Chester Zoo Avis 

Disappointing day out.
Expensive entrance costs, misleading offers on line, that don’t appear to materialise, minimal animals to view. Most pens appeared empty, and some looked in poor condition, especially the water features in some pens.
The zoo looks tired, not a patch on how it used to be.
Can’t believe it’s rated as one of the best in the world!

Do not be fooled by the £10 for 3 hours offer you spend an hour in a queue of traffic directed to park miles away from entrance. Too many people all at once queues for everything so if you queue to go see the bats then that’s all you will see as by the time you get through the traffic walk miles to the entrance you only get an hour and a half. Then to top it all off no staff directing traffic so you are sat in your car for over an hour without moving then everyone starts driving across field to jump queuing traffic it was like wacky races. Absolute greediness from Chester zoo ramming as many people in as possible not too mention the rip off prices of everything ramming it all goes to conservation down your throat to try to justify their prices.

We had the most amazing stay at the reserve and could not believe how amazing this lovely zoo is.It is without a doubt the best zoo in the uk the animals are so healthy and happy and I could not believe the behaviour as if they were in their natural habitat I have never seen this before.All the animals were beautiful but I cannot believe I actually got to see a real life Komodo dragon it has been my dream from being a small girl and they did not disappoint.We also got to see the lovely womble and her mum and it made our day.And last of all I just want to say how amazing your staff are Paul was brilliant telling us all about the Komodo dragons and her 2 amazing sons he gave us so much information my daughter was fascinated and also to the lovely Kathy who we had the pleasure of chatting too whilst walking through the zoo thankyou you really made our days x

the animals were nice but we did not see much and everything is so expensive even the food and the food tasted so bad on top of that.everything is just to expensive in chester zoo

Just came back from zoo today after not visiting in over 8 years as i was dissapointed last time and time before i now have taken my family because its close to us and once again extremely ripped off had a better days at a farm park dont bother wasting your money i now see they offer the reserve to stay over for the night in their lodges 😂 some sort of joke that place. Worst zoo experience the uk has to offer

Not even worthy of a 1 star. You’d be better off just walking around a local park for nothing you’d see more wildlife. Comically bad signage even for the very few animals you can see. A complete rip off, don’t waste your money.

Half of the enclosures had no animals in them despite notices on enclosure fences saying there were animals in there. Deffinitely did not get value for money. Blackpool zoo next time, more animals and not so spread out. Best part of the day was the food. Family of 6 fed for under £60. Very tasty and plenty of it, value for money x

Premium prices, disappointing experience and poor complaint resolution

We visited Chester Zoo as a family on Thursday 13 August 2026. Unfortunately, what should have been an enjoyable family day out left us extremely disappointed.

Before our visit I had purchased a Chester Zoo refillable cup for £15. Throughout the day I approached multiple outlets trying to collect it, but nobody was able to provide one.

This was particularly frustrating because it was a hot, sunny day and the whole point of buying the refillable cup in advance was to have convenient access to drinks. Instead, I had to spend additional money purchasing drinks.

After complaining, Chester Zoo eventually confirmed in writing that there had actually been a shortage and they had sold out of refillable cups on the day of our visit. They also acknowledged that I should have been told this.

What I find particularly disappointing is that Chester Zoo accepted payment for the cup in advance, couldn’t supply it, yet during the visit nobody simply told me they had sold out. I therefore wasted time repeatedly trying to obtain something that wasn’t available.

Chester Zoo has now agreed to refund the £15, although I don’t regard this as compensation or a goodwill gesture. It is simply returning money paid for a product they have confirmed they couldn’t supply.

Our experience at Bembe Grill was also poor.

I had to specifically ask for our table to be cleaned and for the floor around our table to be mopped. Even after asking, I wasn’t satisfied with the standard of cleanliness.

We ordered bottomless drinks, but our food arrived before the glasses. We eventually had to approach staff ourselves to ask for them.

I also ordered half a roast chicken and was surprised by how quickly the food arrived. Chester Zoo subsequently explained in its complaint response that its food is pre-made so guests don’t have to wait for long periods. Regardless of the preparation method, given the premium prices being charged, I didn’t feel the overall food, cleanliness and service experience represented particularly good value.

