How we chose these ten
Each zoo and aquarium below has its own page on JuniorTravelClub, built from the official information: ticket rules, opening days, buggy hire, baby changing and the details that decide how the last hour of the day goes. We picked ten of the best-known in Europe and pulled out what matters most for a family visit.
1. Schönbrunn Zoo, Vienna
Schönbrunn Zoo is open every day of the year, public holidays included, so it works as a fallback day as easily as a planned one. Get a stamp at a ticket desk before you leave and the same ticket lets you back in later that day — enough for lunch elsewhere or a walk in the palace gardens of Vienna.
2. Berlin Zoological Garden
Berlin Zoological Garden is a big-city zoo you reach straight off the train in Berlin. It is open every day, has a petting zoo and room for handcarts and balance bikes, and toddlers get in free.
3. London Zoo
At London Zoo children can join the daily talks about endangered animals and how they are protected, then play in ZooTown, a role-play area built for them in the middle of the zoo. It is an easy day out from central London.
4. Chester Zoo, United Kingdom
Chester Zoo does not rest the day on the animals alone. The talks are included in entry, there are adventure playgrounds for when attention runs out, a pub in the middle of the zoo for lunch, and indoor habitats including the UK’s largest tropical biodome.
5. Copenhagen Zoo, Denmark
Copenhagen Zoo has three indoor sections — Tropezoo, Natzoo and Zoolab — so the visit does not collapse when the weather does. In winter the children’s zoo has a heated lunch house where you can eat your own food, and the zoo lists no closing days at all.
6. Prague Zoo, Czech Republic
Prague Zoo lends pushchairs and children’s wagons free at the main entrance against ID, and the cable car — when weather and wind allow — is a ride in its own right. Under-3s get in free.
7. Pairi Daiza, Belgium
Pairi Daiza near Mons can build a covered stretch into the day: Edenya is a tropical garden under a roof, bookable with a reserved entry time when you buy the main ticket, while places last.
8. Loro Parque, Tenerife
Loro Parque in Puerto de la Cruz gives younger children Kinderlandia, a play area with its own roller coaster, the Orca Tren — in the same park as penguins on real snow and a walk-through shark tunnel.
9. Aquarium of Genoa, Italy
At the Aquarium of Genoa visitors may stroke the rays at the touch tank, following the instructions beside it. For families with babies, the baby corner has toilets with changing tables.
10. Skansen, Stockholm
Skansen in Stockholm gives children two places on one ticket: Nordic animals and an old village you walk through rather than file past. The smaller children’s zoo is included, and because much of Skansen is open air, a break can happen wherever the youngest decides they are done walking.
Tickets & tours for these places
Bookable tours via GetYourGuide. Affiliate links: we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
