At Stratford Upon Avon Butterfly Farm, come rain or shine enjoy the unique pleasure of discovering hundreds of the world’s most beautiful butterflies flying in an exotic environment of tropical blossom with splashing waterfalls and fish filled pools. Situated in the historic market town of Stratford-upon-Avon.
Discover the link that Stratford upon Avon Butterfly Farm has to the Rainforests of Belize and the ancient Maya civilisation whose artefacts have been replicated and are now on display in the Flight Area.
After your visit take a look in the Papillon Gift Shop which offers a wide range of beautiful butterfly and nature inspired gifts for all ages.
Flight Area
Enjoy the unique pleasure of watching hundreds of the world’s most spectacular and colourful butterflies flying all around Stratford Upon Avon Butterfly Farm. You can see them feeding and flying in a wonderful tropical environment.
Our landscaped tropical greenhouse is the largest tropical butterfly display in the UK! Throughout the year we have over 250 different species of tropical butterfly sourced from 20 different countries. There are approximately 2 000 free flying individual butterflies, of all shapes, sizes and colours. Sometimes there are a few more, sometimes a few less.
Rainforest Realm
‘Rainforest Realm’ is a unique exhibition featuring a Spectacled Caiman and other animals that originate from the rainforests of Central America! The magnificent male Caiman would normally live in and around ‘cenotes’, natural sinkholes formed by the collapse of limestone that fill up with ground water. Caimans are oportunist hunters, feeding on a variety of prey including crabs, fish, small mammals and invertebrates. Also planned to be on display in ‘Rainforest Realm’ will be an Emerald Tree Boa Snake, 10 endangered Orange Blackfoot Dart Frogs, a trio of Basilisk Lizards, 2 Baby Yellow Spotted Amazon River Turtles and a Oustalets Chameleon from Madagascar. At the heart of the exhibition is a replicated ‘cenote’, complete with a water cascade and a deep and shallow pool. The ancient Maya sourced water from the cenotes which were respected as sacred places, symbolic of both life and death. The creatures found in and around a cenote include frogs, iguanas, and crocodiles.
Discovery Zone
In the Discovery Zone you can see all the stages of the butterfly’s life cycle. Learn about the egg, the caterpillar, the chrysalis and the adult butterfly.
As you leave the Discovery Zone you will see the Emerging Case. This is where the chrysalis or pupae, that we import from the tropical butterfly farmers, is hung. We do this by gluing each individual pupa onto sticks, which are then carefully placed in rows within the Emerging Case. This is one of the most important aspects of the farm as it is here that the butterflies emerge from their pupae and prepare their wings for the first flight.
Mini-Beast Metropolis
The Mini-Beast Metropolis at Stratford Upon Avon Butterfly Farm houses one of the largest insect collections in the UK. Come and see these fascinating creatures up close. You can even take part in our Meet the Mini-Beast handling sessions during the school holidays.
It’s not just insects in here, we have giant African land snails, millipedes with over 200 legs, crabs, tiny poison arrow frogs, geckos, Colin the skink and Archie the chameleon.
Click here to find out more about booking tickets and what else you can see at the Butterfly Farm.