A 40ft T-rex is moving into the Eden Project this summer

The dinosaurs are coming back to Eden, and this time they have brought reinforcements.

A decade after Eden’s famous Dinosaur Uprising, the Eden Project has confirmed the return of one of its best-loved family experiences. Dinosaurs Return launches on 25 July and runs through to 6 September, landing right across the summer holidays at the global gardens, which is marking its 25th anniversary this year.

Almost three times bigger than last time

Eden is calling this the biggest dinosaur experience it has ever staged. The new programme is nearly three times the size of the original, with 15 animatronic dinosaurs hidden among the planting, one of the largest collections of its kind in the UK.

Several are life-size. The headline act is a 40 foot-long Tyrannosaurus rex, looming out of the steamy planting in the Rainforest Biome. The idea is a journey through deep time, with the creatures positioned so you come across them rather than simply file past them.

Visitors start in the palaeontology research lab and set off on an expedition to track down the dinosaurs that have moved into the Biome. Giant pterosaurs with wingspans of up to four metres hang from the beams overhead. There is a nesting Oviraptor to find, Velociraptors tucked into the vegetation, and a seven metre long Parasaurolophus to come face to face with. The cast is rounded out by a fish-eating Baryonyx, an armoured Ankylosaurus and a towering Triceratops.

An Olivier Award-winning show, included in the ticket

The experience also brings in Dinosaur World Live, the internationally acclaimed, Olivier Award-winning show that has played theatres around the world. The 45 minute production runs three times a day, seven days a week, throughout the summer holidays, and it is included in the price of admission.

It features eight life-size dinosaurs, from T rex and Triceratops to giant flying reptiles, mixing theatre, science and storytelling for children and grownups alike.

There is plenty going on at ground level too, with hands-on activities, dinosaur-themed crafts and storytelling running alongside the big set pieces.

Why the Rainforest Biome makes sense

Simon Townsend, General Manager at the Eden Project, said the scale and the setting are what set it apart.

“This is one of Eden’s most famous and much-loved summer programmes, and we are incredibly excited to be bringing it back on an even bigger scale than ten years ago,” Simon said. “The sheer size, level of detail and the way the dinosaurs are integrated in the Rainforest Biome makes this an experience unlike anything else in the UK.”

There is a scientific logic to the location. During the Cretaceous period, when all the dinosaurs on show at Eden lived, global average temperatures are thought to have ranged between 18 and 25°C, with much of the planet covered in warm, humid rainforest. Not far off the conditions inside the Biome today.

“With views of the dinosaurs from the Rainforest Canopy Walkway and scenes set among dense tropical planting, positioning the dinosaurs within this living landscape gives visitors a rare opportunity to see them where they truly make sense,” Simon added.

Wildlife photography and a VAT saving

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition, produced by the Natural History Museum, also returns and runs from 6 June to 5 September.

All summer holiday activities, including Dinosaur World Live, are included with a standard Eden Project ticket. Eden is also passing on savings from the government’s VAT cut. Under the reduced rate, general admission will be £31.06 for an adult booked in advance and £10.94 per child for visits between 25 June and 1 September 2026, which Eden says works out as a 23 per cent saving for a family of four. Children’s meals are coming down under the scheme too.

Tickets are cheaper booked in advance through the Eden Project website.