Chester/Zoo

[Oopsididitagainandagain]

Hiya everyone!

I have just booked a short break for me, my partner and 10 month old to go to Chesterzoo in September.
I wandered if anyone had been to the zoo before, and if so, what do you recommend definitely seeing/doing whilst there?
And if anyone lives in Chester itself, is there anything much to do? Good places to eat for lunch/desserts?

thank you

 

[Prodcon21]

I love chester zoo. And it’s actually been made better by the current situation as it’s less busy and you can see things better. The only downside is (when I went at least!) the indoor things are closed, which means we didn’t see the monkeys - which are my favourite.

 

[Oopsididitagainandagain]

I love chester zoo. And it’s actually been made better by the current situation as it’s less busy and you can see things better. The only downside is (when I went at least!) the indoor things are closed, which means we didn’t see the monkeys - which are my favourite.

I’ve checked on the website and it says indoor things are now open! Such a shame you missed out on the monkeys. How long does it take to walk round all of the outside do you know? I feel like I’m certainly going to get all my daily steps in that day

 

[Prodcon21]

I’ve checked on the website and it says indoor things are now open! Such a shame you missed out on the monkeys. How long does it take to walk round all of the outside do you know? I feel like I’m certainly going to get all my daily steps in that day

We took our 2 year old (which slowed us a bit ha!) but I reckon we were there about 6 hours - and that was without the indoor bits!

 

[Oopsididitagainandagain]

Oh wow! I’m glad it’s worthy of a full day out, other zoos I’ve been to have been done after a couple of hours haha. X

 

[Linda La Hughes]

We spent the entire day there and still missed bits out as its huge !!! Such a great zoo though, definately my favourite one.

We’re going in September too

 

[Justanotherblogger]

If you are staying in Chester city centre there is a lovely restaurant on the river called hickory’s smoke house. It is an American smoke house and the food is incredible. You will have to book in though as it’s always fully booked. If that isn’t your thing then there is a burger place called shed 41. There also things like your nandos, the botanist etc. Walking round the walls of Chester is lovely and quite interesting too.

If shopping is more your thing then Cheshire oaks is great it’s a McCarther Glenn outlet however on weekends it quite busy even with covid about

 

[Secretadmirer]

Chester zoo is amazing, one of the best days out I’ve ever had. Definitely get there as early as possible because it’s massive!
I love Chester as well, nice town to have a wander round and plenty of nice places to eat. Chesire oaks designer outlet is always worth a bit of a look round as well!

 

[Naataaliiee]

We’re annual members at Chester Zoo, we love it and love taking our one year old. You can make as much or as little of it as you like. We LOVE the elephants (right by the entrance, so you can’t miss them!), the giraffes, and penguins... the inside bits were all open when we went about 3 weeks ago. It’s great because although you have to queue, it’s not packed when you get in, so you get a good view. Same for the penguins. Anything with a queue I wouldn’t be put off, as you’ll actually see the animal in question without having go peer round people.
In terms of Chester, it’s our favourite place besides Liverpool. We love it. The river is gorgeous, shopping is great... Miller and Carter is lovely there, as is Hickory’s. The Boathouse is also nice and right on the river.

edit- meant to also say there’s a pub/restaurant in the zoo, by the red pandas, which not many people seem to know about. We use it as a treat, but the times we don’t use it we take a picnic as there are lots of benches and places to eat.

 

[Upintheair83]

We’re annual members at Chester Zoo, we love it and love taking our one year old. You can make as much or as little of it as you like. We LOVE the elephants (right by the entrance, so you can’t miss them!), the giraffes, and penguins... the inside bits were all open when we went about 3 weeks ago. It’s great because although you have to queue, it’s not packed when you get in, so you get a good view. Same for the penguins. Anything with a queue I wouldn’t be put off, as you’ll actually see the animal in question without having go peer round people.
In terms of Chester, it’s our favourite place besides Liverpool. We love it. The river is gorgeous, shopping is great... Miller and Carter is lovely there, as is Hickory’s. The Boathouse is also nice and right on the river.

edit- meant to also say there’s a pub/restaurant in the zoo, by the red pandas, which not many people seem to know about. We use it as a treat, but the times we don’t use it we take a picnic as there are lots of benches and places to eat.

