Zoo/Aquarium

Cologne Zoological Garden

Founded in 1860, Cologne's zoo is visited together with its aquarium on one day ticket, which gives a family day an indoor half and an outdoor half without a second queue.

Typical visit

Ages

Booking

Leaving and returning

Day tickets lose their validity as soon as you leave the zoo and aquarium, so plan one continuous visit.

Ticket includes travel

Tickets bought online at koelnerzoo.de/besuch also count as a VRS public-transport ticket for the journey.

Booking

Tickets can be booked ahead in the zoo's own online ticket shop at koelnerzoo.de.

Paying

EC cards are accepted at every ticket desk, and in the restaurants and kiosks on purchases from 10 euros.

Eating with kids

The Zoo Restaurant Zebra serves a children's plate of chips with a drink.

Dogs

Dogs may not be brought into the zoo, for safety and health reasons.

One day ticket covers the zoo and the aquarium, and that single rule shapes how the day runs: the ticket loses its validity the moment you leave, so there is no nipping back to the car for a forgotten sunhat or a cheaper lunch. Eating inside is part of the plan rather than a fallback. The Zebra restaurant plates chips and a drink for children, and the kitchens are MSC-certified and serve fish from sustainable fisheries. Cards are taken at every ticket desk without exception, and in the food outlets above a small minimum spend. Tickets can be bought ahead through the zoo’s own online shop rather than at the gate, and where you buy them changes what they are worth on the way there.

Why kids will love it

Two kinds of looking in one visit: animal houses out in the open, and an aquarium to duck into when a small child has run out of walking. Lunch is settled too, since the zoo restaurant does a children’s portion with a drink rather than leaving you to negotiate.