Vienna Zoo – Tickets, Prices, Hours, Animals, Panorama Train

The Vienna Zoo is home to over 700 species of animals, including koalas, African elephants, polar bears, giant pandas, and more! Book your tickets early and explore the zoo with a seamless mix of tradition and modernity.

The Vienna Zoo is the oldest existing zoo in the world.

The zoo is part of the Schonbrunn Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is locally known as Tiergarten Schonbrunn.

It has been regularly voted Europe’s best zoo and attracts more than two million tourists every year.

In this article, we share everything you must know before buying Vienna Zoo tickets.

Top Tickets

# Vienna Zoo tickets
# Vienna Zoo check & Imperial Carriage Museum

It’s highly recommended to book your Vienna Zoo tickets in advance. These tickets sell out quickly, so securing your spot early ensures you don’t miss out on this unforgettable experience.

Key takeaways

Booking tickets online is better to avoid long queues, especially during peak seasons, school holidays, and weekends. Children up to 5 years old get free admission.

For the best animal sightings, visit when the zoo opens at 9 am. Families with kids spend at least four to five hours. If you’re a bunch of adults, two hours would suffice.

Use the Vienna Zoo map and plan the animal enclosures you want to visit to make the most of your time at the attraction.

Since the exotic animals from Africa or South America aren’t bothered by cooler temperatures, you can visit the zoo even during winter.

If you are on budget holiday, go for the Vienna City Card. You get free admission to the zoo and up to 90 of Vienna’s top attractions, and unlimited rides on hop-on hop-off bus routes.

What’s ahead

Things to know before booking tickets

You can buy Vienna Zoo tickets online or at the attraction.

Online tickets let you skip the lines, often at a lower price, while also guaranteeing availability for your visit.

After the purchase, tickets are emailed to you, and you can enter by showing the e-ticket on your smartphone—no printouts needed.

Remember to bring your official IDs.

Vienna Zoo skip-the-line tickets

This ticket lets you walk past the lines at the ticket counter and enter the zoo immediately.

This ticket does not include guided tours, transport within the zoo, food & drinks, or animal feeding sessions.

Children should carry valid ID. Reduced tickets for disabled people (up to 50%) and seniors with minimum pensions are available on-site.

Ticket prices

Adult (19+ years): €27
Youth (6 to 18 years): €16
Child (up to 5 years): Free

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See more at less price!
Some visitors to the Vienna Zoo check out the Imperial Carriage Museum, which is also inside the Schönbrunn Palace. Book the combo, and get a 5% discount. 

Exploring the zoo with Vienna Pass

The Vienna Pass is an excellent way to save money and time while exploring the city of Vienna.

It provides free entry not just to the Vienna Zoo but up to 90 of Vienna’s other attractions.

Some of the top tourist attractions where this Pass can help you gain free entry are – Schönbrunn Palace, Giant Ferris Wheel, Spanish Riding School, Albertina Museum, etc.

The best part is that you won’t even have to wait in any lines – you can walk right in.

Vienna Pass is available for one day, two days, three days and six days.

Tourists 19 years and older are considered adults, while kids aged 6 to 18 years need to buy the child pass. Kids five years and below can join in for free.

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Vienna Zoo’s Desert House

The Desert House is a botanical house within the Vienna Zoo that showcases the desert’s habitat, plants, and animals.

Desert House opens at 9 am and closes at 5 pm from January to September. From October to December, it opens at 9 am and closes at 5.30 pm.

The highlight of Desert House is a 70-meter (229 feet) glass tube labyrinth with desert mole rats.

Among the plants, the must-see attraction is ‘Fockea’, an offspring of the oldest succulent potted plant in the world.

Ticket prices

Adult (19+ years): €8
Youth (6 to 18 years): €6
Child (up to 5 years): Free

Our recommendation: We suggest you explore the zoo as much as you want and if you still have energy left, buy the Desert House tickets at the venue. If you prefer, you can book in advance, as well.

Attractions around Vienna Zoo
After exploring the Vienna Zoo, you can board the Schönbrunn Panoramabahn (the Panorama train). It is a great way to relax your legs even as you see 160 hectares of Schönbrunn. Find more activities you can do along with your visit to the zoo.

Vienna Zoo hours

Vienna Zoo opens at 9 am every day of the year.

During the peak season of April to September, the zoo closes at 6.30 pm, and during the shoulder months of March and October, the wildlife attraction closes at 5.30 pm.

During the lean season of November to February, Vienna Zoo closes at 4.30 pm.

The Aquarium House and the Tyrolean farmhouse close at the end of visiting hours, the Bird House closes an hour before, and all other animal houses close half an hour before.

How long does Vienna Zoo take

If you visit with kids and plan to see all animal exhibits, attend keeper talks, feeding sessions, etc., you will need four to five hours to explore Vienna Zoo.

However, if you are a bunch of adults and want to wrap up soon, you can cover most animal exhibits in two hours. 

Tip: When you buy Vienna Zoo tickets, you can skip the long lines at the ticket office and save time.

Best time to visit Vienna Zoo

The best time to visit the Vienna Zoo is when they open at 9 am.

