Edinburgh Zoo

Edinburgh Zoo is the perfect place for a great day out, it has a large array of different animals alongside talks and shows which are fun and very educational, the best part of the day has to be the penguin parade which the penguins have complete control in whether they decide to come out or not, if they do; its so cute to see them up close and the staff are brilliant at keeping everyone entertained while you wait. We visited during the ‘Dinosaurs Return’ exhibition which was an added bonus, the staff are very knowledgeable and you can easily see that they love their jobs and are more than happy to answer any questions that you have or tell you all about the animals, there are also some different things for children to do too. They also have a few ‘walk through’ areas which are also really interesting, although it can be hard to spot some of the animals.
However, I would recommend either eating outside or bringing a picnic with you (they have many picnic tables situated throughout the park) because the food offered at the zoo isn’t worth the money, we visited the Jungle Food Court for something to eat and found that they had very little food available, we settled on chips with curry sauce; only to be told that no toppings were available. At that point we decided to get a drink and eat something later when we left the zoo. The penguin coffee shop is a great place to go if you are just looking for a quick snack and a drink, if you’re quick enough to get a seat outside, you can also see the penguins from your seat.
When you visit, be ready to do a lot of walking! The zoo doesn’t seem too big from the outside and can be easy to miss if you are travelling there by coach or bus but when you get inside it’s huge, there are so many animals and so much to see. There is a car/​van which is available for people less able to walk but I recommend taking a cold drink into the zoo with you, the drinks from the stalls/​vans can be quite expensive. The gift shop also has a selection of items that you can buy, that vary from ‘pocket money’ prices to more expensive items, there is something for everyone.

Theres nothing I can add to the fantastic reviews given here. Edinburgh zoo is wonderfull, has great schemes to protect animals in the wild and is highly educational.
I find the staff here to be energetic and willing to engage with you and answer your stupid questions, such as do armadillos smell?*
My top tip, the indoor bird area where you can walk through is worth staying in longer than you might think, small birds come out to play if your quiet and its pure magic.
*they smell real bad

An absoloutely wonderful place. I got taken here for my birthday this year and having never been to Edinburgh zoo i didnt know what to expect so was pleasantly surprised at the size and scope of the zoo itself. Be prepared, it took us 5 hours of walking to see the entire zoo so be prepared for either return visits to see everything or a long trip!
Also a point of note is to think of the weather, for instance we went when it was cold and the penguins lvoed it! they were swimming and very active but other animals were sleeping or in their indoor enclosures only as they hated the cold. We plan to go back during the summer to see things like the monkeys, lemurs lions and such rolicking about in the warm weather! Yes, i enjoyed it that much that i planned a return visit during my first visit lol.
One of the things that i really loved were the walk-​through parts such as pelicans where you actually walk through the enclosure. They also have this for lemurs as well as i believe wallaby art which, in better weather, lets you get closer to the animals. We also had little events such the reptile show and tell where we got to hold two snakes and see a variety of items made from snakes and snake items. Also we got to see the penguin parade which is where the penguins (if they feel like it) come out for a wee wander around which lets you get ridiculously close to them.
To help you on your way for hunger and snackage you can go into any of the numerous restaurants, snack stops and ice ream places which are open dependent on the weather.
A fantastic place and i cant wait to go back!

I didn’t like it. It was a very sad place. Most of the animals were sleeping and it was very expensive.

In my head I’m anti-​zoo, anti keeping animals in captivity, and anti paying to see animals.
In reality, I love Edinburgh Zoo. They do some great conservation work and when you’re there it’s a lot bigger and the animals have much more space that you would expect for a zoo in the city.
Edinburgh Zoo has a pretty wide range of animals, something to interest most people and the keepers are really knowledgeable if you ask them any questions.
My particular favourite is the Penguins, they are so cheeky and just look like they are having an absolute ball! And if you time your visit right, you can see the penguin parade where any penguins that want to get to leave their enclosure and go for a wee walk around. It’s very cute!
Let’s be honest, a review of Edinburgh Zoo wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the pandas. Whenever I’ve seen them they’ve been asleep, but I suppose the main thing is I’ve seen pandas and Edinburgh Zoo is the only place in that UK you can do that!

Just a short and cheap bus ride (£1.50) from the city centre the Edinburgh Zoo is a must place to visit if you’re a tourist in the area. Admission at this moment in time is a little more expensive than usual as they have a dinosaur exhibition type thing going on (definitely aimed at younger children), but the price is definitely worth it.
Be prepared for a lot of walking — this zoo is huge and to see everything you will definitely need a good few hours! As well as the usual types of animal there were also plenty of animals that I’ve never seen before and also some I’d never heard of so I even learnt a little as well as having a great time.
I enjoyed the whole experience from start to finish. I was pretty lucky in that most of the animals were roaming around their enclosures whilst I was there. I think there was only one or two that I didn’t get to see.
I wasn’t made aware on arrival that you needed to book a time slot in order to visit the giant pandas, however I was extremely lucky as some people in the group who had been admitted as I arrived at the panda section hadn’t shown up so I was allowed to take their place, phew!
Throughout the day there’s a few shows and displays you can see. I arrived just in time for the penguin march, where four or five penguins come out and take a short walk around the area surrounding their home. Absolutely adorable (I think I may have enjoyed it more than some of the small children).
I visited on a Saturday afternoon and expected it to be super busy, however due to the sheer size of the zoo I never felt like I was in anyone’s ways or that it was overly crowded.

