Chester Zoo is a wildlife conservation charity and zoo in Cheshire. It's the most visited zoo in the UK, with over 37,000 animals and 128 acres of zoological gardens to explore. The family friendly attraction and important conservation charity is a protective home of so many magnificent animals. Ranging from the largest land mammal elephants and rhinos to the delicate tropical butterflies. It takes a full day to explore and even then you may not see everything.
Top Info
🦩 A massive zoo with 37,000 animals
🌼 128 acres of zoological gardens
👶 Suitable for all ages
🦁 Pushchair friendly ( its lots of walking for little legs)
🚗 Free Car Park
📱 Download the app for interactive map and talk times
🐘 Open 10 - 4.30pm
🐊 Annual membership available
🍔 Plenty of places to buy food and drinks
🥪 Bring a picnic from home
⏰ Arrive early to beat the queues
🐕 No dogs allowed
🦒 Book your tickets online and save up to 10% on tickets prices vary according to the season and the day of the week.
🌎 Chester CH2 1LE
Family Friendly
Chester Zoo is super family friendly, with facilities to meet all needs. It is suitable for pushchairs and wheelchairs as it has nice, wide, flat paths and plenty of ramps instead of stairs. You can also hire buggy's for children as it is a big site so lots of walking for little legs. The other facilities include free parking, lots of places to purchase food and drink with a great selection and plenty of play areas and toilets.
Buggy Hire (March 24)
Single buggies – £10.00
Double buggies – £15.00
Become a Member
There are so many animals to see and learn about, with a different animal around every corner it's impossible to see it all in one day which is why they promote becoming a member of the zoo. This is an annual pass which means you can visit as many time as you want but also gain discounts off purchases from the shop and cafes. Members also get perks such as first viewing of animals. On our visit two new snow leopards had arrived at the zoo. Members only could see them for the first few days before the public could. There were hour long queues however to see them, so you may be best waiting a week or so anyway.
Conservation
Chester Zoo is also a world-leading conservation and education charity which means income raised from visitors goes towards their commitment to preventing extinction! As a not-for-profit, the zoo ploughs everything into its conservation mission, both here in the UK and around the world! Not only that but their millions of annual visitors and huge online communities are a huge part of the educational, scientific and conservation jigsaw!
Our Visit
We hadn't visited the zoo for a number of years so were really excited to go, especially as the children are much older now at 9 and 12. I knew at that their ages, they would be able manage all the walking but also they would really appreciate the animals and be able to read the information boards and learn something along the way.
After seeing that there had been queues to get in the Zoo the previous weekend due to some new arrivals, we decided to get there early so arrived 10 minutes before opening. We probably could have got there even earlier as you can check out the elephants before you go in and also the gift shop.
Chester Zoo is one of those "big days out" where you are literally out the house for most of the day as you want to see and do everything there. We packed a picnic and plenty of snacks. When we arrived, we headed straight to the island with the idea we would get to the furthest part first and then walk back. On the island there are quite a few animals including a few really good ones, you will find the Tigers and Sumatran Orangutans here. You can also view the island on a Lazy River Boat trip. It was really quiet around this part of the zoo, possibly as everyone was still arriving so it seemed to work well. We spend about 2 hours on the island including having our picnic which we ate at tables at Manado Street Kitchen. This large Street food cafe had loads of seating plus it has its own wooden play area so the girls had a little run around after they ate.
It would be too much to write about all the different animals in the zoo so I will just talk about some of our favourites. Our highlights have to be the Tigers, Butterflies and Orangutans.
The Sumatran Tigers
We were very lucky with the tigers. We arrived to see a whole family of them. The two younger ones were just lying down together chilling. The father was playing with a ball which made it so interesting to watch. It was quite busy with people so after we had had a look we felt we had to move on to let other look, but i would have loved to stay longer. They were all really close to the glass window so we could see them really well.
The Orangutans
You get lots of opportunities to see the orangutans as their enclosure has both inside and outside viewing areas. We watched a mother and baby climbing down a wall and then they began to climb on a rope near the window. They went out of a sight for a while but we stayed to see if they came back into view as it wasn't busy. Then suddenly the baby went swinging into shot hanging on to the rope. It was like it was playing on a swing. The baby and mum then climbed up right next to the window and even spent time interacting with us. The keepers came to feed them which meant we could see them hanging from the roof while they tried to reach lettuce and butternut squashes through the holes in the wire.
This was an amazing experience, we got such a great view and loved seeing what the orangutans were doing.
