Taronga Zoo

You need to take a ferry to Taronga Zoo, where you can find kangaroos and koalas.

We saw koalas, kangaroos, and many other animals - they were so cute! You need to take a cable car to go up, which makes the experience really worthwhile!

It's listed among Sydney's Top 10 must-visit attractions (however, in reality, it's not a very large zoo, with relatively few animals and limited interactive experiences). The entrance fee isn't cheap at 55 dollars.

Kangaroos and koalas are, of course, standard features in any Australian zoo. Although the dinosaur exhibit is artificial, the models are quite realistic, and with the simulated roars, it's particularly suitable for children. The entrance ticket includes one cable car ride up the mountain. If you look carefully, you might spot animals running below.

The bird show is highly recommended!
The iconic giraffes have moved away. Without the Opera House and Harbour Bridge as a backdrop, it's much more low-key now.

Take the free cable car up to the zoo, where you can enjoy views of Sydney Harbour. The zoo has koalas and kangaroos, though you can't hold the koalas for photos. The trees where koalas rest are quite low, so you can still get quite close to them. It's very accessible - just a 15-minute ferry ride from Circular Quay.

Here's a basic city zoo with one unique highlight - its spectacular views across Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour).

After purchasing our tickets, we headed straight in. Keep in mind that this zoo is smaller than many other major zoos, so it's best to manage your expectations.

The zoo has many bush turkeys, seagulls and other birds wandering around. You can bring bread - they'll snatch it right from your hands (during a brief moment when I was unzipping my bag on the lawn, a bush turkey grabbed my entire bread bag... bad guy!)

To be honest, Taronga Zoo might not be Australia's best zoo. However, even this brief glimpse showed us how much Australians care for their animals.

The entire zoo is built on an island with lush vegetation. Different plant environments are designed according to various animals' living habits, and some small animals even roam freely throughout the zoo. Back in China, I never liked visiting zoos because it felt like humans were just gawking at animals, making their lives miserable. But here, their areas blend beautifully with the trees, and the exhibits are at eye level with visitors, creating more of a sense of "shared enjoyment" rather than observation.

Taronga Zoo's got the best views of any zoo I've visited - watching giraffes with Sydney Harbour as a backdrop is pretty surreal! The cable car ride up gives you amazing city views. The koalas and kangaroos are obviously the stars here, but their conservation work is really impressive too. A bit pricey and can get packed on weekends, but totally worth it. Pro tip: go early morning when the animals are most active and it's less crowded. Getting there by ferry makes it even more fun!

Admission: $47 AUD including cable car. We got two tickets online for 115 RMB total - saved a lot. Bought them on Taobao as a package deal with Sydney metro cards.

Recommended time: At least 3 hours. If you're bringing children, expect to spend the whole day there - there are many animal shows and plenty of play areas for kids.

Take the ferry to get there - the zoo has its own wharf. Pick up a map at the ticket office (Chinese versions available) which shows the schedule for all animal performances.

It's quite an interesting zoo, with an excellent location that offers panoramic views overlooking Sydney's city center.

The zoo may not look very large, but walking through it for a day is quite tiring... When we visited, some areas were under renovation, so unfortunately we missed seeing the muscular kangaroos we had imagined... However, the koalas, giraffes, and alpacas were truly adorable.

The zoo is situated on a small hill north of Darling Harbour, forming part of Sydney's urban parks.
Within the zoo, visitors can observe various native Australian animals including kangaroos, koalas, and pelicans.
From the giraffe enclosure, you can enjoy panoramic views of Darling Harbour and the Sydney Opera House.

Transportation Options:

1. By Ferry:

• Depart from Circular Quay Wharf 2

• Ferries run every 30 minutes

• Combined ferry and zoo ticket costs AUD 42

2. By Bus:

• Take Bus Route 247 from Wynyard Station

• Board at Carrington Street, Stand 'A' in the city center

• Direct service to the zoo

Home to countless Australian native species, Taronga Zoo is an absolute must-visit for wildlife enthusiasts!

Taronga Zoo is Sydney's most famous zoo. You can take photos with koalas (but not touch them - Queensland is the only state in Australia where you can hug koalas), get close to free-roaming kangaroos, and see turkeys and various birds running around. There are many species of animals, and except for the predators, most are quite close to visitors. The zoo also features realistic dinosaur replicas with convincing sounds and movements!

