We took our first trip to Edinburgh Zoo earlier this month. Mrs Edinburger and I had been previously but this was peanuts (aka mini burger) first time.

Its a bit of a hike up to the top part of the zoo, especially pushing a pram, but well worth it if you appreciate a good view.
Edinburgh Zoo Membership
This time we were visiting as fully fledged Edinburgh Zoo members complete with parking pass. There’s even a separate members entrance. Get us.
An adult membership is £65 a year or you can get a joint adult membership for £102. A child membership (3 – 15 years) is £32 (children under 3 are free) and student is £48.
How Much is Entry to Edinburgh Zoo?
Entry to Edinburgh Zoo is £17.50 for an adult if booked online 3 or more days in advance or £19.50 to pay on entry. So just three visits throughout the year for 2 adults and the annual membership is more than paid for. In our opinion that makes it excellent value. There’s so much to see and plenty going on you could probably visit once a month or more and still look forward to going back.
You can find full details on pricing on the official Edinburgh Zoo site.
The Famous Edinburgh Zoo Penguins
There’s so many wonderful animals to see at the Zoo that it will take a few trips to see them all. There were also quite a few of the animals not out and about as they are probably taking shelter at this time of year. However a must see on any visit are the world famous Edinburgh Zoo Penguins! We were a bit early for the penguin parade (daily at around 2pm) but we all enjoyed watching them swim and mess around in their enclosure.


Places to Eat in Edinburgh Zoo
Our first stop when we arrived was grabbing some lunch. We headed to the penguin cafe first but it was really busy and there were no tables left so we decided to head to the restaurant to see what was on offer. Turned out that was a very good choice. There’s much more space, table service, a very decent menu for a quick bite and it’s very child friendly as you would expect with plenty highchairs and crayons to keep the little ones occupied while you wait. Added bonus is you also get 10% off your bill if you’re a zoo member.
Sssshhh! It’s the Koalas
We were lucky enough to see a couple of koala bears hanging around. Unfortunately peanut missed them as he was asleep by this point. Which was probably a blessing in disguise as the koalas house is supposed to be a quiet area and he doesn’t really do quiet.

See All The Animals!
There’s so many animals to see that it will be a few trips before we have covered everything.
Along with the penguins and koalas the Tiger and Rhino were particular highlights. We also spotted a few Zebra. One thing I noticed at Edinburgh Zoo compared to some others I’ve been to is the size of the enclosures are pretty substantial which is nice. It sometimes means you dont always get to see them up close but good to know they have decent space to roam.

We shall come back and update this post with more details and images on our next visit. If you are considering signing up for a membership you can find more details and do so here.
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