Houston Zoo
Houston Zoo
4.5
09:00 - 18:00
Monday
09:00 - 18:00
Tuesday
09:00 - 18:00
Wednesday
09:00 - 18:00
Thursday
09:00 - 18:00
Friday
09:00 - 18:00
Saturday
09:00 - 18:00
Sunday
09:00 - 18:00
About
The Houston Zoo provides a fun, unique, and inspirational experience fostering appreciation, knowledge, and care for the natural world. Essentially a small city encompassing a world of ecosystems and experiences, the Houston Zoo is made up of many moving parts. We have over 6000 permanent residents (our animals) for whom we provide housing, meals, medical care and, yes, even education! In addition, we have over 1.84 million guests each year who come to experience our incredible variety of animals and ecosystems, as well as attend special private and public events and entertainment. Our dedicated staff works around the clock to ensure that the Zoo is always running smoothly for the safety and well being of our residents and guests.
Duration: More than 3 hours
Meets animal welfare guidelines
Suggest edits to improve what we show.
Improve this listing
Tours & experiences
Explore different ways to experience this place.
What is Travellers’ Choice?
Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.

Top ways to experience Houston Zoo and nearby attractions

The area
Address
Neighbourhood: Medical Center
Reach out directly
See what travellers are saying
  • Shootingcomet123
    Johnson City, Tennessee22 contributions
    Great Zoo to spend time with family once you can get to it
    First off it was super hard to get to the zoo for a first timer. We parked near TMC area and walked to Gate 10 where it said zoo entrance but no sign there about the only active entrance. Please correct that. After calling we got the address for the only entrance and had to walk all the way back with small kids. The zoo inside was a very good and pleasant experience. Food choices and prices can be better. Over all we had a great time once we got in. The Elephants was a big treat. Lion and other cats didn’t mind giving us a close up shots. The road( Hermann Park Dr) to the entrance is rigged with some of the biggest potholes I have ever seen, so please be cautious and super slow. Please prioritize fixing that road. Thanks
    Visited January 2023
    Travelled with family
    Written 7 January 2023
  • Rob13501
    New Hartford, New York121 contributions
    A WONDERFUL ZOO and a Wonderful Way To Spend a Houston Day!
    The range of animals was amazing! Almost every animal on exhibit could be seen. Their Aviary was wonderful!! They had an excellent variety of tropical birds, which were very, very active. I could’ve spent hours sitting and watching them. I loved their South American exhibit with the Giant Ant Eaters. You could tell that the employees are proud to work here and that management is determined to expand and enrich the experience. I’ve heard that the Zoo would like to receive adjacent public land from the city to expand, and this seems like a no-brainer decision to green light as the Zoo will only attract more tourist dollars.
    Visited January 2023
    Travelled with family
    Written 16 January 2023
  • 606susan
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania9 contributions
    Beautiful layout for a zoo in a rather small area
    Although I feel sorry for animals kept in captivity, they are healthy, active and looked well kept. The zoo had sculptures and colorful displays throughout. We were very happy to spend our day there. Good cafe too, Not overpriced.
    Visited January 2023
    Written 16 January 2023
  • Brenda K
    Pearland, Texas11 contributions
    Take UBER. Trust me on this.
    Save yourself a big headache.. and take UBER or Lyft here. The parking is ridiculous. They make you buy your tickets online and when you get there.. there’s no parking! You literally drive around for 40-60 minutes and have to compete w others to get a spot. It’s so stressful. What a shame bc we love the zoo and this is a fairly nice zoo. However, the parking situation makes me never want to come again. The tickets are not cheap .. so you can’t get just fed up and go back home because they will not refund or exchange. It’s crazy they sell all these tickets and do not have enough parking available for everyone who bought a ticket! Shame on you Houston Zoo. Do better!
    Visited March 2023
    Travelled with family
    Written 17 March 2023
  • Peter G
    Phnom Penh, Cambodia90 contributions
    Good zoo, parking problem
    The zoo is good, just a couple of small complaints. We arrived at 11 am on a Sunday and had to drive around the car park for over half an hour before being lucky enough to find a place. Particularly on a weekend, it would seem to be best to come as soon after opening (9 am) as possible. Secondly refreshment charges are ridiculous. $5 for a small bottle of water, $12 for a slushy.
    Visited April 2023
    Travelled with family
    Written 15 April 2023
  • Mary D
    Grand Rapids, Michigan22 contributions
    Houston zoo
    Very nice zoo. Lots of animals. Very clean and seems well run. Good map and signage throughout. Maybe they had it but we didn’t see a schedule of events like what time they fed different animals or did special talks.
    Visited April 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 30 April 2023
  • holidayqueen2013
    137 contributions
    Amazing Zoo
    We visited the zoo on a weekday it was not as busy as it would be on a weekend which made it very pleasant to walk around. The zoo is kept very clean and tidy. It would be a great day out for all the family! Lots of animals to see. I would highly recommend a visit to the zoo. The Zoo is also on the edge of Hermann park which is great to visit after.
    Visited May 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 12 May 2023
  • BrendaH40
    Alvin, Texas567 contributions
    I love the zoo
    We went in the heat of June. Had shaded places and some air conditioned buildings. You must like children since they are everywhere. But there excitement is contagious. To see everything you will walk a ton and parking can be a challenge. Great place to see animals.
    Visited June 2023
    Travelled with friends
    Written 3 June 2023
  • VGriet
    Leuven, Belgium187 contributions
    Beautiful zoo, accommodating for people and animals
    We enjoyed visiting the Houston zoo. Lots of parking nearby, beautiful cultural settings and attention for detail. Very clea n zoo and animals were well taken care for. As Houston can get quite hot , cooling fans are provided for animals and humans at certain locations. Of course for animal health, animals have the option to head inside as they prefer. (In our experience, only missed a few animals) Earlier posts about not having any shade, I disagree, the zoo has put many efforts to provide shaded areas near exhibits as much as possible. We also LOVED that you could refill you water bottles at several water points.
    Visited September 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written 14 September 2023
  • Anne B
    Ramona, California2 contributions
    A great place to take the grandkids!
    We love taking our grandkids to the Zoo. We live in San Diego, so we live near one of the best zoos. We took our 3 yr old granddaughter to the Houston zoo today. A great outing! A nice variety of exhibits, fairly level which is great with a little one, and the seasonal displays added throughout add a lot of fun. Last time, the Galapagos Islands area was under construction, so today was our first time to see that exhibit. Well done!! Don’t miss the Galapagos exhibit.
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled with family
    Written 2 October 2023
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions

