Despite being the oldest zoo in the world, Vienna Zoo is very modern. It's pretty big and takes a whole day to really see everything. There's a good variety of animals and the enclosures were well done and species appropriate. I've never been that excited by giant pandas but i have to say, it was amazing to see them in person. The wooded area was great and I instantly fell in love with their spectacled bear. It had a great, mountainous enclosure with lots of trees, caves and platforms. The bear did look distressed, was pacing and had a lot of fur missing but I don't think this was down to a lack of care at the zoo. I didn't see any other evidence anywhere in the zoo of mistreatment and saw videos of the owner taking in rescued chimpanzees. There was also a tree-top walk through the wooded area which was really lovely. Even though we didn't see any of the zoo animals during our walk, it was peaceful and had a great view of the city. There were also info boards showing the local wildlife that inhabit the area, which was a nice (even though they were mainly in German). I saw cool feeding talks with the anteaters and the tiger. Unfortunately, they were in German and not translated but it was great to watch the animals eating. The cafe in the zoo, near the Organutans was also really good with a large selection of food. We ordered two different dishes which were both tasty, they were reasonably priced and the service was good. I'd highly recommend anyone visiting Vienna to spend a day here; you won't regret it.

We decided on impulse to visit the zoo, while visiting the Schonbrunn palace gardens last weekend, and are so glad we did. On a chilly day in January, we didn’t have to queue to get in, and were pleasantly surprised at the reasonable entry fee. There were lots of family groups but none of the exhibits were crowded, and it was easy to see most of the animals. Inevitably, there were a few animals sleeping out of sight, but if we’d had more time to wait, they would maybe have appeared later. The zoo is only small, but the setting is beautiful and the buildings reflect the style of the Palace. Seeing the pandas was the highlight of our day, but the baby elephant’s antics were also very entertaining and it was lovely to watch the video link to the Polar bear den where mother and tiny cub (born Nov 2019) were snuggled up. We had lunch in the amazing cafe housed in the Emperors Pavilion, where the food was reasonably priced and tasty, and the surroundings very grand and opulent. Worth a peep in, even if you don’t plan to eat there. Apart from an adult polar bear who seemed a bit forlorn, the animals all seemed happy, and well cared for. We were able to get really close to the leopards and orangutan, and visiting the zoo on our last half day in Vienna was a brilliant end to our long weekend.

I must admit one of my hobbies are to visit in the foreign zoos while I'm traveling abroad. It's been too many zoos in Europe this was my first time in Vienna zoo. The zoo is very big and there is no places when you can rest without being the Sun. Because of the high temperature during July most of the animals were in their cabins and you didn't so almost anything. I do recommend to visit the zoo in cooler days and not during the summer peak