Chester Zoo Reviews 

Fantastic zoo, animals are obviously well looked after and balances the need for great customer service and animal welfare

Amazing day out plenty of animals plenty of amenities only let down was the aquarium I felt it was like being in the garden centre buying fish. Amazing zoo makes up for it, well worth going and can't wait to go again.

An ok zoo experience but maybe too big and spaced apart. This meant I had to miss some of my favorite animals.

Took our daughter and 3yr old grandson to zoo, supposedly to actual see the animals.but hardly seen any animals they were all inside , he wanted to see the monkeys but didn't see 1, we also had to queue up for 50 minutes for ice lollies as they said they were short staffed well should employ more staff than when it's a bank holiday, wont ever be returning there again complete waste of money and time, it wasn't cheap either £111 for nothing very very disappointed.

I absolutely love this zoo as its a conservation zoo this is the only reason I would ever visit a zoo been lots of times and always had the best time the animals are very well looked after but they are pricing themselves out, we went yesterday evenings four adults it’s not cheap to go but the price of food was an absolute joke we got 4 very small Giros three with chicken one mushroom they came with a handful of chip and we got 3 small cokes and a small bottle of lemonade how can they justify charging £70 won’t rush to go back x

I took my kids here today from Birmingham my son was really excited to see the tiger, tiger cubs, Jaguar, and panther etc.. it’s was a waste of money hardly any animals were out you cant see them at all they were hiding away somewhere I have spend over £100 on tickets plus fuel and food just to look at green grass and trees don’t waste your money coming here total scam.

Been a few years since last went and remember it being very good.
This visit couldn’t see so many animals. I appreciate they don’t view at our command, but we DO pay to see the animals! They have built it, so it is hard to see the animals, unfortunately. I wish they would consider putting in one way viewing glass, so that can see them more easily, but also not disturb the animals!
Red panda you do not get good view, as above it and just hid under the trees every single time. Very few monkeys too. Giant otter seemed distressed and calling out on its own and was sad to see.
The islands section was dire! Saw a handful of animals (if that). No tigers out at all. The dirt mounds that they are building were more interesting. We saw no point going on the boat, as nothing to see!
Penguins and flamingos were the best ones to view.
Kiosks were very good, but they do need one near chimps/giraffes and another set of toilets. No water bottles, but had water cans which were a ridiculous price.
Not sure would go again, unfortunately.

I go to a lot of zoo's - there's probably very few in the UK I haven't visited - and Chester is absolutely outstanding. Well done for creating a fantastic customer experience whilst at the same time ensuring the animals are provided with proper, clean, and appropriate enclosures.

Absolutely fantastic day out.
Yes it can get quite expensive for tickets, but it is paying for the animals, and the great staff that work there, so totally worth it.
Speaking of the staff, everyone we met was very friendly, helpful and knowledgeable, we had a great chat with Holly in the fruit bat forest. Dylan in the jaguar enclosure was also very knowledgeable and taught us a few things, also all the volunteers that help there too,
The animals all look happy and healthy, with a fair few baby, young and adolescent animals.
We were even lucky enough to see the two tiger cubs.
Very happy, thank you chester zoo. See you again soon.

always a great day out!
the parks a great size and there is plenty of things to do and loads of animals to see.
we've been loads of times and always impressed.

Good family day out with grandchildren, food was a bit expensive and busy

Great day favourite zoo! Take your kids great range of albums! Kids loved it

So today was all my 3 girls first zoo trip together. Firstly the buggies are so small which we paid for. Two of my daughters were squashed in there so the entire time there they either kept crying or had to come out of the buggy.
Then you had the older lady by the name of either Linda or Vicky at the entrance which had to give me my ticket for the photo option I paid for online (apparently they take photos of you throughout the zoo). In this case not a single photo was taken! The lady didn’t bother to greet us, just handed this black card with a code on. So I asked what on earth do I do with this? It’s my first time here. She didn’t bother to help me at all. Just left me to it. I asked so how will anyone know to take photos of us? Again only was told to go to the shop in the end. I realised she don’t want to help, so I walked off.
Throughout the stay I kept checking on the page if photos were uploaded and they weren’t. I asked several staff members and not a single one knew about it.

