Amsterdam Zoo

Discover Artis Amsterdam Royal Zoo in heart of the city

Amsterdam Zoo is a popular day out in Amsterdam. Artis Amsterdam Royal Zoo to give it its full name is vast, you can easily spend a whole day here and still want to come back and see more.

We visited in October 2024, before an early evening flight home. It was the perfect end to our trip. This zoo is without doubt the best city zoo we have visited to date. It is really big, we love walking around Amsterdam anyway, so were ready for plenty of wandering around this beautiful zoo too. What we didn’t expect was how pretty it would be and how big the enclosures were for the animals. Zoos may not be to everyones tastes, but we never felt the animals were crushed in or pacing around the edges, sometimes it was hard to actually find them in the vegetation. The new lion enclosure is lovely to behold.

Artis Amsterdam Zoo was founded in 1838 and is the oldest Zoo in the Netherlands. It is situated right in the centre of Amsterdam and there are over 900 species of animals living there. It is a perfect half-day or day out for anyone, couples and families will particularly love it. 

Buy Artis Amsterdam Zoo Tickets

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links to companies and services we trust. If you purchase something after clicking any link, then we will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you (policy page).

What animals does Amsterdam Zoo have

There are so many different animals you can see at Artis Zoo. Artis Zoo has African Elephants, gorillas, giraffes, penguins, monkeys, turtles, jaguars, lions and many more.

It is quite a sprawling zoo, so you either grab a map or follow the signs which have icons of each animal pointing the direction they live in. We struggled to find the jaguars as we kept going in circles and when we did find them they were hiding anyway. But whilst looking we saw a lot of the other less headline acts so to speak.

When visiting the zoo you’ll discover an aquarium, a planetarium and a popular micropia attraction which opened in 2014. This focuses on the world of microbes which being so small (and perhaps not as exciting on paper as a Jaguar) are often overlooked, but are fascinating in their own right. There is also a Gorilla House, Lemur Land, Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion.

Lion Enclosure

In October 2023, a new lion enclosure was officially opened. This habitat is inspired by the African savannah and designed to give them much more space (10x more than the previous enclosure). It also has much more varied terrain, dry and vegetated areas, as well as other sub-areas. This was a real highlight and the lions were basking in the sunshine at the top of a hill right by one of the many viewing areas. There is also a downstairs viewing area near a waterfall which was an amazing place to sit for a while.

Artisplein is a nice open space with seats where visitors can sit and relax and enjoy the fountain. Visitors are permitted to bring in their own food or there are a number of restaurants and cafes as well as a pancake house. 

Amsterdam Zoo Tickets

You can book tickets for Artis Zoo online or you can walk up on the day. We do recommend that you book online before your visit because it is much cheaper, especially if you are a family group, As this is a very popular Amsterdam attraction at peak times you might also be disappointed on the door.

You book for the entire day and can enter from 9am-6pm. If you need to leave for some reason you can get a stamp at the door, so you can get back in. You can use our link below to reserve your tickets.

There is also the opportunity to register and join the zoo separately by registering for a Mijn Artis account, this is how you get your bring a friend tickets too.

Artis Zoo start times and tickets

If booking a ticket online in advance, entry starts from 9am and lasts until 6pm. This includes any children and infants 0-2 years of age. If you have a ‘bring a friend’ coupon, you still need to book them into the date to guarantee entry. You can also use your I Amsterdam City Card for entry but again need to book in advance using the card details.

Ticket prices for Amsterdam Zoo 2024

Where is the Amsterdam Zoo

The Zoo is situated in Central Amsterdam and close to Hortus Botanicus. Although it would be possible to walk there from Centraal Station it would be quite a long walk, so we recommend you use public transport.

From Amsterdam Central Station, Tram 14 stops at the Zoo. Tram 7 and Tram 19 stop within walking distance from Artis Zoo (a few minutes walk). The nearest metro station is Waterlooplein. The Artis Royal Zoo is around a 10-minute walk from there.

You can view our specialist page on Amsterdam Trams to learn about using the iconic blue and white trams whilst in Amsterdam. Some of the trams actually run along the edges of the zoo, so you can get a free look in if you are lucky. If you would like to learn more about all the public transport options in Amsterdam and the various ticket options, you can also visit our public transport in Amsterdam page.

Amsterdam Zoo address:

Artis Amsterdam Royal Zoo, Plantage Kerklaan 38-40 1018 CZ Amsterdam

Artis Amsterdam Royal Zoo Map

Perhaps the best way to get a sense of scale of the zoo and to see all the attractions and animals you’ll see on your visit is to download the map of the zoo.