Since the animals are most active in the morning, they are more visible and may recede to shaded areas as the day gets hotter.

The temperatures are still moderate, which helps explore the mostly outdoor zoo.

The crowd has yet to get in, so you don’t need to stand in any queue.

When you start early, you can explore for a few hours, stop by for lunch at one of the restaurants, and then resume your tour of the wildlife attraction.

Weekends and school holidays can get crowded.

Vienna Zoo map

There is a lot to see and do at the zoo, which is why it makes sense to have the map of Vienna Zoo handy at the time of your visit.

The map helps locate facilities such as restrooms, parking, restaurant, first aid center and navigate the various zones, enclosures, and activities efficiently.

Carrying the Tiergarten Schonbrunn’s layout is highly recommended if you are traveling with kids because you won’t waste time finding the various exhibits, and in the process, get exhausted.

Vienna Zoo in winter

Planning a visit to the zoo in winter, but not sure?

Don’t worry. Summer is the best time to visit any zoo, but winter at Vienna Zoo isn’t bad either.

Winter visits are more fun as there is less crowd and you can get a closer look at the animals.

You will be amazed at how active the animals are in their warm indoor enclosures.

The cooler temperatures do not bother many animals, especially those from Africa or South America.

Many exotic animals are likely to be seen outside in the winter playing between their indoor and outdoor enclosures, depending on their mood.

Vienna Zoo animals – what to see

The Vienna Zoo showcases various animals, birds, mammals, reptiles, and fishes.

The wildlife attraction is home to around 8,500 animals of more than 700 species.

The must-see attractions of Vienna Zoo are:

Regenwaldhaus

Regenwaldhaus is the German word for Rainforest house.

It is a giant glassed enclosure, giving the visitor a jungle vibe.

The artificial thunderstorms, the floor, the canopy, etc., depict a natural tropical forest.

Inside this forest, animals, birds, bats, etc., live free, giving it a feeling of authenticity.

Must: To look at the ‘flying foxes,’ you must go to the top level of this forest house.

Elephant House

Elephant House is dedicated to keeping and caring for the elephants.

The elephant shower routine is an exciting attraction in the zoo.

If you are traveling with kids, we suggest you find out the timings of the cleaning and feeding sessions and plan accordingly.

Younger visitors love the cleaning and feeding sessions in this part of the Vienna Zoo.

Big Cat House

The cat family – Tigers, Cheetahs, and Leopards – occupy rooms and outdoor areas in the big cat house.

Kids also get very excited in this section.

Rhino House

The Vienna Zoo has a nice big house for an Indian pair of rhinoceros.

This rhino is said to be a gift from the Kingdom of Nepal.

Polarium

This area features Penguins in their natural habitat and an extended pool for the sea lions.

Watching the large sea animals jump about and shower the visitors is always a treat.

Tirolerhof

Tirolerhof is a farmhouse from the mountainous Tyrolean region of Austria and is located just behind the Elephant House.

At Tirolerhof, one can see rare breeds of farm animals such as horses, sheep, goats, etc.

It also doubles up as an excellent place to get some food and drinks.

Other animals

Apart from these main centers are other animals like giraffes, zebras, antelopes, and birds.

There’s a children’s zoo where you can stroke and play with the animals.

The other attractions include an Insect house, a Koala house, Polar Bears, a Monkey and Ape house, a Gibbon island, Meerkats, Reindeer, Camels, Giant Pandas, etc.

Aquarium

Vienna Zoo’s aquarium consists of three sections.

The first section features crocodiles, fish, and free-living birds and butterflies.

You will also spot the butterfly breeding station in this section.

The highlight of the second section is a sizeable 80,000-liter reef aquarium filled with fish, anemones, and corals.

The third part is the Terrarium – a 7.5 meters (24.5 feet) long glass tunnel resembling a flooded Amazon forest floor.

This section showcases snakes, frogs, lizards, scorpions, odd spiders, ants, and a darkened area where bats and scorpions can be seen.

How to get to the Vienna Zoo

Vienna Zoo is located on the ground of the famous Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria.

Address: Maxingstrabe 13b, 1130 Wien, Austria

To get to the main entrance of the zoo, you must use the park entrance gate Hietznger Tor.

You can take U4 Underground and get down at the Hietzing Metro Station.

Hietznger Tor gate is only 350 meters (.2 miles) from Hietzing Metro Station, and the walk takes less than five minutes.

If you plan to take the tram, opt for tram numbers 10, 58, and 60.

If a bus is your preferred mode of transport, hop on bus numbers 51A, 56A, 56B, or 58A to get to Vienna Zoo.

Parking is available at one of the Park & Ride garages, a few Underground stations from the zoo. 

We recommend Hütteldorf on Line U4 and Siebenhirten on Line U6.

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Researched & written by
Jamshed is a versatile traveler, equally drawn to the vibrant energy of city escapes and the peaceful solitude of remote getaways. On some trips, he indulges in resort hopping, while on others, he spends little time in his accommodation, fully immersing himself in the destination. A passionate foodie, Jamshed delights in exploring local cuisines, with a particular love for flavorful non-vegetarian dishes. Favourite Cities: Amsterdam, Las Vegas, Dublin, Prague, Vienna

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