It’s All Happening at the Zoo

Simon and Garfunkel had it right…..It’s All Happening at the Zoo. Which zoo were they referring to? One of the New York zoos, of course, but nearly every city in our nation (and the world, for that matter) has a great zoo. One of our travel consultants is a self-declared “zoo fiend,” and shares her weekend trip with us. If you and your family are zoo fanatics, make sure to ask us to find out where the zoos are when we plan your next trip to anywhere in the world.

Here’s what our travel consultant tells us about her weekend visit to the Chattanooga Zoo in Tennessee:

My family loves visiting as many zoos as we can in every city we go to. I decided to take a family outing to the Chattanooga Zoo. Since it’s only 2 ½ hours from Nashville, it made for a very nice day trip. Located just outside of downtown Chattanooga it was very easy to find.


The price of admission was very reasonable at $6 per adult (16yrs-up), $4 per child (3yrs-15yrs) and under 2 yrs old is free. I was told that as of June 1, 2010 the rates increase only by $2. Still very reasonable. We did not eat onsite, but they do have a nice concession stand with hot dogs, chips, soda's etc, that is also where you will find the indoor carousel for $1. The public restrooms were a little icky, but then again what public restrooms are perfect…not many. The grounds were kept up and the animals had nice enclosures....not too big, not to small. Employee's were eager to help and liked their jobs. The Gift Shop had good prices on their merchandise. I actually got a Diet Dr. Pepper in a can for .75 cents, amazing.


The Zoo is not all that big in size compared to others my family has been to, but has a nice variety of smaller animals. They did not have elephants, giraffe's, lion's or tigers, but they did have a nice variety of primates, snow leopards and two adorable red pandas. I think the petting zoo portion was the best part for my little guy. He was able to feed the goats, pet the miniature horses and camel. It was not overly crowed which was nice, you didn't feel like you were running over people.

The price was right for a 2-3 hour outing. I would recommend visiting if you do not mind the few imperfections listed above. Check out the website: www.chattzoo.org


We have been to the DC National Zoo, Washington DC; Nashville Zoo, Nashville, TN; Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo, Gulf Shores, AL; Pet a Pet Farm , Reston, VA (got to ride an elephant here :) and New Orleans Zoo, New Orleans, LA.




Next stop, the Memphis Zoo!