Download and view Amsterdam Zoo Map

Artis Groote Museum

The Groote Museum is not a museum dedicated to the cute Marvel character from Guardians of the Galaxy, but it does ask some of the big questions in the universe.

It is a place to explore connections, with yourself and other life on Earth. Why do you exist? What makes you, you?

An interactive and thought provoking exploration of lifes big questions.

Where can you find the Groote Museum

Located on Artisplein, next to the Chilean Flamingos (bit more exciting than saying turn left at the next junction).

Artis Zoo Planetarium

The Planetarium is on the left as you enter the zoo. It has a lovely cafe attached. The dome is clearly visible from various points  of the park.

When we went in the cafe there was a video screen wrapped around the outside of the dome with a countdown clock to the next show, so you know how long you have to finish your coffee and cake before going in. The planetarium shows you the universe in four different shows: Worlds beyond Earth, Journey through the Universe, Planeet Sok and Habitat Earth. I love the immersion of planetariums, they are such a lovely way to look at the world. The kids will love it all but especially the cute Planeet Sok.

Best of all its included in the entry price so you can pop along anytime. If you want to plan for the kids though I suggest heading there at the start of your zoo journey (just turn left at the entrance) to check out the days schedule.

Some of our favourite parts of Artis Zoo

Everyone has favourite animals along with the big showpiece animals that are used to promote zoos.

Maybe I’m a little weird, but I loved the Vulture aviary. These birds were just huge and with that super confident, so you could get a really good look at them. Whether they were looking at me in the same way I’m not so sure. When they took flight and spread their wings it was amazing.

Everyone loves a seal and the ones here were as lovely as you would expect. The underwater viewing area gave a really good look at their swimming prowess.

Elton is a big fan of elephants (and frogs but that’s a different story). This elephant enclosure was surrounded by water with koi carp lazily swimming through. The elephants could roam around in a reasonable space (anything with elephants in probably looks smaller to be fair). There is a walkway that breaks through the water and separates enclosures, its a really neat way to feel like you are close and feel natural at the same time.

The gorilla house had a wide variety of animals to look at and photograph. It’s a very popular part of the zoo. There was also a nice overhead tube that ran through part of the zoo, within which you could see monkeys chasing through.

Where to eat

After a few hours roaming around, the call of food will reach you. There are plenty of places to eat at in the park and there is no issue at all with bringing your own food in and having a picnic (perfect for families). But if you want a place to eat that you’ll remember forever, then we picked De Waterkant (The Waterfront).

This cafe/restaurant is a stunning design. At it’s rear is one of Amsterdams canals with a seating area to enjoy your food and drink whilst watching boats. But we came to the zoo for animals and at the front it didn’t let us down.

The clue is in the name, as across the pavement sits a canal/moat and beyond are giraffes and zebras. You share your meal with a view of giraffes taking a drink or eating from the strung up grasses just twenty feet or so away. You can’t really ask for much more than that.

Artis zoo for kids and families

Whilst we were at the zoo it was during school hours, so the kids we saw were younger in age with perhaps the odd older ones with days off. There is though plenty for kids at the zoo. I’m sure families are one of the biggest users of Artis zoo. The biggest demographic we saw on our visit was actually a lovely visit from an old peoples home with probably thirty oldies still marvelling at all the animals they saw. You don’t really grow out of zoos.

Children were provided with playparks which looked very naturalistic – not just a few iron bars placed in an empty space, these were exploration dens in natural material and looked very popular.

Kids legs ache, it’s a fact of life. If you don’t fancy a day carrying your child on your shoulders or begging them to just keep going then Artis Zoo also has a very cool little trolley bay, a bit like a shopping trolley bay. You unlock your trolley, pop your kid in and voila you have an easy way to wheel your loved one eaily around the zoo.

Artis Zoo in Amsterdam has a lot of sustainable features and one we particularly liked was the amount of insect habitats that had been built and how pretty they were. Everyone stopped to look at these live habitats that are helping save crucial insect life. Inspiring for the kids to do something to help nature at home too.

There is a fun area where the kids actually become the watched attractions. A small bridge gets you across to the habitat area and then zoo visitors can watch and marvel as your kids go ape and entertain and hopefully learn about the habitat they are now a big part of.

Artis Zoo Gift Shop

Finally there is the gift shop, that almost everyone will go look inside,but kids especially. You’ll find tonnes of toys and souveniers of your visit in this shop just by the exit.