Banana Cafe in Stafford

A great place to visit with friends and family! £13.50 online ticket, lots of parking, good food options and a beautiful park!! Was amazing seeing so many monkeys close by and all the staff were so knowledgable and helpful!

A wonderful monkey park. The monkeys are completely free, there are no cages and they walk around the visitors. Of course, for safety reasons, you should not try to touch them. The monkeys are fed every hour and during this time one of the staff tells you about the park and the monkeys. You are free to stay as long as you want, take photos and videos. Pets are not allowed. The park has a souvenir shop and a cafe separated from the monkey area, you can visit them and re-enter the monkeys.

A brilliant day out! We bought tickets at the gate and enjoyed walking among the freely roaming monkeys. My kids loved it. There’s a nice play area too. A relaxed family visit, and the guides were friendly and informative.

It’s a great place to visit if you are an animal lover. They are trying to protect the endangered Barbary Macaque monkeys here . It took about an hour to reach from Manchester. We are allowed to walk along with the free roaming monkeys . Monkeys are fed every hour and we can see them in their habitat.It has a free parking space a restaurant and a coffee van .we are allowed to do picnics outside the park and it’s worth a visit with family . We bought the ticket online and it was cheaper than the tickets sold there

Absolutely great place to have a day out when the weather is good. Great picnic place to have with family and friends. Kids will have a good time. Food is reasonably priced not jacked up. Free parking. Tip: Book your ticket online and you will get a lower price. For us it was £13.50 per adult online where as if you get there and buy it's £15/- per adult. There is a lake and garden trail of 2 miles next to the place. Paid entry. Separate tickets for that. Overall a great place to spend some quality time with the monkeys who are so close to our nature :)

Wonderful place for my grandchildren to experience.

Trentham Monkey Forest was ok. It’s a nice experience, but the actual walk among the monkeys is quite short. It’s worth a visit, but definitely not a place where you’d spend 3–5 hours like some reviews suggest. More like 1–2 hours tops. Still, it’s a pleasant trip, especially for kids.

Drove two and a half hours with my 14 month old toddler expecting it to be as it is described the website… was highly disappointed. Not so friendly for a 14 month old as the play grounds are not apt for this age group and the monkeys that are thought to be around, they were not! PS - you have to also pay to access the gardens if you want.

Nice place to visit. Monkeys are well cared for and there are regular feeding times. Easy walk in general with some hilly parts.

Great place to visit, beautiful set up seen lots of monkeys only reason give 4 stars and not 5 is price of food in the cafe was insanely expensive considering ticket prices are reasonable to enter we paid £21 for 1 x chips and sausage, 1 x chips, beans and sausage and 2 x Pepsi max

Pros - Ample parking, very relaxed, reasonably priced Cons - didn't see many monkeys and the ones you do see aren't very interactive. Kids were more interested in the play area which was rather telling If it was local to me (30 mins or less) I'd say it's worth a visit. But any further than that I'd say just go to the park 🙃

Lovley place big playground kids love it

Monkey Forest is beautiful! To see such amazing creatures in a natural environment, not in cages,and be able to walk among them is an absolute privilege. The staff are compassionate and knowledgeable, there is monkey feeding time every hour, with an interesting talk by staff. The only reason this review is not 5 stars, is despite the staff speaking about environmental destruction as a threat to monkeys in the wild, there are no plant-based meals in the cafe. Consuming meat is known to be one of the primary factors in the devastation of natural habitats. It would be great to see Monkey Forest showing their commitment to green values by reducing meat on their menu.

Been about 5 times now, love it every time!

Had a good time with the family seeing the monkeys. There's a park for the kids to play. The trail is well layed out and gives alot of education about the Monkeys.

I had a really good day out with the kids. You get to see the monkeys close up and also see how they are fed. They also have a play area.

It was a really good experience, The environment was really family friendly.

Loved seeing the monkeys just to sit there and observe and watch them was so relaxing and peaceful, the play areas are good for the kids and its not an expensive day out

Nice to visit the monkeys, friendly, proactive and knowledgable staff. Wish we’d known there was a capability brown garden next door. We used it as a stop off on journey north with kids and £50 felt like a lot for us what is a pretty small area and short stop. But dping v important conservation work, so all power to their elbows

Really lovely place to come to plenty of places to park well worth the day out

Absolutely loved seeing them. The area is bigger than I expected and they have plenty of space to roam. The little ones put on a display of play fighting and older ones showed off their reflexes. Definitely recommend of you want to have an afternoon out in the fresh air. A nice relaxed atmosphere.

