Oakland Zoo

The best zoo in the Bay Area. LOVE Glowfari, the gondolas, and the train ride. The views. Pure magic.The zoo also assists with the rescue and rehab of animals that require specialized services. For this reason alone, I am always happy to support this zoo.

We love the Oakland Zoo. Their Glowfari event is magical and goes through the end of January, but just visiting the zoo during the day is great too. A few things to note:*you need to buy tickets with a timed entry in advance. Usually cheaper to do that as well, then risk them being sold out when you arrive. *you should pay for parking in advance as well Plan for a few extra minutes to get in and park - they are sometimes backed up. This zoo is set on a mountain and is surrounded by beautiful views. It's spread out so prepare to walk and some uphills as well. They have a gondola that you take up high for some of their exhibits, I would do this as early in the day as you can. The exhibits are designed well with seating, etc since some animals require a bit more wait time to appear. They have a shop and some rides as well, although when we were there this week they were all closed due to an earlier power outage.

I'm a grandpa visiting from Chicago and I would say that Glowfari and the zoo were amazing and magical! While my 3 year old granddaughter loved the bubble machines - I loved the SPECTACULAR amount of lights and displays. They were everywhere! Unique and awesomely cool! We went a few days after Xmas to try and avoid massive crowds. My tips would be to buy your tickets way in advance. Also, I would buy the earliest tickets available as it was starting to get crowded at 6:30 (long lines for the gondola). Also, early allows you to, hopefully, catch the sunset which was beautiful!Kudos to the zoo and all the employees - friendly and helpful.

A little shy from $115 spent for a family of 2 adults & 1 child's entry fees + parking. Please keep in mind that tickets need to be purchased PRIOR to arrival according to the gentleman working @ the entrance booth. We did see a few families who purchased entrance tickets at the entrance booths but it was obviously frowned upon since the process does back up everyone else. Oakland Zoo has been on my go-to list for years!! Now that I have a toddler who is overly in love & extremely interested in all types of creatures, what better place would there be to take her????!While it does state that the Oakland Zoo is the home to over 850 animals, a lot of the noted animals were not visible or out for viewing. Many enclosures were completely bare leaving my 4yo disappointed. The highlight of our experience was the petting yard. This is where my daughter THRIVED. Goats and sheep will keep your little ones entertained for days. If you are lucky enough to visit during feedings, the animals are a lot more active making it easier to brush and pet. Another exhibit that stood out was the giraffes yard. These gigantic majestic creatures were a beautiful sight that brought on massive crowds.3.5 stars for our overall experience. While this zoo is absolutely beautiful, it unfortunately did not deliver when it came down to a number of animal viewing pleasures. Our visit was largely spent with the goats and some younger volunteers who could learn to be more kind and patient with the smaller visitors.

We arrived late due to car rental lines. It was still fun and we made the best of it. We rode the gondola to the other side and arrived at this breathtaking view of the city. There's something for everyone. We didn't get to explore everything but my kids want to go back. The petting goats were a disappointment though. Not like SF zoo.

Such a great zoo! We love coming here with our toddler. There is always plenty of parking and a guaranteed good time. We also love learning about all of the good work that these folks are doing and the docents are wonderful at educating us about the different animals onsite.

What a great place to take a stroll, enjoy the animals and the Bay Area view! The zoo is a great place for a family outing or play date as kids can freely run around, especially after the gondola ride up to the California trail where the playground is located. There are plenty of locations to have a picnic or snack break. Zoo volunteers and staff hand out animal cards to the kids and sometimes have learning stations at different exhibits where kids can learn more about the animals and touch skulls. Osh is no longer at Oakland, so there are currently no elephants here. But during the winter they setup Glorfari, a pretty impressive light decor throughout the zoo that you can visit at night. Highly recommend taking a family trip to checkout whenever you're in town.

The Oakland Zoo is beautiful and reasonably priced, however the train ride to see the Africa exhibit should not be an extra charge. I really wanted to see the meerkats. The gondola ride is beautiful and gives you such great views of the city. All the play areas for kids is amazing. Overall such a beautiful zoo.

Always have an absolute blast each time I come to the Oakland Zoo. From daytime visits exploring the massive grounds with varied adorable, scary, and weird species to the evening Glowfari lights event each winter never failing to blow my mind. Can't recommend this zoo enough! Locals - get that membership already!

One of the best zoos I've been to! Parking is right next to the entrance. Animals look happy and healthy. The enclosures are huge. The staff are very knowledgeable and I learned a lot from them. Would definitely go again. A must go when visiting Oakland. Some enclosures are bordered by water which animals do not cross so you can take pictures without gates blocking the way.