I’ve loved going to the zoo ever since I was a little kid. I can’t get enough of the animals, in particular, flamingos, lions, chimps, koalas, giraffes and orangutans.
I had never been to a zoo in the UK until I visited Edinburgh Zoo for one of their Edinburgh Zoo Nights. This is an adult-​only event where you can enjoy street food in a relaxed atmosphere, wander round and see the animals in the early evening along with some life-​sized animatronic dinosaurs in their own lost world enclosure. Snazzy!
Ross & I wandered around the zoo for over 3 hours taking photos of the animals, eating some food and trying not to pass out while trekking up the hill to the dinosaurs. I loved the fact we could roam around the zoo without a massive crowd, screaming kids (sorry!) and at times, felt like we had the entire zoo to ourselves. Even though we didn’t get to see the meerkats, lions or tigers due to them hiding or the pandas due to breeding season, we enjoyed ourselves.
The only downfall of the night was the pesky weather, sunny one minute, raining the next. As I’m rather unfit, the hill to the top was a bit of a hike. Luckily, I wasn’t the only unfit person around so I didn’t feel too bad. There were little benches on the way up for much needed rest breaks. When I got to the top it was definately worth it for the views over Edinburgh. Moral of the story? don’t let steep hills put you off.

I have been visiting Edinburgh zoo for over 40 years I went as a child and since visited with my own children and now my grandchildren. I have always loved it but now find the enclosures are not as good. I visited flamingoland zoo last week and was amazed at the difference the animals all at eye view and well equipped and maintained enclosures. the tigers n lion feeding times were awesome and the keepers talks too. I am sad to say I will not be visiting Edinburgh zoo again and think flamingoland could give Edinburgh a few tips

Wow what can I say but wow. I love zoos and I must admit that this zoo is definitely now one of my best zoos. The reason why this zoo is amazing is the space that it has for its animals, how clean the zoo is, the friendlies of the staff and how the animals all look very happy. The other main reason that this zoo is totally amazing is that it is the only zoo in the UK to have some pandas and koala bears. What a joy to see I have never seen a panda or kola bear in real life before only ever on TV. I was lucky enough to get to see the panda roll over and yawn and one of the koalas eating, was so cute. I know some people think zoos are cruel but least they are save and least this way zoos are helping keep animals alive and save from poachers and save from total extinction. All the animals there seemed very happy and they all had enough space to roam around in. Particular areas that was well done and very spacious was the monkeys, pygmy hippos and penguins. The monkeys have a great big hill with many trees to swing to, the hippos a great pond and greenery and the penguins well a vast area of water and ground and they even had their own umbrellas to shelter under. Edinburgh zoo even had two rare white penguins so adorable to see and my first sighting ever of a white penguin. I would totally fly back to Edinburgh just to go to the zoo alone that is how much I loved the zoo and for sure if the panda ever has a baby I will be flying out there straight away.

I’m sorry to be giving this event only 3 stars but I was really, really looking forward to this and it just didn’t live up to expectations. To be honest, the Scottish weather has a lot to do with that so I would like to come back again on a balmy evening.
The event starts at 6pm, giving you 4 hours to wander the zoo and take in the entertainment with a cocktail in your hand. We arrived at the zoo at 7.30 after a points failure at haymarket station got our evening off to a bad start which was disappointing. On arrival, a cheerful zoo lady gave us each a dinosaur mask which we excitedly put on. Within minutes of arriving, while standing

Ok. I am no expert on Zoo’s having been to a total of 1. This one. Actually, i might have been to a zoo in Germany when I was a kid but for the life of me can’t remember it. Anyway… this is a zoo. They have animals (no surprise there) and I have to say that they were most rude as they all seemed to be asleep whenever we walked up. The lion, big monkeys and rhino were very lazy indeed! I think that they should have been told we were coming and put on more of a show for us. Still what can you do! Of course the birds were awake (who really wants to look at them though!) In particular the annoying pelicans who sounded like they were farting as they honked at each other. How rude! The meerkat wouldn’t stop staring at me. He thought he was hard and stood there rigidly and just kept watching me. Lucky for him he was behind that glass or it would be on!
Now the penguins are another story. Little birds in tuxedos. Prim and proper indeed. Just how a gentleman should always be dressed. Take that meerkat! These guys show respect! I’ll be back to visit with these guys again.
Sadly the panda was in no mood and the tiger has either escaped or eaten the zebra and been put away as neither of these guys were available. Some excuse was given about upgrading facilities however I suspect foul play!
I never tried the food but hope its better than what is being given to the monkeys. I mean geez can’t you at least splurge for maccy d’s? These guys need energy not vegetable and fruit! Maybe that’s why they were snoozing in the shade all day?