The best way to forget the rest of the world for half an hour 🖤🖤🖤

Great afternoon out for the kids

Open spacious car park, nice open grounds fresh air all around and really entertaining monkeys Food available and ice cream

Nicely set up, doesn't feel like a zoo and the monkeys have a significant area of woodland to live within. You can't see much of this woodland which I think is even better as it gives them some space away from humans. Lots of children

Beautiful place,we had a lovely time. Staff were very helpful and were all so polite and friendly.

Could see the monkeys in natural setting, trees, stream and some clearings. Monkeys fed in different places every hour or so, so can practically guarantee fairly close sightings for younger children, but more fun to look for monkeys in trees/ further away. Path quite steep at one end but plenty of other spaces to explore with buggy and wheelchairs. Was impressed that conditions they lived in were close enough to natural settings that they could be reintroduced to wild fairly easily. Clear rules against eating in the enclosure but could go in and out during the day so could go to the cafe/ visit play areas etc and go back in. Was a shop and a cafe but no other stalls to encourage children to want stuff, and was impressed that you could go in and out without going through the shop. Also, although entrance fees for a single visit might be quite expensive for a family, an annual ticket looked like good value.

A great place to visit. You get really close to the monkeys and the guide are really helpful and knowledgeable

Loved it!! Would definitely recommend, there were loads of babies running around playing which was wonderful to see

Had a great time here! I’d definitely recommend a visit. It’s only really a 2-3 hour experience but worth a trip if you like monkeys. Once you’ve done the monkey walk there’s still plenty to do and children have got of activity’s dotted around the place.

Fantastic day out had so much fun

Amazing day, great venue, excellent staff and all really helpful.

A great place to visit! Walking amongst the monkeys is quite the experience. You cannot really interact with them for safety, but they walk/run/feed and play all around you and it is basically their territory that you are free to be within. The price is reasonable as they need to look after the endangered species and I imagine that is not cheap. We did get a discount by searching online for discount codes. Great for photography and kids have a park to play on with picnic benches around it to chill after a walk with the monkeys. The walk takes around an hour and the monkeys are fed around every hour. You are free to walk around as many times as you like.

Really good place to visit, the monkeys were great to watch interact and really looked like they would be like that whether we were there or not.

Spend as much time as you like watching the cheeky monkey and their antics. Can get really close to them. Lots of friendly, helpful staff to tell you all about the monkeys

We've been to the monkey forest a fair few times with the kids, travelling from Birmingham which is 1hr away. Recently I took my parents, my children and my wife so 4 adults and 2 children. It came to £75. For something that only lasts about 30-40 mins tops - it's a bit too much. Besides that the monkeys are great and I guess the money would be worth it in summer when you can have a picnic.. But winter prices should definitely be lower than this. I guess everyone's gotta make their money.

This was a lovely day out, there is a conservation centre explaining about the species (Barbary macaques) a cafe, a gift shop and a small playground for children. However the main part was a secure area where you can walk around with the monkeys just metres away! It was amazing to be so close to the monkeys without any separation!

Lovely experience getting close to the monkeys Huge queues at toilets, ridiculously long. Think there was only 1 disabled toilet that also had baby changing facilities Very expensive gift shop Outdoor play for older children and not young toddlers

Beautiful, gorgeous and an indescribable magical walk amongst the monkeys ❤️ I loved being allowed into the Barbary Macaque's forest home. As a pure animal adorer, I think the best part was that there was a distinct separation between humans & monkey - as in no feeding nor touching them - which is the way it should be. They just got on with their day as the humans watched in awe - unknowing of how special we think they are. Wonderful to see them in a natural forest environment too. Can't wait to go back ❤️❤️❤️

i was not very happy,could not feed,could not touch had to keep away from them,everytime you turn your head you were being watched by the wardens it was intimidating. travelled 9 hours all in and it was a waste of time. i researched all different types of moneys and gorillas and urangutans i know everything about them.they like to communicate,how can you communicate with them when your told not. what a waste of money and journey many people din,t like the rules. dissappointing

Unique experience to be roaming around monkeys. Entry fees are acceptable. Café prices are very high indeed. 2 play parks on site. The monkey area is actually a lot smaller then I'd anticipated but you can re-enter as many times as you'd like on the day. Various guides on hand talking about the monkeys and there are set feeding times you can see the monkeys getting fed. Wheelchair/pushchair accessible. Would recommend.

