Chester Zoo Omdömen 

We love Chester zoo but I do understand the price comments. I found it was expensive to visit so took out a yearly membership which I find much better value for money it also gives you 10% off things around the zoo. Often the animals are harder to see on busier days but visiting during the week is magical! If you can visit on a weekday it’s really worth it. I think that it’s good for animal welfare that they can remove themselves if needed. A few deaths of older big cats have occurred lately due to old age so this may also be why. Keep up the good conservation work Chester!

Chester zoo was an amazing memory for me as a child, my parents would bring me every summer.

Pros -
The enclosures are amazing, they are among the best I have seen alongside Longleat and West Midlands safari. I really appreciate how much effort was put into certain enclosures to make them feel and look great, whilst actually meeting animal’s needs.

They have a wide range of animals, larger than most zoo’s; it’s definitely the biggest zoo I have been to.

The conservation efforts are also amazing, they are doing wonders to support many endangered and very rare species, some very close to extinction, their work truly matters.

The walkthrough areas are the highlight of the zoo, it’s truly magnificent to walk into areas that felt like I was transported into another world and into the exact locations and regions the animal’s were from. There’s something very enchanting about these parts of the zoo, even though we came mainly to see the jaguars, snow leopards, cheetah (that doesn’t seem to be there?) tigers and lions all of which we didn’t get to see either due to closures or empty enclosures.

Cons -
The staff were incredibly rude, out of the many I met there were only two nice individuals and they were doing the harder work. The rest however ruined the experience, they talked down to me and treated me poorly, felt like they judged me based on how I looked. One of the worst experiences in terms of staff friendliness out of any place I have been so far and this impacted my rating dramatically, I came for a nice day out, that I had been looking forward to for many years. Some of the staff were also just not very helpful.

A lot of enclosures were closed, empty and some very unkept, there were some that had clearly been forgotten about as they weren’t the main focus. It should’ve derailed on the website that these would be closed, otherwise I might’ve chosen to come another day. There were many viewing locations only for small children, so most adults wouldn’t be able to see, especially taller people. Most of the photo-op areas were also child only.

They didn’t have many events running despite the size of the zoo, seen many more zoo’s that are much smaller have more events and more enrichment for the animals. And you cannot even know when the events are on without the app, there are no signage or anything indicating them.

The zoo is much more catered about children than I remember, for example there used to be more “family” focused things to do (such as the railway, which is now gone) and now there is many more play areas. I did not like this environment and some interactive activities were poorly placed next to very shy animals, meaning lots of crying and screaming children next to enclosures where the animal simply wouldn’t leave it’s den.

The cost. £74 for two adults is extreme, it is the most expensive zoo I have been to aside from longleat during their light show that felt much more worth the price. Given the closures, empty enclosures, and that it’s September on a weekday, this is far too overpriced, to follow this their gift shop was the most overpriced out of any zoo I’ve been to yet, same with their food.

Ending thoughts -

Given the cons, the cost, I feel this zoo has unfortunately become very overhyped. It is missing the charm it had when I was younger, the excitement, and just has become very money grabby. I’m glad I went since it was nostalgic for me, but I do not think it’s worth it at the price I paid. I would not come again and I don’t think others should at this price point either. Slightly disappointed and disheartened, again, I feel I wouldn’t have rated this so poorly if I didn’t have high expectations and if the staff hadn’t been so rude. I was torn between giving this zoo 3.5/5 stars but with further rude staff in the gift shop after spending a lot of money, just let me down.
More animals doesn’t always mean a better experience.

Expensive! Over £100 to get in two adults two kids age 7,8 and our youngest 2.
Small coffee in paper cup £4
Facepainting starts at £10, small cuddly toy £25, drawing kids book £15!!! Outrageous.
The map we bought for £1 wasn't up to date and was different from the in zoo one.
We spent a while looking for the cheetahs as they're on the paper map but there aren't any now!
Jaguars open but sign saying coming soon?
Didn't see one staff member talking to anyone for educational purposes.
Signage is not great when walking around.
One helpful lady in the bats spoke to my children she was nice and the boat ride was OK after the 25 minute wait! Albeit you can't see any animals hardly.
Come on Chester Zoo we used to love this place it's unfortunately a really poor longwinded and money grabbing place now it seems.

