What Visitors Say
Hidden away in Regent's Park, London Zoo is a popular attraction that offers a solid day out for families and groups. Setting aside the debate over zoos themselves, it easily provides a few hours of good entertainment, provided the animals are active and cooperative. Highlights include the impressive Africa zone and the Monkey zone, where you feel like you are walking right through their natural habitat. Admission prices are reasonable, and there is a great variety of food and drink options across different price ranges. On the downside, the facilities could be improved—specifically with larger accessible restrooms—and having the exit pass directly through the gift shop can be tricky to navigate with kids. Overall, if you enjoy zoos and are visiting with a group, it’s well worth a trip.
Definitely an experience you want to try out at least once. I would recommend anyone coming to get here at least by 12 pm so you have enough time to see everything and make your experience worth it. Of course the main attraction are the animals but they can sometimes be sleeping or hidden away. While this can be a bit disappointing it does demonstrate that the animals have decent size enclosures and are free to roam about as they want. If you have enough time however you might be able to circle back and catch the animals you missed. The reptile and insect section were particular highlights and if you're not creeped out by them, they are highly worth the visit. Also it has great learning potential. There are so many facts about the animals laid out in a digestible manner. What I also found great was showing how the animals are endangered and what is causing it which helps put things into context why you should care about these animals. Lastly the staff are also lovely. They are clearly passionate about the animals and will tell you so many more cool facts. In summary, while the ticket is a bit steep, with the right company and enough time to explore everything, it is very much worth it.
I would not reccomend going for night at the zoo, I am very spoiled with the zoo by me so to be fair, my expectations were very high. There were too many tickets sold, you couldn't walk anywhere without bumping into someone, there wasn't really live music, it was just one guy sometimes playing songs. Every line for food/drinks was very long, and the drinks were very highly priced. I just think for this being paid entry, and the lack of animals and space for not only humans, but animals (truly they do not have enough room in those exhibits) it was a disappointment. It had lovely exhibits (aside from the size) but a lack of viewing areas, there were too many trees in the way to see any animals. I do like the vendors, and the interactive areas of the zoo, and how they paid homage to the countries the animals came from.
The bird walk through is great, it's almost like you're in the jungle. There is a great variety of animals which is outstanding. Sad there was no snow leopard, but they are ghost cats for a reason. Great trip for the whole family
We managed to explore almost the entire zoo in about 3 hours. The staff were extremely friendly, welcoming, and wholesome, and all the necessary facilities were readily available. The only downside—which wasted a bit of our time—was that some of the 'must-see' animals, like the tiger and a few smaller animals, were hidden or not visible at all 💔. Also, having a guided tour or a small train going around the zoo would be a great addition to enhance the full experience!
Opening Hours
Fun Facts
On 25 May 1836, four giraffes named Selim, Mabrouk, Guib-allah and Zaida were walked from Blackwall docks to Regent’s Park under police escort.
When Obaysch the hippopotamus arrived in 1850, he was the first living hippo seen in Europe since ancient Roman times and sparked a bout of 'hippomania', complete with souvenirs and a 'hippopotamus polka'.
London Zoo opened the world’s first public aquarium in May 1853, and Philip Henry Gosse popularised the very word 'aquarium' there.
The bear who inspired Winnie-the-Pooh lived at London Zoo after Lieutenant Harry Colebourn left Winnie there on 9 December 1914 before going to France.
The Ravens’ Cage, probably completed around 1829, is the earliest surviving animal cage built at London Zoo.
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