Recently opened in December 2019, I had been meaning to visit Sydney Zoo for a while now. However with bush fires and then covid our plans were delayed for a long time. So we finally made the decision to see if Sydney Zoo is worth visiting.
Note, this visit occurred before Sydney turned into a disaster zone!
Getting there
In NSW each resident had been provided 4 vouchers, 2 of which could be used for activities including a visit to the zoo, so when things were looking fairly safe we decided to make use of the voucher. A few days before our visit we purchased our tickets online which was really easy to do. I was worried that it would be difficult to use the voucher, however the site was really well set up. I’d strongly recommend buying your tickets online as it is cheaper. You can change the date up to a day before.
We selected the first time slot available. You get a 1 hour window to arrive so you don’t have to be there exactly at the beginning of the time slot. You are also allowed to stay in the zoo for as long as you like. I quite liked this set up as it meant that people arriving at the front would be pretty spread out.
In terms of getting to the zoo driving is highly recommended as there isn’t much in the way of public transport available. There is plenty of parking with attendants available to assist.
Sydney Zoo Experience
As we purchased our tickets online and had them opened on our phones we were able to skip the lines and walk straight in which was fantastic! We also grabbed a map just to ensure that we didn’t miss anything.
To explore the zoo we started by going left from the entrance and were greeted by 2 very playful elephants as we entered the African animals section.
Each section of the zoo flowed really nicely onto the next area making it pretty much impossible to get lost. Even for someone like me who has no sense of direction. There were cafes and places for lunch strategically scattered around the park with water fountains available so you can refill your water bottle. I ended up grabbing a coffee, mostly because it was sooo cold plus caffeine is hard to say no to.
Near the main lunch shop is a small playground and outdoor seating where you can still view the monkeys whilst kids are playing.
The zoo has a great variety of animals without being so large that your exhausted by the time you have gotten around. However in saying that I was expecting something larger with a few more animals.
Overall
This was a fun morning out! My partner and I spent around 2 hours there. If you have kids with you, I’d imagine this would be longer. If you’re not big on crowds I recommended going first thing. When we left around 11 am the line to enter the zoo was pretty long. However the space means you don’t feel too crowded.
I definitely recommend visiting Sydney Zoo especially if you have kids.
I always love a good trip to the zoo 😀
Its such a fun day out!!