We were also disappointed with the number of major animals we were unable to see, including lions, tigers, jaguars and larger primates.

To be completely fair to Chester Zoo, they explained in their response that animals have access to indoor and outdoor areas away from public view to minimise stress and support natural behaviour. I completely accept this and absolutely agree that animal welfare should take priority over visitor entertainment.

However, as a paying visitor reviewing the experience we actually had, missing so many of the animals we’d particularly hoped to see inevitably affected our enjoyment of the day and our perception of value for money.

What disappointed me further was the handling of my complaint.

Initially, the £15 refund I had specifically requested wasn’t addressed. I had to follow this up before Chester Zoo confirmed that the cups had sold out and agreed to refund me.

When I raised the restaurant issues, I was subsequently asked whether I had spoken to staff at the time to try to resolve them. I had — I specifically asked for the table and floor to be cleaned and later had to approach staff about the missing bottomless-drink glasses.

After clarifying this, Chester Zoo confirmed that my feedback would be passed to the Food & Beverage management team so the issues could be addressed with staff and retraining provided where required.

Despite the combination of issues, Chester Zoo declined to provide any further compensation or goodwill gesture.

Their final response referred to admission tickets being non-refundable, although I wasn’t asking for my admission tickets to be refunded. I had asked them to consider an appropriate gesture of goodwill given the overall experience.

I recognise that Chester Zoo is a conservation charity and does important work. That doesn’t mean, however, that paying visitors shouldn’t expect reasonable standards of customer service, cleanliness and value for money.

I gave Chester Zoo several opportunities through its complaints process to address my concerns before leaving this review.

Unfortunately, the only financial resolution has been a refund for a £15 product they acknowledge they sold out of and couldn’t provide in the first place.

Based on our experience, I wouldn’t currently return or recommend Chester Zoo to family or friends.

The Zoo was overcrowded with visitors and lots of animals enclosures were empty. So many people were so loud and scaring the animals. We witnessed human behavior at its worst and adults & children were shouting and tapping on glass windows of reptiles. Overbooking a zoo this big is pure greed. We will never return and felt really sorry for the animals that are being exploited by this company.

We paid almost £200 for our family trip. Wild dogs not out, tiger not out, snow leopard not out, sun bear not out, i could carry on. Lots of looking at empty enclosures. The few animals we did see were inside. Had map but was walking in circles never found animals we were looking for. All left exhausted and disappointed. We usually go every year, sometimes twice but i think this has probably put us off for the future.

This was a really disappointing experience. As a family of four, we were hoping to have a fun day out for the kids, especially as there were so many exciting and interactive activities advertised. Unfortunately, the reality was very different.

There were endless queues for many of the attractions, meaning we were unable to participate in any of the Afterglow events. We also spent around an hour trying to find the dinosaur show, only to discover that there were no dinosaurs there, despite the advertised schedule suggesting there would be regular shows.

We also didn’t get to see many of the animals. Whether this was down to poor timing or something else, I’m not sure, but it was another disappointment.

The directions and signage around the site were also very poor. We spent a lot of time walking around trying to find different attractions, which became frustrating and took away from the day.

We then tried to get some food at the food hall and were told the wait would be around 25 minutes. However, we stood in a long queue that barely seemed to move at all, so eventually we had to give up on that too.

This is advertised as an interactive and fun day out for children, but unfortunately there was very little that we were actually able to enjoy. The main activities that seemed readily available for the kids were the activity parks, but we didn’t travel all this way and spend over £60 for a family ticket just to use a park that we could access for free elsewhere.

Overall, we left feeling very disappointed and that the experience simply wasn’t worth the money. The queues, lack of clear directions, unavailable attractions and difficulty getting food really affected what was supposed to be a fun family day out.

