There are some family days out where you arrive with high expectations and spend the first few hours wondering whether the reality will live up to everything you have read beforehand. Pairi Daiza was one of those places. We arrived with an open mind, but expectations were certainly high. Everything we had read ahead of our visit made it clear that this was more than just a zoo. In fact, it is often described as one of the most beautiful zoos in Europe, where the animals are unafraid of being in close proximity to their human visitors. And then there was Edenya, the world's largest indoor tropical garden, with the promise of close-up monkey moments and the chance to potentially see Caribbean manatees and loggerhead sea turtles through enormous underwater viewing windows.

The reality? Somehow, Pairi Daiza was even better than we had anticipated.

Pairi Daiza isn't really a zoo at all. It feels more like stepping inside a gigantic, beautifully curated art exhibition, with animals wandering through immersive, regionally themed worlds. Around every corner there is something to stop and admire, whether that is an incredible building, a spectacular garden, an enormous animal enclosure or, more often than not, an animal doing something wonderfully unexpected.

The most significant problem with Pairi Daiza is that a day simply isn't long enough.

We arrived shortly after the park opened and stayed until closing, and although we left feeling completely fulfilled, there was also that slightly frustrating feeling that we had only scratched the surface. There was still more to see, more paths to wander down and more animals to discover. In other words, we had barely left before we were already discussing when we could come back - which in reality is a lovely problem to have when travelling with two children of different ages and interests!

One of the highlights for the children was the additional train ride around the park. Not only did it provide a welcome opportunity for two increasingly tired little legs to have a rest, but it was also a brilliant way of seeing parts of Pairi Daiza from a completely different perspective. Hippos, elephants and monkeys all made appearances along the way, proving that even sitting down at Pairi Daiza doesn't mean you stop exploring.

Then there was the huge play area.

As any parent will know, sometimes the children's favourite part of a major attraction isn't the thing you have travelled hundreds of miles to see, but a playground. Pairi Daiza's certainly delivered. The suspension bridge above it, however, was rather more daunting than it initially appeared. There was a moment when I questioned why I had voluntarily signed myself up for this particular challenge, but crossing it was surprisingly rewarding. I may have been slightly more proud of myself than the situation warranted!

And then there was Edenya.

Quite simply, it was extraordinary.

The sheer scale and beauty of the indoor tropical garden made it feel as though we had stepped through a secret doorway and emerged somewhere on the other side of the world. The lush planting, warm atmosphere and enormous underwater viewing areas were spectacular, but it was the animals that really brought the whole place to life. Peruvian squirrel monkeys provided plenty of playful entertainment, while the lemurs proved particularly popular with my children. There was something wonderfully enchanting about watching them so close up, with the children completely absorbed in what was happening in front of them.

But the best animal encounter of the entire day belonged to the walruses.

I had expected them to be impressive. I had not necessarily expected them to be so entertaining.

They seemed just as interested in the people watching them as we were in watching them, playing on the other side of the glass and seemingly more than happy to put on a little show. My two could quite happily have remained there for several hours, and judging by their faces, I suspect the walruses would have been perfectly happy with that arrangement too.

There was something particularly magical about seeing animals so close and watching their personalities come through. It is easy to visit a zoo and move from enclosure to enclosure, ticking animals off a mental list. Pairi Daiza felt completely different. The animals weren't simply things to look at; they were woven into the experience.

And that is perhaps what makes Pairi Daiza so special.

It doesn't feel like you are walking around a collection of enclosures. Instead, you are travelling from one world to another, with architecture, gardens, water, wildlife and incredible attention to detail creating a completely immersive experience. One minute you can be watching an elephant, the next you are wandering through a tropical paradise, and before you have quite processed that, you are standing in front of a walrus wondering whether it has a better sense of humour than most of the people you know.

The day was, in every sense, a rip-roaring success. My children have already started recommending Pairi Daiza to their friends as the 'best non-zoo ever', which is probably the most accurate review I could give it.

There was, however, one slight downside for us.

My Mum's wheelchair did cause some difficulties, even on routes described as wheelchair friendly. The hills and some of the bumpier paved paths meant that getting around was more challenging than we had anticipated. An electric wheelchair would, in our experience, have been much better suited to navigating the park, and I would recommend making use of the electric wheelchairs available to visitors who need them. It would make an already wonderful experience considerably more accessible. On a real plus side, there are reduced price tickets for those with accessibility needs.

Food-wise, what we ate was tasty, but the prices were certainly at theme-park levels. For families looking to keep the cost of the day down, taking a packed lunch would therefore be a sensible option.

Those minor niggles aside, we left Pairi Daiza on a genuine high. We had spent the day exploring beautiful worlds, getting closer to animals than we ever expected and watching two children become increasingly wide-eyed with every new discovery.

We had arrived expecting a beautiful zoo.

We left feeling as though we had spent the day inside a fairytale.

And that, ultimately, is Pairi Daiza. It is magical, immersive, enormous and just a little bit bonkers in the very best possible way. One day wasn't enough, but it was enough to convince all three generations of our family that we absolutely, definitely need to go back. Perhaps next time we need to trial an overnight stay at the very tempting resort - the big decision though would be which animal we would want to have a window onto as we cosy up for the night!

For more information, visit Pairi Daiza's Official Website.