Why You Should Visit the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium

If you and your family are looking for a great day trip visit the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium .The Zoo is located about five miles east of downtown Pittsburgh, Pa. The Pittsburgh Zoo has over 70 acres and is the home to thousands of different animals from hundreds of different species. We try to go there at least once a year. If you live close you can get a special membership that really saves a lot of money on the price of admission. They offer a $60.00 family membership that gives you free admission and parking to the zoo for a complete year. The cost to go one time is $9.00 for adults and $7.00 for children 2-13.They are open all year long and have various activities through out the different seasons. They also offer special rates for groups. This is the perfect field trip for the school or girl scouts or any other group. Maybe you would just like to get the whole family together for a day of fun. They offer birthday parties as well. The Pittsburgh zoo has 72 types of endangered or threatened animals. They are also one of only six zoo aquarium combinations. The aquarium is wonderful, the way they have it set up it looks like you are walking right into the tanks. They have jellyfish, penguins, sharks, eels, live coral and many other types of fish and water life. In the Zoo they have it divided up into sections .The sections are where you would find the animals living if they were in the wild. They are the Asian forest, the African Savannah, the Tropical rain forest, Cheetah valley, and the bear section. Another great feature the Pittsburgh zoo offers is the Kids Kingdom. Here they can walk through the deer and goat yards. They can actually pet the deer and goats. They have the sea lion pool where you can watch the sea lions play and swim around. They love to show off for visitors. They also have the enclosed bird area where you can see several different types of our flying friends. One thing we love is the Meerkat tunnel. Kids can climb through the tunnels and pop up in different windows. They can find themselves face to face with the Meerkats.

This year they our opening a new polar bear exhibit. You will be able to get up close and personal with the polar bears. We can't wait to check this out on our next trip to the Pittsburgh zoo. They have several gift shops throughout the zoo that have all types of souvenirs to remember your day. They have shirts and hats as well as stuffed animals for your child. They can pick one of their favorite animal. The zoo itself is laid out through some hills so the walk can be tiring to little ones, I would recommend you bring a stroller or you can rent a wagon while you are at the zoo. They have food stands at the Pittsburgh zoo but we always bring our own picnic lunch. Also we make sure to bring extra drinks. I don't like paying four dollars for a bottle of water. It usually takes about two to three hours to explore the whole Pittsburgh zoo and aquarium. If you live close by you would still have plenty of time to visit some of the other great attractions in Pittsburgh. Be sure to bring a camera to take pictures of all your child's favorite animals as well as ones of your children enjoying their day at the Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium.