The London Aquarium

We recently had a day out at the London Aquarium, and had such a brilliant day! We took advantage of a great offer – you can get 2 for 1 entry with your train ticket. You just have to print off the relevant vouchers by visiting the Days Out website – all you need then is a valid rail ticket for that day. I hadn't realised you could do this, and my monthly season ticket was valid for the offer which was fantastic. It really is worth checking out, there are lots of attractions available on the deal, including London Zoo. I will be using it again now I've found it, so I wanted to share it with everyone!

I've also spotted 2 for 1 Merlin entry on kids Tesco cereal packets and it's part of the Merlin group so that could be another option if you weren't travelling by train.

I went with my sister, her daughter and my little girl. The two girls were both free as they are under the age of 3, which meant between us we only paid about £9 each to get in. I had heard tales of huge queues but we went on a Friday morning and walked straight in.

I had visited the aquarium before but it was years ago when it had first opened and to be honest I hadn't been too impressed! It seemed quite small and dark and before I knew it I was out in the gift shop and Macdonalds cafe. I'd been hearing a lot of positive reports recently so I decided to give it another go! It has changed a lot and really has improved, this time I thought it was fantastic and the girls had a great time. There is so much to see including an impressive central tank full of beautiful fish, sharks and rays. My little one was desperate to see a turtle and luckily (or there may of been tears) she wasn't disappointed! First she fell in love the little turtles and then almost burst at the end when a huge Green Sea Turtle swam right towards her!

They both stroked a starfish and a crab, practised dancing like seahorses and found every fish they knew from Finding Nemo! Squiggle needed a lot of coaching to go through the glass tunnel with sharks swimming above but she did it in the end. There is a glass floor right at the entrance which we thought they would love but they were absolutely terrified, a strange sensation I suppose!

There is a lot to see: sharks, rays, jelly fish, a crocodile and even penguins! We were a bit worried about the ethics of keeping penguins in an enclosure with no natural light but I told myself they must rotate them with a lovely outdoor pool somewhere? They seemed very happy and the girls could watch them dive into the water really close up which they loved. If you can take advantage of one the deals it really is a great outing, we were there all morning followed by a picnic on the Southbank which is a really nice area to stroll along.

A big under the sea thumbs up from us!