Always an amazing day out. Love love love it!

Used to go to Chester Zoo years ago when My Son was young. How it Has Changed!!!! Took my Grandson and Son , His Partner and my Sister. Used to really enjoy it. But yesterday hardly saw any Animals , no Lions, where are the Bears?,? And only saw glimpse of a Tiger!!! Overall, disappointed! Won't be back any time soon. Its a Shame as We were all so looking forward to it!

best zoo in uk! remember lions tigers and leopard is cat! And sleeps normaly all day! a lot of animals inside in zoo! I will be back one day!

⭐ One Star: Where Are the Wild Things?!
Went to the zoo today with a group of 10 excited humans, expecting a wild day out with lions, tigers, and bears (oh my!). What we got instead was more like a nature walk through an empty graveyard Seriously, enclosure after enclosure — nada. It was like the animals had all called in sick or gone on strike for better lunch options.
The lions, tigers, and bears? Nowhere to be seen. The only “wild” creatures we encountered were a gang of seagulls aggressively mugging us for our chips. We did see some rats and a lot of locusts, so... exotic pest control, I guess?
Now, about the face painting. £10 a pop, so naturally we expected a bit of sparkle and a smile. One of our group has a lovely little boy with special needs who finds it difficult to wait in line and needs to stay in the shade. His mum kindly sat him out of the way and I held their place — standard stuff, right? WRONG. The face painter went full power trip and scolded the poor mum, then accused her of pushing in when it was her son’s actual turn. Compassion? Understanding? Not in her skillset. Honestly, the locusts showed more empathy.
It’s a massive zoo, so we walked approximately 400 miles, powered solely by hope and disappointment. By the end, the only creature we saw more than once was the same bored-looking pigeon — and even he seemed ready to leave.
The animals at this place are like the Scarlet Pimpernel: “They seek them here, they seek them there…” but unlike the Pimpernel, they don’t make an appearance. Ever.
We won’t be going back. Next time we want to see wild animals, we’ll just go to a dog park. At least they show up.

Poor value experience. It was £99 for two adults and two children and then were charged £1 for a map! The food cost was extremely expensive so best to take your own. One star reviews predominate and our experience was very much in line with these disappointing reviews. Many of the animals cannot be seen as the areas in some cases are quite large and dense. It appeared as if the animals were in hiding which was very disappointing for the children especially after a long walk to see, particularly lions and tigers. Unfortunately we felt it was a bit of a rip off and would not revisit.

Waste of money!!
Absolutely not worth the ticket price. All the best animals people go there to see e.g. lions, tigers, leopards, bears, aligators etc...none were visible. Even the realm of the red ape was completely empty.
Viewing areas had too many over grown bushes so the animals that were present were hard to see because of bushes or too far away.
Paid a lot of money to see grass and trees, kids and adults were disappointed and bored, ruined what was supposed to be a good day out.
Do not reccomend!

Saw no lions, tigers, leopards, jaguars only one elephant and one rhino. Cost a small fortune ( 5.00 for a portion of chips!!) and reminded me of the scene in Jurassic Park when they are looking for the dinosaurs and the disappointment when nothing there. Would not go again. Blackpool Zoo is much better and not as expensive.

We have visited several times before. Always find the way the animals are cared for is excellent and enjoy the visit. But this time the zoo has been over taken by greed. Entry fee is already quite expensive and now the food/drink etc kiosks are overpriced. On a hot day with only one water refill station found - at the new Heart of Africa toilet area (near the entrance) you are held to ransom for their prices. Water £3.50 Tea £3.15 Magnum £3.80 come on Chester Zoo play fair and don't be so grasping, if you had more reasonable prices we would have bought more and you would have received more money/profit. We will not be visiting again, so more money lost !!

The worst zoo, I would not recommend to visit. Took the kids for a fun day and ended up seeing empty stalls for majority of the time. Very disappointed and upset children after overpriced tickets! Would’ve had a better fun at the park. Please don't waste your money nothing to see take your time and money elsewhere!

I contacted customer services to ask about ticket pricing and my calls was answered in a professional way, the call handler was professional, polite and positive.

