Chester Zoo Reviews 168

Visited on the 27.03.2026 to take part in a Experience booking to feed the penguins!! One of the most enjoyable things i have ever done!! From the minute we arrived at Experience HQ and were met by our amazing guide Naomi who made the start of this birthday gift wonderful!! It was for my birthday and my daughter accompanied me and we had the best time!! Naomi escorted us to the exhibit and handed us over to an equally amazing colleague named Ellie. What a wonderful experience and Ellie's knowledge of each of the 64 penguins was fascinating!! Would happily book to do this again!! Huge thank you to Naomi and Ellie whose enthusiasm, kindness and friendly manner made our day (along with the penguins being awesome too)! Thank you!!

Chester Zoo used to be a great zoo. Sure, it's still the largest in the UK. And while I understand this come with general overheads and conservation costs, the ticket prices are steep. However, for a day out, I accepted paying them in advance. It was only after a 90 minute drive when they tell you upon arrival that certain areas are closed, 'Sorry for the inconvenience', but curiously no mention of this on their app or site when you book online.

Then comes the food charges. These are beyond extortionate, they're criminal. One plain pretzel was £6.50!!!!!! It would have been a rip of at half that price! And with regular sized vanilla latte (which I didn't taste any vanilla), and one bottle of water, £14.95!!!! This is just daylight robbery and a betrayal of paying customers good will. You know full well that when people are onsite they're going to pay for food and drink. While I can expect some mild exploitation here as you would expect at say a service station on the motorway, this prices are sickeningly insulting and beyond any level of reason. It's literally just fleecing people for the sake of it because you can. Disgusting behaviour from an institution that proclaims to support conservationism and relies on the goodwill of its visitors. I will never come back here again, not unless you slash food and drinks prices by at least 50% of your current rates.

And lastly, I asked for some food when I got here at 10am, the staff said, 'Sorry we don't serve those items until 11:30am', but the board behind them makes no mention of this.

Terrible.

With these prices I bet someone high up, the owners of the park, are lining their pockets and feathering their nests nicely!

Never again.

Last time.

And I urge others not to visit here lest they want to take out a small loan to cover the experience.

Oh one other thing, to top it off, many of the enclosures are empty and devoid of actual animals. Great day out so far.

Stayed in the Reserve for 2 nights 3 days, what a magnificent experience. From the moment we arrived the staff were attentive, helpful and genuinely pleasant. They very obviously enjoy working here. The accommodation was spacious, luxurious and everything catered for. Food on the restaurant was exceptional and a great choice. Only tiny comment, it took an hour to fill the outside bath but boy was it worth the wait. Imagine relaxing in a hit bath after a long day walking watching the Giraffes doing their stuff. The individual experiences were great and the keepers are so enthusiastic and knowledgeable on their field (and beyond). We learnt so much about the conservation work being done, all with the welfare of the animals at the absolute heart. We had a lot of time with many but Poppy and Rachel stood out for us. But everyone, without exception, was excellent. The waiting staff were a little slow but obviously new to the place and learning their skills, that did not cause us a problem in the slightest. It was a lot of money but absolutely worth every penny. I booked for my daughters and myself as an Xmas present and we were not disappointed. A very special treat and the nearest i will get to a safari. Feeding the giraffes 🦒 was the absolute highlight such magnificent beautiful animals. Thank you all, im saving already for a return visit with my Fiancée.

We had a half term visit to Chester zoo but also managed to get a lodge at the Reserve. The whole experience from check in to check out was perfect. The accommodation was stunning. The food good. And the two days at the zoo did not disappoint. Every staff member went over and above to make us welcome and they were so helpful. In particular I would like to mention Theo who was looking after the snow leopards. This lovely man was so knowledgeable with his facts and information. He did not stalk us out just gently approached to tell us about the animals. Such a charming young man. John who was with the rodents also knew everything there was to know about his area.
We will definitely visit again perhaps in better weather!

A wet day on 6th Feb 2026 so many animals stayed in their shelters/bedrooms. We saw about one third of the animals signposted so very disappointing.
Maybe the zoo could offer cheaper prices on wet days? £78 for two adults was way too expensive for such a poor showing of animals.

Booked for the Savannah experience in an overnight lodge. The accessible lodge I booked, which was needed, was changed by reception at last minute but was not told this, by the time the children had unpacked and claimed their beds we realised there was no accessibility for my son and his powered wheelchair, he was unable to go through into bedrooms for lack of space, he was unable to get into the bed or go to the toilet. We were hyped up about all the extras we would get for the price, they were not worth it. We had booked for the storytelling and Lantern Parade, the children were unable to access these as it was our mealtime, children had to be an adult for storytelling and after waiting an extraordinary long time for our meal we missed the slot for the Lantern Parade, no help towards this was offered from staff. Although we had unlimited time within the zoo, we saw what was available within a couple of hours, which was not a lot of animals. I feel extremely let down by this experience and it was most definitely not worth the money. I have put in a formal complaint but this has just been seen as 'feedback' and is not being dealt appropriately which means I am going to have to take this matter further, not needed if they just dealt with my correspondence in a correct manner.