Remember to grab a map at the entrance - it helps you locate attractions and check presentation times. Activities like elephant bathing and giraffe walks run on fixed schedules, mostly in the afternoon. If you want close-up encounters, you'll need to plan your visit around these times. The Keeper Talks are in English with strong Australian accents and focus mainly on animal care details and habits - they're not performances. I wouldn't recommend planning your route around these talks.

The zoo usually offers a cable car for transportation, but it was under maintenance when we visited. The zoo isn't very large - you can see everything in about 1.5 hours without backtracking, not counting photo time.

For the popular koala photos, the encounter area is open from 11:00-14:45 daily, but you need to get free tickets early (limited availability). We arrived around noon and tickets were already gone, so we could only take photos from behind the barrier.

There's an area where kangaroos roam freely without barriers and might hop right up to you. However, they're actually quite shy, often hiding to munch on branches, unlike some of the bolder birds running around.

Taronga has a decent variety of animals - iconic koalas and kangaroos, elephants, giraffes, hippos, and nocturnal animals like snakes, lizards, and insects. All exhibits have detailed information, making it great for children's education, though adults might find it less engaging.

The other exit offers beautiful views of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, and you can catch a ferry from there.

The zoo closes early - we left around 5 PM among the last visitors, with the ticket office closed and gift shop already shut.

P.S. I'd rate Taronga 6/10. Half a day is enough, and while the value for money isn't exceptional, it's Sydney's only place to photograph koalas up close.

Taronga Zoo sits across the harbor from the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House. Looking at its entrance, you'd hardly guess it's a zoo.

Contrary to popular belief, koalas aren't inherently lazy - their sleepiness is actually a sign of their bodies processing the toxins from eucalyptus leaves. Poor little ones are just detoxifying.

Compared to the tigers, leopards, and bears of other continents, the animals here are more like peace ambassadors. Since most of the zoo's wild animals are "foreign residents" from other continents, they're not our main focus of interest.

Outside the dolphin show arena, there's an impressive array of baby strollers - clearly no aging population issues here!

The zoo's entrance hall displays several glass containers filled with old mobile phones, lighters, worn plastic shoes, and even cigarette butts. It's an environmental awareness campaign aimed particularly at children - teaching them young about conservation. Chinese signs are everywhere, diminishing the feeling of being in a foreign place. The dusty weather quickly cleared up, returning the sky to its original blue transparency. Suddenly, everything before us became vibrant and colorful.

When planning my trip, I was initially concerned that a zoo right in Sydney's city center might not be very impressive. However, Taronga Zoo turned out to be excellent - I highly recommend it. We bought three tickets a day ahead on Mafengwo, which included two cable car rides. We took the cable car up from the bottom and then explored while walking downhill, which proved to be an efficient approach.

The visitor center map was incredibly useful, showing not just animal locations but also performance schedules. We roughly planned our route and spent 3.5 hours covering about 70-80% of the park. Tree frogs, various snakes, bats, giraffes, koalas... everything was fascinating! It felt like our eyes couldn't keep up with all there was to see.

The absolute must-see is the QBE Free-flight Bird Show. The viewing area faces stunning harbor views, and trainers position themselves at different spots around the stands. The birds obediently swoop over the audience's heads from one trainer to another, landing precisely on their arms. The finale features birds of different colors soaring together - it's like magic. The female trainer in the middle (whose name I've forgotten) left the deepest impression. Her interactions with the birds, her tone, and expressions clearly showed her boundless passion for both the birds and her work. It was deeply moving. After the show, we donated $5 to the bird conservation fund and received a badge. If you visit Taronga Zoo, you can skip other shows like the seal show, but don't miss this one.

Zoos are typically children's favorites - it somehow feels odd for an adult to wander alone eating ice cream in a zoo. Alain de Botton once expressed his unease about visiting zoos, troubled by the similarities between humans and animals, reflecting that his evening dinner dates (courtship behavior) weren't fundamentally different from the mating calls of rheas on autumn nights.

It's perfect for family visits - you can take a whole day to explore at a leisurely pace. The koalas are absolutely adorable, and the gorillas are lovely too. I must also recommend the restaurant in the amusement park - the french fries are delicious, and their set meals are really good. Definitely worth trying!

Finally saw the adorable koalas - I imagine my excitement was similar to how foreigners feel when seeing pandas. Also got to take pictures with some very cute, not-at-all-muscular kangaroos!

The cable car is included in the admission ticket. After taking the ferry to the wharf, you can take a bus up to the entrance, and it's convenient to take the cable car down. Though the zoo isn't large, it's well-curated, with various shows and interactive activities. You can take photos with koalas, but note that this activity ends at 2:45 PM.