This was one of the best experiences I have ever had with a customer services agent.

Keep it up!

The directions to the zoo are terrible you get a sign then nothing for miles. The signs and the map inside the zoo are even worse you end up going around in circles not seeing very much at all not even any indication of North South East or West this could surely be done much better.
The worst bit was on entrance showing my blue (photo) badge and being told that is not proof of being disabled??? I had to show proof of PIP like anyone would carry a dwp letter with them! I do have to say though that the haddock in the oak field pub is exceptional well done to the chef. Most of the enclosures are empty or have one hidden animal in them in four hours we saw about ten animals. Their mapping system is atrocious it seems to keep you in the shop or food area getting to see outside this inner circle is almost impossible. You follow a sign and it just brings you back to where you were before like a maze. So not worth the extortionate entrance fee. You’d be better of going to the midland safari zoo as that is much better organised I’m not joking when I say that a 10 year old could do a better animal finder map and signposts than whoever did what they have - extremely bad Chester Zoo sort it out!

Dont bother trying to claim for their so called "Rainy Day Guarantee", as its a total scam and certainly does not exist, unless of course their happens to be a Monsoon breakout in the area and even then if it stops for just one minute, guess what, its not classed as a rainy day, even though we all got soaked!! Also, we had our Autistic grandson with us, who is obsessed with Tigers, only to find when we had walked around to the enclosure where they are supposed to be, to find absolutely no sign of them! Our grandson was beside himself. Thank you Chester Zoo, you have just lost a regular donor, as I will no longer support any Company who runs a form of scam. Also, you are missing a trick, the charges you make for food to a captive audience is frankly extortionate and I wold advise anyone thinking of going, not to bother, spend your hard earned cash on some other less ripoff attraction. Shame on you.

Suppose to be a Zoo but no animals all either hiding or cages empty and over grown. Very expensive to see nothing

Not very good my son who is autistic wanted to go on the lazy river ride which finishes at 7.30pm get there at 6.30pm whe. Not so busy to be told sorry we are shutting early due to lack of staff tried explaining to them my sons condition not interested at all wont visit again

The zoo visit was disappointing because so many animals were not in their enclosures and were not visible. Considering this, the ticket price felt far too high.

What a disappointment, one empty enclosure after another! Yes of course you'd expect some but not over 80% of them!
The main reason we cane was to see the snow leopards and hopefully their cub. Not a sign of them However they have a tv screen of the inside den, and it shows a looped video of the cub. Ermm sorry but why? Live feed please! And this highlights the issue with this zoo. There's cameras everywhere watching us but instead of investing in live animal cams and interactive displays all the development has gone into money making food and gift stores.
The phone app is appaling, yes you can type an animal and it'll direct you but its void of any other info on your trek. It could show you what you're passing and nearby, it could present you with the animals names and pictures but its just a very basic cheaply made app.
As an environmentalist and botanist I fully appreciated the planting and species chosen. The plants were amazing and compensated for the lack of animals, but this is a zoo not a gardens and you need to rethink your focus/time spent on horticulture.. As others have noted areas are overgrown to the point you cannot view what few animals that are in the pens...
Overall we left feeling very sad feeling some of the animals were in too small enclosures, looking bored, depressed, and lifeless. Like circus animals, there for a show, locked in prisons. Yes the destruction of their natural habitats is heartbreaking but shipping them across the world to die in cages is not the answer. Even if you got to see the animal up close and had a zookeeper there to storytell his charges, or a modern informative display it may educate, inform and change kids and folks view on the world.. but no, its more about selling food and toys...

If I could give zero stars I would! Chester Zoo is all about making money. The lack of the wildlife animals was ridiculous we was a family of 5 walking for hours and saw about 5 diff animals. There was no Lions, Tigers, Bears or Red Pandas. Most of the enclosures were empty.
Everything is centred around making money and seems no care is given for the animals. We won't be coming back again.
It was £3.29 for a refillable metal water bottle and yet there was only 1 filling station which was miles away.
Face painting was a min of £8 which was ridiculous.
To dig for "dinosaur bones" was £4.50. It's just such an underwhelming experience we don't want to repeat!