We visited today and our party consisted of me and my wife, our 11yr old son and 8yr old daughter. The weather was nice and sunny but it was chilly due to the chill factor.
The zoo is set in a large area and there is a fair amount of walking to be done to see everything so ensure you wear comfortable footwear! We decided to go to straight to the feed of the day, one of the scheduled feeds and here we met Barry, one of the zoo presenters. He presented well and after the talk we stopped and my children and wife asked some questions. Barry was very thorough in answering and even showed us pictures and videos about other animals he had worked with. He then offered to show us one of the most dangerous animals in the zoo and on the way he presented to us and others the Pygmy hippo. As for the most dangerous animal you’ll have to visit to find out! We also watched him do a presentation re Sun Bears and that was excellent too. His talks and enthusiasm made the day for us and we continued to explore the zoo. If you see him ask
him about wolves!
We the had lunch in the Grasslands Restaurant and the food was on par price wise for most on site catering but the quality was excellent. All freshly cooked and well presented. The staff worked hard to ensure tables were clean and cutlery etc available.
We then visited the majority of the rest of the park including the penguin parade although the penguins chose not to parade today. I like the way the animals aren’t forced to do something and this made the visit all the more enjoyable knowing it wasnt a show.
One tip to share is if you haven’t booked tickets for the panda viewings then just roll up and see if they can fit you in. We were very lucky in that all those who booked didn’t turn up so there were free spaces. We saw both pandas and loved it!
They are doing some re-​organising of animals so some pens were shut but this didn’t detract from the overall experience.
All in all we had a wonderful day and can only praise all of the staff there, especially Barry, as they all work hard to make your day a good one.

Not reviewed the Zoo? Really — where’s my head at!
I have been a RZSS (Royal Zoological Society of Scotland) since 2005 and I try to visit as often as I can.
Just recently I went with my nieces who are ¹³⁄₁₄ years old and they really enjoyed it.
My personal favourite is the Monkey House with a lot of monkeys interacting with the visitors, and the Bodungo Experience were the chimp family were telling of some cheeky monkey kids. My nieces favourite visits were clearly the meerkat enclosure and the penguins. All the other animals, birds, rhinos, predator cats and reptiles were fairly animated and provided good picture and video opportunities. We were able to join a group of ‘Panda visitors’, unfortunately the Pandas were resting, but we did get a glimpse.
A lot of information about the animals habitat and endanger listing was giving us enough to appreciate what the RSZZ is trying to achieve.
It was a long day and we did a lot of walking. Afterwards we were knackered but we had taken 100’s pictures and videos!

We had a great time at the Edinburgh Zoo this past weekend. The zoo is large — it has some of the largest exhibits I’ve ever seen. The zebra exhibit was truly remarkable. I couldn’t believe how much space the animals had. Clearly, the zoo is interested in making the animals comfortable, as opposed to simply cramming in as many exhibits as possible.
Speaking of the zebras, their exhibit is situated about half way up the HUGE hill in the middle of the zoo. We did not realize the zoo was situated on (what felt like) a mountain! I don’t know how unfit people could properly navigate this place; it was quite a workout! I would not recommend coming here after you’ve done a 10 mile run in the morning, like I did! I was definitely beat by the end of the visit!
The other really remarkable exhibit were the penguins. Another huge exhibit with DOZENS of penguins. We were there during feeding time, so of course all of the penguins were very active. We really enjoyed looking at and comparing the different varieties of penguins in the exhibit, and really got a kick out of some of their antics.
If you’re in Scotland, you must pay a visit to the Edinburgh zoo!

I had a fantastic time at the zoo and was really impressed by it since I didn’t know just how nice it is or how many great animals they have there. The two pandas were stunning to see, although they are so sedate just sitting and munching away on their bamboo that they were more mesmerising than anything. I loved seeing the playful penguins that were so cute, as well as the adventurous and even rowdy monkeys. The zebras, flamingos and tigers were also stunning in their own ways. The zoo is a lot bigger than I had expected and it is very well maintained. There are so many great animals to watch.
The layout of the zoo makes it feel a bit like you’re on an adventure popping up different paths and peeping into different enclosures and pools. Despite the pricey admission (£16 for adults or £50 for a family of four!), the zoo is really well kept and it is evident how much care and effort goes into the maintenance, research, and keeping the animals happy. The zoo not only has great animals to see but also hosts talks with zookeepers telling about the animals, which were interesting.
One of my favourite surprises of my trip here was going up on the Sky Climber! It is a great structure of ropes, obstacles and balance beams one floor up in the air. The friendly staff ensured we were safely secured in harnesses before we ventured up to test our balance and have some good, old-​fashioned fun in an adventure course up in the air. It was really brilliant!