Visiting the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk

The Virginia Zoo is located in Norfolk Virginia. It's within driving distance from Virginia Beach, so every time we visit family down in that area, we always plan a visit to the Virginia Zoological Park. If you're looking for a day trip from south central Pennsylvania, you'll spend 5-6 hours driving each way, depending on traffic.

We love visiting this zoo because they have a wide variety of animals for you to see. You'll find primates, reptiles, amphibians, birds, big cats, all kinds of different mammals and more! They really have a nice selection of animals on exhibit and they're open year-round.

The zoo was founded in 1901 and is spread out on 52 beautifully landscaped acres with over 500 animals calling it home. During your visit you'll see giraffes, zebras, ostrich, kangaroos, lions, bald eagles, black bears, beavers, cheetahs, bison, emu, wallaby's, prairie dogs and many more!

Within the zoo you'll find the "ZooFarm" which is their hands-on petting zoo. Children love petting and feeding the animals, while getting up close and personal with them. The kids really seem to gravitate to the cows and goats!

If you've never visited before, I highly recommend that you visit the Virginia Zoo's website and print out a copy of the zoo map to take along with you. It will show you where all of the exhibits are, the suggested routes to take, marked places to grab something to eat and of course...where you can find all of the public restrooms. They do have them located at the entrance, but we like planning out our day before we even arrive, so that we don't miss anything that we want to see.

My grandchildren really enjoyed riding on the Zoo Train which is located in the enter of the zoo. They do charge a fee for a ride on the ZooTrain and I believe we paid $2.00 per person for that. The entire train ride lasts for about 20 minutes and takes you around a lot of the areas within the zoo. It's handicap-accessible for those who need that. The train doesn't operate on during bad weather days.

You can plan your entire visit to the Virginia Zoo online and to save time, you can purchase your admission tickets online too. After your done with your visit, head into the zoo's cool gift shop (near the main entrance) to pick up your souvenirs and gifts.

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