Regarding the animals hardly got to see alot of animals.

The signs across were a joke there.

Tickets and food prices were an absolute joke and sky high.

What a waste of a day and so much money that we do not have spare was spent!

Love Chester Zoo, it's always a great experience with the kids!

Excellent day out we don't have blue badge but staff allowed us to use disabled space as my sister is wheelchair bound

Firstly, I was shocked at the lack of clearly marked disabled spaces. It was not clear which spaces where and where not disabled ,meaning many of the disabled spaces where innocently parked in by people without a visble badge. There was also no additional space surrounding the supposedly disabled spaces for unloading pushchairs/ wheelchairs. We had to park quite far away from the park despite us being in the disabled section. This meant we had to push the empty pushchair round with us rather than go back and collect it when we needed it. There was also an error with the tickets and while I understand errors happen, I was with a special needs individual to which I informed a staff member off labeled "here to help", she said okay and we proceeded to wait in the queue for over 15 minutes, no accommodations given. I wouldn't mind but I clearly told the staff member it would not be in the child's best interest to wait in the queue as she struggles to wait. We entered the park with a much less calm child than when we arrived, which was unnecessary.

There should be more done to enable special needs visitors to enjoy their rather expensive experience. The park was very busy and way too overcrowded, much of it felt like queuing and for an individual who doesn't understand the concept of waiting, it was a waste of money really. By the time it was our turn, she wasn't really interested in seeing what was on offer. A small bay or single window marked for disabled people would really help the park to include those who find crowds distressing.

Some parts did have lower windows for the smaller people to see through but others meant the young person would need to be picked up to fully see what they where looking at, it needs to be considered that not all young people can be picked up.

Some parts of the park had double mesh railings which was differently patterned and a total eye sore. Thinking about this from the perspective of those with a visual impairment or depth perception issue, it might be useful to look at the other fencing options as it didn't feel at all accessible.

Also those with autism can somtimes find strong smells and undeclared steam posed as fake rain very confusing and for some distressing. There is very little option to get out of the indoor enclosures such once your in. Whilst I understand its a busy zoo, there should be a cut off point to where nobody's having fun, the animals are disrupted and everyone's squashed together.

I saw lots of other families having fun I can understand this is more of an accessibility issue than an issue with the park itself but I do wish things like this where taken into consideration.

Chester Zoo is the best Zoo in the UK. That's more of a fact than an opinion at this point - their enclosures are thoughtfully designed for each animal's best interests, and the work they do towards Conservation is brilliant.
However, it pains me to say that the guest experience has gone downhill over the years, likely due to various leadership changes.

For example, the 'suggested' 10% donation on top of what is already an expensive day out for most families. I appreciate the Zoo is a pricey plan to run and to staff, but automatically applying it at the entry gate and putting it on the guest to ask for its removal has always left a bad taste. The new website takes this to a new level, offering a prompt to donate when you're on your way to checkout with the 'yes' arrow pointing right, shaded in, and the 'continue without donation' button pointing left (at first glance appearing like a 'back' button) seems dishonest at best. This is a user experience designed to trick anyone not paying attention into spending more, and seems incredibly out of touch given the financial squeeze hitting most households at the moment.

When you add the extra gimmicks (photographers lingering at the gate to sell photo books, and the other chargeable experiences), it feels more like a money-grab than before. Most parents will know that the ticket price is just the start, as the gift shops, ice cream, and face-painting will have you reaching for your wallet even though you tried to plan ahead and packed a picnic. The Zoo knows this too, so why they insist on rinsing you for extra pennies before you've even stepped inside and said hello to the elephants is beyond me.

Love this zoo. My mum and I had a fantastic time wandering around, we even found a short boat ride which is free. I bought the tickets online and they were scanned at the gate for a quick and easy entry. Overall a great place to visit.

My kids loved it here, amazing day. Great range of food and the prices are not as high at we imagined! Defiantly recommend this for a family day out.