous?

Now this one is a complicated case, many of you will know about Komodo dragons and the argument over how venomous they are or how that works, but whilst that big beast has taken up so much of the conversation, the rest of the water monitor family has been far less studied.

Venom is expensive to produce, tricky to maintain, and even harder to study, so sometimes we need to think about how and why we ask scientific questions, and wether yes or no answers are really that useful!

We will be doing a deeper dive into this topic on our YouTube channel if 3 and a half entertainment minutes isn’t enough, but don’t expect a final answer on there either!

Address

The Living Rainforest
Hampstead Norreys
RG180TN

Opening Hours

Monday	9:30am - 4pm
Tuesday	9:30am - 4pm
Wednesday	9:30am - 4pm
Thursday	9:30am - 4pm
Friday	9:30am - 4pm
Saturday	9:30am - 4pm
Sunday	9:30am - 4pm

Telephone

+441635202444

Website

http://www.livingrainforest.org/, https://linktr.ee/livingrainforest, https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/rainforest-ranger-

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