Visited the zoo for the first time spent loads of money on food and drink and the manager from the bembe restaurant had a really bad attitude she has poor service very disappointed

Absolute shocking was 13 years since last had been. Signage was disgraceful going round in circles the map they give you is totally different to the map you download on the app. Seen more birds then anything else could have just stood in me back garden and seen the same. No lions tigers, cheetahs, snow leopard, and bears one rhino and that was about it. 4 pound or so for a water 🤣🤣 the people here have definitely been on the sniff. Went right down hill it's amazing the amount of people going in tho absolute stealing a living. This zoo has nothing on Blackpool. Would not recommend going here maybe once but not now much better zoos around

barely any animals in the enclosures it was hot today so that is fair enough but every animal was either inside or looking half dead miserable seen more dissapointed children today than animals the food courts were overpriced tiny portions almost inedible there was only a few people actually eating the rest brought a pack lunch i would next time too horrible experience walking around in 25 degree weather trying to find an animal enclosure just for a keeper to tell you 'their inside its too hot' i wouldnt mind because as i said before it is hot they have a massive layer of fur but they know that barely animals will be out and still charge you the same price i think if its a certain amount of degrees theyre should be a discount because spending £200 for a day out just to walk around playing wheres waldo with a tiger in 30 degree heat is not my idea of a great day out. would not be back in a hurry!

Overpriced, too many people, lack of animals out on display, expensive food, car park needs more signage to avoid spending ages looking. Oh and the bar staff didn't seem to have a clue what they were doing.

Decent zoo and quite clean just some of the animals you could not see

Not worth entry fee signage was poor we walked the same circle 3 times trying to find different enclosures. Food was over priced went to June's diner had to take burger back as it was stone cold.
No cheetahs,lemurs,lions they could actually charge people entry when they might not even have them we wouldn't know. Very odd a lot of people are saying they haven't seen these animals . Lots of birds think enclosures should have been designed better where you can walk all round in case the animals are on other side. Was nice day but could've been better and not really worth the price

We visited on Friday 7th August as a family of 6, one adult three older children and two toddlers. We arrived at 10:30am and stayed until 7:30pm. Not many animals to see both indoors or outdoors at all today which was disappointing. We were lucky enough to see a few animals after 4:30pm!!! The sun was in and out and the hottest temperature said 20° but felt like 18°. The price of entry is extortionate.
We did not buy food due to the entry cost, we took a picnic instead. There are plenty of places to sit for picnics and plenty of places to buy food and drinks. The signs are not particularly helpful in some places when looking for animals so we walked the same way a couple of times, however, the staff are very helpful and knowledgeable.
We waited 20 minutes for the boat ride and they wouldn't allow my 1 year old on because she was having a tantrum and refusing to stand up so they said they haven't seen her walk unaided, so she is not allowed on. Are guests with a disability who are unable to walk without assistance allowed to go on the boat ride? If so then what is the difderence with a toddler who would be carried off by an adult anyway regardless of if they can walk or not? I wouldn't recommend it anyway as my daughters only saw 2 animals the entire journey.
There were a few little fairground rides, £4 a token which is a bit much especially for a 1 year old who needed to sit on an adults lap, maybe if they reduced the cost they might get more people on. We have visited before and had a great time however, today was a very long day, very disappointing, very expensive and I doubt we will be visiting again.

£150 for a family of 5 and to say we are all disappointed is a compliment to chester zoo! Were do i start, 1) the park is too big takes hours to get around it we were all knackered by the end, 2) the food is too expensive and tasteless and dont get me started on the £3 can of coke or £4 magnum ice cream, 3) every activity inside isnt included in the already excessive entrance fee for example £7.50 EACH child for a 30 second go around a track on a very slow moving go cart, 4) what about the animals??? Did i say animals??? At a zoo??? Seeing as animals are the main attraction of a ZOO its beyond belief that there are NONE, NO jaguars, NO lions, NO tigers, NO snow leopards NO nothing apart from birds and ducks or the odd giraffe or elephant !!! May as well go to the park and save myself £150!!!! Shocking that they can even call it a zoo we all actually got to a point were we got to the enclosures and didnt even bother looking in them we basically paid £150 to walk around an empty zoo!!! NEVER AGAIN

Went to Chester Zoo and must say it was a magical day out. Some Animals were not present but that didn't spoil the day. Beautiful enclosures, well maintained polite staff. To think they care for these endangered Animals. Would defiantly recommend. Loved every minute of the day. The Elephants, bats and butterflies especially!