Lincoln Park Zoo (Chicago) Reviews

1st time there and I'll be glad to go back with my family. I even like it better than the Brookfield zoo.

Nice little zoo, and more animals than I anticipated. Can be walked in an afternoon, and admission is free, so you can't beat that.

A free zoo? Is there anything better? Lincoln Park Zoo is a rare peice of wild in Chicago.

Great free zoo in downtown Chicago with decently prices parking. Spent a full day there with our 2 year old.

Animals live in abysmal conditions. Very small living areas, and they all look depressed.

Love the zoo! Some of the exhibits for the big cats seem a little small, but great mount of animals to look at for a free zoo. Make sure to donate!

Free to get in but parking was $25 I think. Enjoyed our time there.

Your free and fantastic neighborhood zoo. Why not stroll over? Up front, you can get above-water and under-water views of the sea lions. There's a whole house dedicated to jumpy primates. If you catch them at the right time, there's time to see penguins too! There's so much cool wildlife here and the staff makes a good effort to keep the conditions good for them. They also have a number of events such as "zoolights" in December.

Was Members night, husband and I invited our friends with their infant daughter. Was bummed they did away with the hit cocoa, cookies and arts and crafts this year.
However I do love the new members lounge.

I wish the animals had more room. Other than that it was a very nice zoo.

Halloween candy giveaway great concept clean safe environment my organization HELP N HANDS takes a bus load of kids every year .. Zoo lights coming up (Xmas theme) HIGHLY RECOMMEND

This has always been my favorite zoo in chicago, and the recent trip only continues to make me feel that way. Great enclosures, nice design and good animal variety. I actually prefer it to the saint louis zoo

Chicago has a great park system, everyplace is free of charge, even the zoo, combined with surrounding parks and lake view, you can enjoy and relaxing completely.

One of the best places to not only see very uncommon animals, but also very diverse natural wildlife

Beautiful Chicago landmark, basically a 100% free zoo for everyone right in the middle of the city!

Zoo light can't leave chicago with put going to the zoo lights

This Zoo being free does no justice to how big beautiful and well maintained it is! Enjoy visiting all year round with my wife and daughter every visit is always a pleasant experience! Recommend visiting during the light show such a wonderful experience and beauty to see for all!

Love the zoo in the city, great location a must visit. No elephants

Great place for young kids with many activities for everyone beyond the animals. I really like the street performers, my son the otters.

We were looking forward to seeing the light show but due to some technical difficulties the main show played only music without the lights. The kids were disappointed. Everything else was as fun as always.

The last time I went was in 2010, they change a lot. More animals, the last visit was memorable.

Best Zoo I've ever been to. Free Entrance w/Parking being only Cost. Their Food Court is Delicious with Large Selection of A Variety of Foods. Polar Bear was a Great Exhibit...The Bear put on a Show for our Group. Walked 3.4miles and still did not get to see all Animals. Next Year will go again. A Must See and Experience for All Who go to Chicago.

Went on cold and misty day so didn't get to see alot of animals but it seemed nice

This zoo is fantastic and it s FREE!!! The exhibits are located strategically to be able to enjoy the animals in their habitat. Love how you an see them from different angles. Love the size of the zoo. It s just perfect to enjoy all the exhibits.

Nice place to visit with the kids. The animals were fun to watch. Lot parking was expensive $20 for a short parking time.

150 years of enlightening and entertaining Chicago's young and old, plus the botanical gardens at no cost. Nowhere else in the U.S. matches that.

Great places, but the people who tend to visit don't pick up after themselves. Be aware because it is free, there are alot of schools/camps there.

Kids or adults, Zoos are always fascinating. It was very good experience visiting Lincoln Zoo Chicago. Considering it's large area, I think more sign boards are needed for proper guidance. The layout maps at gates are useful. However I did not find volunteers at all the gates offering guide maps may be due to shortage of manpower. This can be addressed by keeping guide maps at designated counters / boxes near ever gate from where anyone can pick them up. Overall a wonderful Christmas experience. My advice would be to keep one full day aside for such a large Zoo.

Free zoo. Loved it. Had different animals than most zoo's have.

First time going there, I always go to Brookfield but I think I will be going here from now on! So impressed! The lights were beautiful! I got to hear a lion roar for the first time! It was an amazing experience

Loved it! Still surprised that it was free, which makes it so accessible to so many people. I bought things in the gift shop to give back to the wonderful cause.

Went for Zoo Lights, it was overcrowded and we barely got to see any animals.

I visited this place in the night. However, the place was still bright and beautiful. The Christmas decorations are top-notch and second to none. I love the scenery but it's not advisable to be there at night.

Not a huge fun of zoo in general, but this is a nice place to spend some hours with kids (and for free).

There is literally nothing not to like about this place. It is an awesome zoo right in the middle of the city. Great for kids and grown ups. A wonderful Chicago attraction.

