How great is the San Diego Zoo?

[travelgirl06]

I was hoping for a little advice on the SD zoo, I've heard wonderful things about it, but I'm a little skeptical. I have been lucky enough to have visited what I consider to be many great zoos/animal attractions (Toledo Zoo, Animal Kingdom, National Zoo in Washington DC, etc.). I can't help but wonder if the SD zoo is worth the time and price of admission?

We'll be in SD for 3 full days and are planning to do Sea World, Balboa Park/the zoo, and downtown/coronado. Is it worth trying to squeeze the zoo in, or should we focus our energy elsewhere?

Thanks for any advice or opinions

 

[ScooterL]

I don't know anything about the Toledo Zoo, but in comparison to the other two, it's much more like the National Zoo than it is like Animal Kingdom. (After all, Animal Kingdom is Nahtazu. ) I think it's got a wider variety of animals than the National Zoo, but I've not been to the National Zoo in quite a while. If you have any doubts you might want to skip the Zoo - sounds like you have a very busy itinerary planned already - either the Zoo by itself *or* Balboa Park by itself are full days - there's LOTS of museums in Balboa Park, and no way can you visit all of those in one day! I don't know what your interests are, but my favorites are the Natural History Museum, the Space Museum, and the Aerospace Museum. Museum of Man is pretty interesting, too. There's also several art galleries...but I'm not into art. Even just wandering around and doing all the free stuff (botanical gardens, Spanish Village, sculpture garden, rose garden, Houses of Hospitality, if they are open) can take a long time.

 

[Kaycee]

I haven't been to any of the zoos you mentioned (except Animal Kingdom, which is Nahtazu ) but I've been to several zoos that are considered good zoos, and I thought the San Diego Zoo was better than any other zoo I've visited. There was a very wide variety of animals, and the enclosures were set up so that you could get a pretty good view of many of the animals, even the "shy" ones.

That being said, it sounds like you'd rather be doing some of the other things San Diego has to offer rather than going to the zoo with the limited time you have. We were lucky enough to be able to move to the San Diego area last December, so I can visit the zoo knowing that I also have plenty of time to see everything else San Diego has to offer. If I only had a limited time here, I might decide to do something else instead. Our family loves museums, and Balboa Park has a great assortment of them. If you decide that you might enjoy that more than a visit to the zoo, then that's what you should do.

Whatever you decide, I hope you have a great time in San Diego!

 

[travelgirl06]

Thanks for the advice.