Lisbon Zoo Review (Jardim Zoológico)
Jardim Zoológico, with it’s unique attractions like a cable car ride, was one of the better zoos we’ve been to in a while. We spent a half day here on our last Lisbon family vacation, and here’s what we thought.
Jardim Zoológico Zoo Overview
The Lisbon zoo is in a great location, easily accessible from downtown Lisbon via the metro or Bolt/Uber. A 10 minute Bolt ride from our hotel, the InterContinental Lisbon, cost less than 4 Euros!
Rainy day at the Lisbon Zoo. We decided to come here last minute, before a football match (soccer game) at the nearby Benfica stadium,
We spent a half day here, thinking it would be plenty of time. But we ended up hurrying out and missing some exhibits that we hadn’t seen!
The zoo prices were a bit higher than I thought they’d be as everything else in Lisbon was fairly low-cost. 29 Euro for an adult, and 18 for children 3-12. But it was worth it, we wish we’d been able to spend more time there.
We visited on a cloudy Saturday in January, and while the temperatures were around 50f/10c (warmer than at home), the zoo was pretty much empty, apart from some school groups.
Even a peacock joined on our walk for a while.
Cable car Ride around the park
One of the best things about this zoo is the cable car ride!
Hop on the cable car at Jardim Zoológico de Lisboa for a bird’s-eye view of the entire place. While we’ve seen similar attractions, this is the first zoo we’ve been to that has this setup with the small stand up cages.
The small cages hold 2-3 people. For us 1 adult and 1 kid fit in each car, with our backpacks on it was a pretty snug fit!
Tip: Use this ride to plan out spots you want to visit next.
Check out this timelaspe video of our ride from our Facebook page.
There’s even a great view of the city on the final stretch of the ride.
Glide above enclosures, spotting lions, elephants, and monkeys. This picture was taken right over the lion exhibit!
Plus, it’s recommended by many as a fun activity in itself—catching sights of the zoo from high up is something you shouldn’t miss!
activities and shows
One thing thats unique about this zoo are the shows that are included. There’s an outdoor bird show and a very good dolphin show, which was as good as the ones weve seen at parks like Seaworld.
Here’s the stadium as viewed from the cable car ride. It takes you right over the stadium and dolphin pens. You can also see how close the zoo is to the rest of the city, there’s apartment buildings just next door.
This dolphin came over to look right at us during one of the breaks in the show.
Practically no one in the stadium during the show, or the whole zoo. January is the time to visit!
Train ride
Every zoo needs a train ride! While it’s not on rails, it was still a fun ride for kids.
Animals and Zoo Grounds
Jardim Zoológico has creatures from all over the globe, from majestic lions and playful sea lions to rare birds.
We were able to get close to many of the animals here. Even with a medium range zoom lens (200mm), we were able to get some pretty close photos of many animals, like this Zebra.
ing sights of the zoo from high up is something you shouldn’t miss!
And this curios meerkat.
A pair of elephants.
And two giraffes.
Nearly everywhere we went, we were the only ones looking at that exhibit.
food: McDonalds at a zoo
A big hit with our kids was a McDonalds at the zoo!
The restaurant is located outside the ticketed area, so you need to exit the gate and then reenter the animal area after heading.
But there’s even animals running around the McDonalds area, including this peacock who was eager to steal food out of our hand any time we looked away.
Conclusion
If you’re traveling with family to Lisbon, the zoo is a great place to visit.