Loved our day out here with my wife and kids. Lots to do and had some good food at the restaurant also. Definitely recommend for something to do in summer with the family

We took our 2 year old granddaughter
We had a lovely time
We saw a lot of animals
Some weren’t in their pens but you expect that sometimes
Everywhere was signposted well
All the staff i came across were really helpful and polite.
Took our own picnic/drinks in our festival cart
Plenty of room.
We go at least once a year and love it
Debs

Our family were appalled. Totally overpriced and absolutely nothing to see. Most enclosures were empty. As stated on their website there are over 30,000 animals to see, I counted the amount of animals we saw today - 5, just about. For some reason we must have missed the other 29,995. Not recommended at all.

My son said this isn't a zoo - you just walk and walk and don't see any animals!! No lions, no cheetahs, no wild dogs, literally empty cages!! No signs or explanation why the animals aren't there! A pure rip off

I attended today with my mother, sister & my two year old son. It was extremely busy (which I understand it is the holidays, however the zoo should have a maximum capacity as it really affected our ability to see any animals) and people had no social etiquette or manners. There are designated smoking areas, amazing, however people were still smoking anywhere & vaping too. The lack of adequate & accurate signposting around the zoo is shocking, it would help to have paint lines of the “zones” which you want to follow. That would also make it more fun for the kids too. The food & drink pricing is pretty high, especially considering the service is slow. We were there just after opening & none of the food outlets had any vegan food options available. As we were exiting the zoo, we attempted to make enquiries about an annual membership however the worker at the desk really couldn’t be bothered speaking with us or answering our questions. Overall, we were extremely underwhelmed with our experience today.

Chester zoo was amazing we where able to see all the animals including the tigers, one of the panthers and the snow leopards up close as they where sleeping on there backs and rolling around. Learn the map before you go we did get a little lost but staff where happy to show us the way, we had a very lucky day seeing all the animals and as you leave there’s more to see round closing time. Definitely get the refill drinks in the summer only downside is the refills are all fizzy drinks would be great to have squash as refills. Thank you Chester zoo for an amazing time x

My grandaughter and I went on the predator trail today at Chester zoo. It was absolutely fantastic and our guides John, Christos, Emma and Georgia we fantastic. They gave us the best trail and we saw all the animals we hoped to and more. Including the snow leopards jaguar and tigers . Thank you and we will definitely do it again

We did the Secret Life of the Zoo tour with Naomi and Charlotte, and it was great - they certainly know their stuff about the animals!

Excellent customer service from all.

Just back from Snow Leopard breakfast and all I can say is wow, wow, wow and WOW!!! Absolutely fantastic and fascinating experience. Christos, Ruby and Georgia we so welcoming and passionate about working for Chester Zoo. Helen our guide was brilliant as well as very informative with lots of very interesting facts about the snow leopards. Got to see keeper put out food for these beautiful 3 Snow Leopards, Nubra (Mum), Yashin (Dad) and super cute baby Bheri. Followed by an amazing big breakfast in the historic Oakfield Restaurant. Highly recommend

A very uncomfortable experience - we entered what we had assumed was the guest information building at the front of the zoo (which we realise now is the place you visit when partaking within an experience) only to overhear a particularly unpleasant, racist and frankly sexist conversation between two older male members of staff. Furthermore, other members of staff were abruptly dismissive of us when trying to ask for help - a blonde lady (possibly Kirsty - we struggled to recall the name on the badge) treated us like fools suggesting we had not read the signage above the door before entering.

Happily, we had not bought tickets at the time, so swiftly changed our plans.

We visited today, the tickets were cheaper than usual so we thought it would be a great day out. I can’t say it was great, we did see some amazing animals including a baby orangutan, Rhino, and Giraffes, however the children were really disappointed that some of their favourite animals were either not there or not visible. My 9 year old was so disappointed when the Capybaras were nowhere to be seen, and the lions, the snow leopard, the lemur walk, didn’t have Lemurs! One thing I thought was a bit of a rip off was the marshmallows for roasting, a bag of identical large marshmallows are £4 from B&M they were selling a single marshmallow for £2.80.
I did feel sad that there were lots of animals that were alone 😔
I get that sometimes the animals aren’t around or indoors, but when my child is walking around looking and saying no, nothing in there, and again nothing in there, it’s a bit annoying.

It was our first visit to the zoo since I was little, I'm now 50+, so didn't really know what to expect after all these years, I think the last time I went it was to see Jubilee the elephant. It was really nice to see the animals, granted there were no lions, tigers or cheetah, and we were told the bat house was closed today on arrival, but it didn't spoil the visit. A regular latte was £4.05 and it was well worth it, as for prices in the shop, it was very mixed, they have a very good range of £1 items on the till (pens etc). I've seen comments on here about rudeness of staff, I have to say we did not experience this at all, from going in, through security, visiting the areas etc, they staff were friendly and very courteous, we were made to feel very welcome. Yes, it is expensive and can imagine for a small family it's out of the question, but as for a once of year treat it would be great.

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.