I LOVE Hickory’s on a sunny day sitting outside! Chester and Chester zoo is the best day out ever! It was where me and my partner went on our very first date xx

 

[Oopsididitagainandagain]

Thank you for your suggestions! I’ll definitely check out the places for food online and see which floats our boat

 

[Candytuft]

Chester is lovely. We used to spend a day at the zoo and the next mooching around the city. My husband loved a walk along the canal and then fish and chips from the shop near the town hall. It’s quite small to get about so easy and not tiring. There is an amazing shop that sells oriental things, beautiful lamps and furniture. It’s up from the bus station, near the university building and Tesco Express.
I have some wonderful memories of Chester

 

[coconochanel]

Apparently Matt Hancock has been hes a fan of ZOOO'S

 

[cholulamare]

Hiya everyone!

I have just booked a short break for me, my partner and 10 month old to go to Chesterzoo in September.
I wandered if anyone had been to the zoo before, and if so, what do you recommend definitely seeing/doing whilst there?
And if anyone lives in Chester itself, is there anything much to do? Good places to eat for lunch/desserts?

thank you

It's absolutely huge and it you want to see everything, get there early and spend the whole day there. You'll definitely be getting a lot of steps in - they had a monorail but I think it's closed now in anticipation of being dismantled.

They have a fantastic lemur enclosure with 3 types of lemurs which is outdoors and covered in netting, if you leave this until just before closing then the lemurs are usually more active as it's near feeding time, and they are very tame - they run across the path and sit in trees close to the path so you can really get up close.

The big cats are all amazing if you manage to see them - the cheetahs are easiest to get a good view of, again if you leave until later in the day they walk laps of the perimeter of their enclosure and go right past the viewing window. The lions are stunning and best to try to catch at feeding time, the tigers can be a bit elusive but worth a look, and the jaguars are worth a visit too.

As long as you're not freaked out by them I would recommend the bat enclosure, but be aware they might brush past you! Definitely try to visit the rhinos, the painted dogs and and red pandas as well.

If you visit the 'islands' section you can take a little 'boat ride' (it's on a rail underwater) and cafe up there has the best food (mostly South East Asian-inspired street food) if you're not taking a packed lunch (and these tropical slushie/ice cream things... I'm hungry now).

Sorry for long post - I have relatives who work there!

Chester itself is lovely and if the weather is good I would walk the walls or sit by the river and have a drink. The zoo is a short drive away from the city centre, not sure where you're staying (a lot of the hotels/B&Bs are the zoo 'side' of town). The Botanist does nice food & desserts.

 

[Oopsididitagainandagain]

It's absolutely huge and it you want to see everything, get there early and spend the whole day there. You'll definitely be getting a lot of steps in - they had a monorail but I think it's closed now in anticipation of being dismantled.

They have a fantastic lemur enclosure with 3 types of lemurs which is outdoors and covered in netting, if you leave this until just before closing then the lemurs are usually more active as it's near feeding time, and they are very tame - they run across the path and sit in trees close to the path so you can really get up close.

The big cats are all amazing if you manage to see them - the cheetahs are easiest to get a good view of, again if you leave until later in the day they walk laps of the perimeter of their enclosure and go right past the viewing window. The lions are stunning and best to try to catch at feeding time, the tigers can be a bit elusive but worth a look, and the jaguars are worth a visit too.

As long as you're not freaked out by them I would recommend the bat enclosure, but be aware they might brush past you! Definitely try to visit the rhinos, the painted dogs and and red pandas as well.

If you visit the 'islands' section you can take a little 'boat ride' (it's on a rail underwater) and cafe up there has the best food (mostly South East Asian-inspired street food) if you're not taking a packed lunch (and these tropical slushie/ice cream things... I'm hungry now).