What a fantastic day out. The monkeys were so happy in their environment and behaved very naturally. Staff were all super well informed, approachable and friendly. And reasonable priced too, highly recommend.

Lovely grounds that the monkeys get to freely roam around in. They don’t seem too concerned about the public, which is nice. I was wondered they would be scared of the humans and would stay away from them out of fear. But this wasn’t the case. They seemed quite calm. Of course there is the odd scuffle but that is only to be expected. They are wild animals after all.

Me and my family absolutely loved it. The little monkeys are absolutely beautiful and there are plenty of interactive things to do too. I definitely recommend this place and some of the money goes to conservation too.

Super disappointed to arrive and they are closed! There is no CLOSED banner on the website, just book ticket links! I even called to hear the opening times and the wording was very vague, listening in retrospect it was understandable that it ipens on 15.2.24. However wasted journey and disappointed family!

Love this place! A great family day out!

We came for my birthday and I loved it! Easy to get around with the pram. Lovely place to visit and enjoy the fresh air and viewing the monkeys. My family and I LOVE it here and I’ve already said I want to visit again next year

Overall, Monkey Forest is a wonderful place to visit, especially for families with young children. The experience of seeing the playful monkeys up close is truly delightful, and kids will absolutely love it. However, the area is relatively small, so it doesn’t take long to explore. Aside from the monkeys, there isn’t much else to see or do, which might make the visit feel a bit limited for some. In summary, it’s a great spot for a short visit, particularly for children, but don’t expect a wide variety of attractions.

Such a fun place to visit. It’s quite close to Trentham Gardens so you can do two outings in one day if you’re visiting the area. Great for a nice outdoor walk and literally dozens if not hundreds of monkeys to see. Their habitats look lovely and they all seem really happy.

It’s a nice place but for the price I’m not sure it’s worth it because you can’t touch the monkeys you have to stop and stand still if they walk near you not many of them and not really a big place to walk around either

Great place to shop, great places to eat. Great place to walk around the lake with cafes and restraunts. Garden to look around. And most of all the kids love it. Great place for family's, they are well catered for. And water sports for every one. It's a 100% for me

Fantastic. Took our granddaughter who loved it as did we. Spent a full day there. Lovely to see the monkeys running around and being so close to them. I would advise visitors to get to see one of the feeding times. The staff are very friendly and helpful answering questions and there's plenty of useful information available which is good. The play areas are brilliant which our granddaughter enjoyed. The cafe and shop are also good. Excellent value for money and I'm quite sure we'll be visiting again in the future.

What a great day out for the kids this was! Took our 2 girls, oldest was 3 and youngest turned 2 the day after coming here. They absolutely loved it! It was a but of a surreal experience of just having the monkeys free roaming and hoping over the fenced and walking by you! All very friendly, but obviously don't be touching! Lots of staff around to make sure nothing happens! Was a great day and would absolutely return if in the area. Would also recommend it, kids won't be disappointed at all!

Very nice place, love see the monkeys Roam free

Lovely afternoon with hubby and my granddaughter. Monkeys were well behaved and very photogenic. Posed nicely for the camera. Was a bit nervous before this visit as the monkeys are loose not caged but fear completely unfounded.

It is a very affordable visit and a beautiful location

Such a good day out. Great fun spotting monkeys. Felt very safe even when they walked near us as the staff were on point with making people stop.

Fab day out, toddler loved the monkeys getting so close

Excellent place to visit. The free roaming monkeys were a delight to see. There is a very big play area and plenty of picnic benches. The toilets were clean. The food was hot. Not much indoor seating area. Our 3 children loved watching the monkeys walk across the paths. At feeding times the person was very knowledgeable and gave out so much information. The staff were very helpful. You got to weigh yourself to see what monkey you were. Plenty of parking spaces.

Small but brilliant. Definitely worth a visit. Buy tickets in advance.