Ok zoo. My kid loved it. Saw lions, African primates, Rhinos, Zebras,... no tigers, leopards, cheetahs- all of which have been moved for renovation. Lions were moving said a zoo attendant.

Saw a disturbing thing though. The cafe inside the zoo had a trap for the bees. The bees were dying in those traps by the hundreds. Unbelievable that it was happening in a zoo! Reported to an senior attendant. she said she will take action but she did make an excuse in favor of the cafe owners that if they don t kill the bees customers won t come to the cafe. Not forgivable. Unnatural death for bees is a crime as they are key to ecological stability- without them there will be no pollination and so no flora and eventually fauna. Giving a one star for the zoo because of this.

Free! Wonderfull zoo. Nice to just walk through on a nice day or spend time looking at the exhibits. Make sure you stop by the penguin and polar bear habitats.

I loved the reptile exhibit and indoor forest. Sparce parking in front but it made for a great outing with my family

I see a lot of reviews complaining about the parking, but it has always been like this at Lincoln Park Zoo so I'm not sure why everyone is so surprised. I can't wait for everything to be back to normal so we can enjoy the zoo again!

Very nice and high quality zoo. A load of fun for kids. Ample parking a well

Can t believe it s free to enter! Totally worth the time!

My wife came here in a date night to see the zoo lights. Were not disappointed. The zoo was beautiful and we have visited the past several years and will probably continue to do so for many more years.

Especially for a free zoo, this place is great. There are always, it seems, lots of closed exhibits but it's a nice big place to walk around and the animals seem as content as caged animals can be. Halloween there is fun too!

Very cool I love animals, and love to go to this zoo. I like how its integrated in with the cities landscape, and how opened it is.

LP Zoo is one of a kind. Absolutely perfect way to spend the day.

This zoo gets better each year. They are really making progress on "remodeling. The Christmas lights and ice sculptures are awesome. Great family outing.

Great zoo. So many improvements over the past few years.

Small zoo but in the heart of Chicago downtown... I feel this zoo is more of man-made so I didn t feel it natural..
Parking is difficult, I used SpotHero app to find parking...

While my hometown zoo will always be my favorite, I cant complain about this fun free chicago zoo! I especially enjoyed seeing the place all lit up for the holidays! They do a beautiful job. And I made sure to stop and visit the primates, one of the best spaces at the zoo.

Cool place, but not for winter - all of animals hidden from cold weather

Love to visit this zoo.
They sincerely care about/for these wonderful animals and keep improving the grounds.
There is always something amazing to see here!!!

The worst part about getting on the "Ledge" is getting TO the Ledge. The wait time was about 45-60 minutes just to get there and, from my understanding, that was a short wait time. Then you only get 90 seconds, if you have 4 or more people, 60 seconds if less than 4 people. If you have a fear of heights, it can be terrifying but you'll be glad that you did it! Even if you decide not to go onto the Ledge, then just looking out the windows and seeing the City and the Lake can be breath taking. Highly recommend!The Lincoln Park Zoo is one I have been looking forward to visiting for a long time. It did not disappoint. Even on a foggy day, the park was beautiful. Natural settings for the buildings and habitats were well maintained and lovely.The animals seems happy and well cared for and the zoo keepers and volunteers that we encountered were knowledgable and happily answered questions. The staff in the gorilla habitat were great! Sharing personal observations on each member of the bachelor group that were fascinating. We also had a great conversation while watching the African Painted Dogs. We had never seen them before so it was great learn more about them.There were many school groups the day we went but the park was certainly big enough for all of us!

Hardly any animals were around which isn't their fault but no big cats. And not a ton else

Wish we could ve interacted more with the zoo, but I have 3 words: nice at night !

Staff is friendly and polite. The animals are just hard to find lol.

Awesome zoo. Especially because it's free. Lots of stuff and activities.

Great zoo
A lot of construction going on
Loads of sites close though
Dont go these days , especially if coming from far off areas.

One the best zoo's I've been to. Lots of free activities during winter time.

Nice and clean. There is a lot renovations that people can revisit. A place to spend time with family and friends

Maybe better to do during non winter days but still a good place to visit

I was really impressed with the selection of animals and attractions due to the fact that it's free. It's definitely worth the visit.

Beautiful place. Clean and nice it s a really good experience all around the park

Probably the most relaxing zoo in the country. Great location along the lake front makes it very comfortable even on warm days. One of Chicago's hidden gems.

Even in winter this place is great. The variety of exhibits, both indoor and outdoors, was impressive. Everyone that we encountered working at the zoo was helpful and knowledgeable.

Amazing time there! Even the cold weather did not stop us. Very diverse, staff and volunteers are nice, with a lot of knowledge to share. You can eat and drink in different place to have a break during your visit.

WE went to see the Christmas light...though a cold very cold day we enjoyed....

Nice zoo, good for smaller kids and for short time allotments.