The Butterflies
You can experience the tropical environment inside the "Butterfly Journey"
Wandering through the butterflies was magical and this really made my eldest daughter face light up. She was fascinated by all the different butterflies, everywhere you looked you spotted another one. Always just out of reach and moving to quick for a photo. We managed to get some once they landed on the fruit tables. It was nice to get closer to the more delicate wildlife at the zoo.
Easter Egg Trail.
As our visit was in March, we could also do their Easter egg Trail which was on for the School holidays. This was a free trail and was a nice extra activity for the day. It was in an area of the zoo which was more like a park with gardens. The eggs were close together and the trail was perfect for younger visitors to complete. This part of the zoo was very pretty with lots of open grass and flowers beds. It also has a few children's play areas and spots to get refreshments.
Chester Zoo Plants & Gardens
Chester Zoo has a botanical garden. As well as beautiful animals, they have beautiful nature too. With their award-winning gardens, you'll have lots to discover and admire. From the stunning orchid national plant collection, and the rock garden to the botanist's lab. Learn all about how they contribute to the ecosystem in an animal habitat and their vital role outside of Chester Zoo!
Chester Zoo Animal Experiences
The list of Zoo experiences is substantial. There is breakfast with the lions, becoming a zoo keeper for the day, early access photography, and elephant and giraffe experience to name a few. These would make a really unique present and the money as always goes to keeping the animals from extinction.
Download the App
I downloaded the app just before we arrived. You can buy a paper map for £1 or you can use the app to find your way around. I do love a paper map however the app was fantastic. Gps tracked where you were and you could search for an animal you wanted to see and it would give you the best route to go and how long it would take to walk. The app also showed when the animal talks were on so it was really helpful. you could also use it to plan your day, setting reminders for certain talks. We didn't use this feature but i would defiantly use it another time.
Food & Drink
There are plenty of food and drink venues in the zoo.
Six in fact, plus all the little cabin type stalls setting ice creams, slushies or coffees.
On the Island
House of Sumatra. Immerse yourself into South East Asia on your expedition to Islands and experience authentic Indonesian food
Manado Street Kitchen. Enjoy tasty street food and other authentic South East Asian inspired dishes. Plenty of outsoor seating and a play area near by.
By the Entrance
Grab some breakfast from Bembe Kitchen. They serve freshly prepared sausage and bacon breakfast bagels and breakfast baguettes. At lunch they offer hot deli sandwiches.
Next to "Wildlife Woods"
June’s Food Court. June's offers family friendly classic dishes like fish & chips, pizza and freshly made burgers! Fresh and quick food. Soft scoop ice cream parlour inside too and the ‘Wildlife Wood’ play area is just outside.
Next to the Jaguars
Jaguar Coffee House is tucked away next to the jaguar habitat and is the perfect venue to relax with a coffee. Grab a cake or sandwich too to refuel.
The Oakfield
This contemporary British pub, sits at the heart of the zoo. Once the home of our founder George Mottershead, it has been lovingly restored to maintain its original features. It serves freshly prepared locally sourced food and hand-picked beers, wines and spirits. It is in a lovely setting, surrounded by beautiful gardens.
Play Equipment
Through out the zoo there are a few children's play areas, perfect for breaking up the day, especially if you have younger children. They are all really lovely areas, in good condition, clean and have fun and varied equipment. They are usually situated next to a food outlet and have plenty of seating near. Perfect for adults having a sit down with a drink while the children play. Or the perfect spot to have your picnic and a play between seeing all the animals. The best one had to be "Wildlife Wood", it was a massive wooden structure with towers to climb, nets to clamber on, a long tunnel slide and plenty of things to balance on. There were areas for younger children as well as older children, and we even spotted a sand pit and a water play area.
Our Final Verdict
We all enjoyed our visit to Chester Zoo, it was a tiring day but one filled with seeing amazing creatures and having fun together as a family. As we hadn't been for a while it felt like it was all new and interesting for us. We did probably walk further than we needed to, as we were dotting about quite a bit searching for certain animals. I feel we would be better organised for our next visit and more knowledgeable about the locations of things that comes with a second visit. Saying that i couldn't fault our day, we were there 10am - 4.30pm and the girls were never bored, just a bit tired by he end. I'm not sure if we were just lucky, but we got to see so many animals, and were in the right place at the right time to see the gorgeous baby orangutan swinging on the rope. It will be a day to remember for sure.
Press Visit March 2024
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