Sorry for long post - I have relatives who work there!

Chester itself is lovely and if the weather is good I would walk the walls or sit by the river and have a drink. The zoo is a short drive away from the city centre, not sure where you're staying (a lot of the hotels/B&Bs are the zoo 'side' of town). The Botanist does nice food & desserts.

Thank you so much!! I love a long detailed post!
I’ve booked an air B and B just outside Chester to stay the night so we’ll only be a 15 min drive to the zoo and definitely planning to get there for 10 as soon as it opens! Will be trying to visit it all whilst taking time to make sure we see all the animals properly.
Side note - do you know how pram friendly it is? I’m going to put my boy in his pram if it’s likely to be rainy and want to make sure we can still access everything! Otherwise we do have a carrier but not very rain friendly!

 

[cholulamare]

Thank you so much!! I love a long detailed post!
I’ve booked an air B and B just outside Chester to stay the night so we’ll only be a 15 min drive to the zoo and definitely planning to get there for 10 as soon as it opens! Will be trying to visit it all whilst taking time to make sure we see all the animals properly.
Side note - do you know how pram friendly it is? I’m going to put my boy in his pram if it’s likely to be rainy and want to make sure we can still access everything! Otherwise we do have a carrier but not very rain friendly!

I don't have kids so I'm not super aware of pram-friendliness, but I'm fairly confident in saying you'll be fine - the paths are flat and pretty wide almost everywhere, and I can't think of anywhere where there's stairs - the orangutan enclosure/reptile house is indoors and on a higher level, but I'm sure it's all accessed by ramps from memory. You might find the indoor aquarium and butterfly house a bit cramped, but I believe it's less busy this summer than usual so less people to try to navigate around! I would deffo go with the pram option if I were you.

 

[Oopsididitagainandagain]

I don't have kids so I'm not super aware of pram-friendliness, but I'm fairly confident in saying you'll be fine - the paths are flat and pretty wide almost everywhere, and I can't think of anywhere where there's stairs - the orangutan enclosure/reptile house is indoors and on a higher level, but I'm sure it's all accessed by ramps from memory. You might find the indoor aquarium and butterfly house a bit cramped, but I believe it's less busy this summer than usual so less people to try to navigate around! I would deffo go with the pram option if I were you.

Amazing, thank you!

 

[DoseofReality]

The pub at the zoo The Oakland which is the old family home has been voted one of the best pubs in the world on Tripadvisor. So worth a try and you can easily spend all day at the zoo anyway.

It's really accessible for buggies with ramps etc. Wear comfortable shoes as you can cover miles.

 

[Carrie2019]

Yeah I live near Chester zoo.
Ice cream farm in tattenhall will be an amazing place to take your little one.
Architect is lovely.
Black dog is very nice too.
Hanky Panky pancakes is the bees knees too.
Chester zoo is very pram friendly. I went with the NCT girls the other day and was great.

 

[Razzmatazz]

We go quite regularly and went recently at the start of August. We usually love it but it wasn't the best trip because we ended up going on a day when it was 30c.

Understandably the indoor enclosures had queues to limit numbers but the queues were outside with no shade so we didn't do many because it was just too hot to queue with a baby in a pram. So that's something to keep in mind because you might end up standing around in the sun/rain for a good half an hour for some of the more popular enclosures like the apes and jaguars.

This was our first time going with a baby, it's very pram friendly, couple of steep hills but it's fine. Only enclosure I found you can't take a pram in was the lemurs, there is a buggy park outside but my little boy was asleep in his pram so we didn't end up going in.

Also not all indoor enclosures are open the aquarium and bat's were both still closed. The boat ride around the islands is also closed.

I've just realised I sound quite negative but I just wanted to make you aware of a few bits. I'm sure you'll have an amazing day as even with a few bits closed it's still an amazing day out, especially if you've not been before.