Excellent experience, didn't think we would be so close to the monkeys it that we would see many but I was very wrong. The gift shop is lovely too.

Really good! Great setting and monkeys are happy and well cared for.

Brilliant place, a great experience walking around amongst the free-roaming monkeys

I came here today with my two toddlers (3 & 5 year olds) and other family members for the first time. We travelled an hour and a half to get there. It was brilliant. My expectations were that the monkeys would probably be hiding and that we most likely wouldn’t see many but I was so wrong. There were monkeys everywhere and really close to us as well. We watched the monkeys being fed and the talk which was really good too. It was a lovely walk with a stream. There were a couple of large playground areas, a pirate ship and a monkey movie area with seats and a small maze which kept my children very happy and busy whilst they weren’t in the monkey areas. Staff in the cafe were really friendly and smiley and the food was really good too. There were plenty of eating tables outside and inside as well as lots of picnic tables too. It had a lovely little gift shop where my children chose a little monkey teddy each at the end. I’d say from start to finish, it was amazing and the monkeys really do have a beautiful home. There were plenty of staff dotted around almost at every corner whilst in the monkey areas to intervene if anyone needs their guidance or to move the monkeys off the path which was really good too. There was a staff lady who had some monkey fur and let the children touch it so they could see what a monkeys furr felt like which was also fun for them. From start to finish, I was really impressed and would love to come back when you open again next year after the winter closing break. They also had a large spacious free car park area. Thank you so much for giving us a great day out. Very very happy and I would recommend it to everyone thinking of going. The prices of admission were easily affordable but extremely cheap and I would have paid a lot more to go in. The prices of food and toys in the gift shop were quite high in my opinion. The only other thing I’d like to say is most of the toilets didn’t have any toilet roll inside and most of the taps at the sink didn’t work for some reason so we had to use any toilet roll we could find. We stayed for 3 hours and we could have done with an extra half an hour easily. Thank you again. See you next year!

What an absolutely amazing place. Great value for money and great talks by the staff.

It was an excellent experience. My grandson really enjoyed the trip. The staff was very pleasant and helpful and the place was perfect for a day out with the family.

Nice place to spend time with family, monkeys are very friendly and funny

Had a lovely visit, plenty of parking. Cafe was quick and shop had plenty of stuff. Good walk round and experienced staff who were more than happy to share information about the monkeys. 2x parks for kids and den making. Spent most of the day so not bad value at all

A great place to visit with my two young children… they loved seeing the monkeys roaming around, swinging in the trees and during feeding time! A great play area, outdoor space, cafe and picnic area too. Plenty of parking and quiet for a Saturday, in October.

One of our trips from the summer holidays this year, a great little place for the kids, not huge but plenty to keep them busy, Thanks.

Fantastic family experience. Something for everyone. There are 3 large groups of monkeys living in the forest, and you can walk close enough to see different personalities and how they interact with one another. There were several tiny baby monkeys, running up to the tree tops, wrestling and tumbling, piggy-backing, and suckling. The children loved the babies and were genuinely interested for over 2 hours. All the staff here were knowledgeable, helpful and proactive. This is a non-profit conservation and research hub and it’s great to support it. Much better than visiting a zoo. Cafe basic and busy but plenty options for kids which is great.

140+ macaques in the forest near Stoke on Trent. You get to walk around in the forest with them as they're going about their day playing, arguing and just generally hanging out. Well worth a trip. The cafes pretty good as well.

Took our 4 year old grandson and really enjoyed it. Not a fan of zoos but this was great to see the monkeys in the wild. Well staffed and great to be able to interact and ask questions. It was quiet and a good size to walk around. Playgrounds were good and facilities for picnics etc plentiful. Banana cafe was reasonably priced. All staff very helpful. Great that you could come and go . We didn't as we were just breaking a journey but could imagine going to the village or trentham gardens and coming back. Thoroughly recommend.

The Monkey forest was great, very peaceful and could easily see the monkey’s walking freely around. Lots of tables inside and outside where you can eat food from the cafe or your picnic

It was a nice experience… we loved and enjoyed it!

Loads of monkeys including babies . Monkeys seamed happy and behaving naturally. Plenty of staff on hand to answer questions.

Loved it really lovely seeing Monkeys.