We perform checks on reviews.
Tripadvisor’s approach to reviews
Before posting, each Tripadvisor review goes through an automated tracking system, which collects information, answering the following questions: how, what, where and when. If the system detects something that potentially contradicts our community guidelines, the review is not published.
When the system detects a problem, a review may be automatically rejected, sent to the reviewer for validation, or manually reviewed by our team of content specialists, who work 24/7 to maintain the quality of the reviews on our site.
Our team checks each review posted on the site disputed by our community as not meeting our community guidelines.
Learn more about our review moderation.
4.5
4,236 reviews
Excellent
2,572
Very good
1,214
Average
338
Poor
62
Terrible
50

debutant95
France191 contributions
Nov 2023 • Family
I have seen other zoos in the world, this one is good, but nothing fantastic. Quite expensive. Several places are empty. Information about the animals are limited. Could do much better.
Note that only online tickets can be bought!
Written 2 November 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Caroline K
1 contribution
Oct 2023 • Family
So I had been wanting to see the new Zoo exhibit the Ganopolis Islands, as well as some of our usual favorite exhibits. To start you have to do everything by phone now. Purchase your tickets rent a wheelchair etc. The admission to the zoo was terribly expensive over $100 for two adults and one child. We wanted to rent an electric scooter for a family member that has trouble walking yet they wanted $45 to rent it. Ended up renting a wheelchair instead for $18. Bought the kids an icy drink, at over $12 a drink. Too many of the exhibits are outdated and are not at all appropriate for the animals. Very outdated not nearly enough space for areas for the animals to get enough movement or stimulation. I don't mind paying the higher fees if the animals had a better environment.
Written 14 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Kgtx
36 contributions
Oct 2023 • Couples
For such a large city and zoo there wasn't much to see in animals. The elephants were the most exciting part. Even the lady squirting them with water wasn't interactive. She acted as though it was just a job. Uggh. The gardens and grounds are pretty. The zoo near us in Waco is by far much better. Trying to park is an adventure on it's own. Plan to do circles once you finally reach the parking lot.
Written 13 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Anne B
Ramona, CA2 contributions
Oct 2023 • Family
We love taking our grandkids to the Zoo. We live in San Diego, so we live near one of the best zoos. We took our 3 yr old granddaughter to the Houston zoo today. A great outing! A nice variety of exhibits, fairly level which is great with a little one, and the seasonal displays added throughout add a lot of fun. Last time, the Galapagos Islands area was under construction, so today was our first time to see that exhibit. Well done!! Don’t miss the Galapagos exhibit.
Written 2 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Marcos A
Kissimmee, FL30 contributions
Sep 2023 • Family
My kids totally loved their time in the zoo! We all were amazed by the diversity in animals the zoo has, we are definitely coming back!
Written 27 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

VGriet
Leuven, Belgium187 contributions
Sep 2023 • Couples
We enjoyed visiting the Houston zoo.
Lots of parking nearby, beautiful cultural settings and attention for detail. Very clea n zoo and animals were well taken care for. As Houston can get quite hot , cooling fans are provided for animals and humans at certain locations. Of course for animal health, animals have the option to head inside as they prefer. (In our experience, only missed a few animals)
Earlier posts about not having any shade, I disagree, the zoo has put many efforts to provide shaded areas near exhibits as much as possible.

We also LOVED that you could refill you water bottles at several water points.
Written 15 September 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sightseer65766263077
7 contributions
Jul 2023 • Couples
Beautifully laid out zoo. Lots of space, lots of shade, air conditioned areas interspersed throughout. The animals were spectacular. Lots of parking nearby too
Written 9 July 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Amanda B
Houston, TX191 contributions
May 2023 • Friends
Went to see the new exhibit! It was great and the sea lions seemed very happy. The zoo is also focused on being environmentally friendly now which is cool.
Written 2 July 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Nav1go
Virginia1,107 contributions
Jun 2023 • Couples
Unfortunately we didn’t get there until later in the morning so a lot of the animals we in the shade or inside. The pumas are awesome and it is nice to have the ability to feed the giraffes without a mega expensive behind the scenes tour.
Written 24 June 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

KKB
3 contributions
Jun 2023 • Solo
I love the zoo, however, at least 5 exhibits were empty. It is tough paying 35$ to come to the zoo to see empty habitats.

The inside exhibits were very nice. I would like more interactive exhibits in a zoo that is rated one of the top 10 in the USA.
Written 19 June 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Showing results 1-10 of 3,888
Revenue impacts the experiences featured on this page, learn more.
Is this your Tripadvisor listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
Claim your listing

HOUSTON ZOO: All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go (with Photos)

Frequently Asked Questions about Houston Zoo

According to Tripadvisor travellers, these are the best ways to experience Houston Zoo:


Restaurants near Houston Zoo: View all restaurants near Houston Zoo on Tripadvisor