Good experience cute monkeys and finally big loop around the big monkey park, me and three of my children like it We miss monkey

Fantastic place absolutely amazing not to see animals in an enclosure and as close to there natural habitat as can be.

Review: Mo Key Forest Mo Key Forest was a fantastic day out! The monkey enclosure was a highlight, and the monkeys were incredibly entertaining to watch. The forest itself was beautifully maintained, and there were plenty of trails to explore. While the cafe was a decent spot to grab a bite, the coffee could have been better. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't the best I've had. Overall, Mo Key Forest is a great destination for a day trip. The monkeys are definitely worth the visit, and the forest is a lovely place to relax.

Lovely in early autumn 🍂 and still some tiny babies

Lovely place to visit Great facilities and really friendly staff

we liked it. monkeys are very cute, walking among people. worth going. there are 2 playgrounds for children, and cafe

Stopped off here on our way to the Cotswolds. The walk through the woods amongst the Barbery Macaques was great with our kids, allowing them to get close up. The pathway is pram friendly and staff very helpful and knowledgeable. Good play areas and cafe too.

Great experience. You can just walk through and see whatever you want. The monkeys are living just naturally and not doing anything specfic there are no enclosures or internal housing. The guides are informative and friendly. There are feeding times when you can be certain to see monkeys coming out but we saw then throughout. There is also a play area and huffen trail thatbkids in particular will enjoy. There is also an area with a bunch of logs where you can construct your own den which was awesome. There is adequate parking, food outlets and toilets onsite and all are well maintained. If you need to leave you can get a stamp so you can return during the same day.

This is an amazing place to visit if obviously you love animals particularly monkeys lol. We saw loads on our visit with quite a few baby monkeys and they are adorable You can see that they are well looked after and the staff are very knowledgeable Would have paid more tbh to have the experience we had

Quite a relaxing hour or two, but probably not ideal for lively older children. Very nicely landscaped throughout with a calming atmosphere in the small forest. We had a drink and a cake in the cafe afterwards. Prices in the cafe were what to be expected (£2.50 is for coffee and £3 ish for cake)

When you walk around zoo's, they hurt. You feel grateful for the opportunity to be able to see animals you would not be able to otherwise. But it makes you feel like they are being deprived of a life they SHOULD be living in the wild. However!!! At Trentham Monkey Forest you do not feel like that AT ALL. There at 144 barbary macaque monkeys living in the forest and they all look so happy and content. It makes you feel like this is preservation at it's finest. It is honestly an opportunity you canno't miss out on. Watching these primates roam around and swing from the trees is a beautiful experience. They live as they are intended to. The staff are also so friendly and are willing to answer any questions. If you're in the area, please go. If you're planning a trip to the zoo, go here instead. It's amazing.

It is absolutely fabulous to walk in the monkey park. The monkeys are a joy to watch. They have so much space to play and climb. The guide was fantastic as well.

Great place to take kids but you have to be carful as the monkeys are free and can jump around and walk out in front of you so there are rules you are told before you enter

I thought it was magical. So lovely to walk amongst these lovely creatures.

Loved monkey forest, started off worried we wouldn't see any monkeys as they were still up in the trees, but once they started coming down it was amazing, they were so beautiful, the forest was lovely and peaceful.

Lovely day out. Hot drinks were reasonably priced. We saved nearly £10 on our tickets by using kidspass website.

Fabulous for the family. The kids enjoyed learning all about the monkeys. Great play areas and picnic areas also

Great day out, and a good educational experience for my granddaughter. The park is staffed with very informative guides and the additional facilities are good.

What an amazing place, me and my girlfriend came for our anniversary because we love animals. For the price I paid for the tickets I thought we’d spend 1-2 hours here but this was amazing and time flew by. Monkeys are so surreal and you can get so close to them. The food is great price and tasted amazing and the staff were lovely. Will definitely be returning. 😍🐒

Great place. Loads of lil Monkeys. Apart from the kids... Loads of big Monkeys too. Lovely to see them lounging away from us guests.

Delightful lace which is ideal for young children. Seeing the monkeys run free is quite strange but satisfying. Well worth a visit. My only criticism is that I'd have liked it to be bigger.

Monkeys looked happy. Very enjoyable walk and great team working with the monkeys.

Great, affordable day out! Enjoyed watching monkeys being fed. Guides were friendly, helpful and informative