Lincoln Park Zoo

This small zoo right in the heart of Chicago, Lincoln Park is an ideal family destination, popular with small children eager to see the many different animals.

Covering an area of 142,000 square metres, deep in the heart of Lincoln Park north of downtown Chicago, the Lincoln Park Zoo is a great day out for all the family. The park allows you to get up-close-and-personal with more than 1,000 animals, including monkeys, zebras, sea lions, bears, crocodiles and hippos, all at home and on display in natural-looking habitats.

Founded all the way back in 1868, when New York’s Central Park donated a pair of swans to Lincoln Park, today the zoo has grown dramatically. The zoo was once the home of a notorious bear cub who was in the habit of escaping from his enclosure and wandering the park through the night.

The largest enclosure is the Regenstein Centre for African Apes, housing chimpanzees, lowland gorillas and other primates across almost 2700 square metres. In the African enclosure you can find giraffes, wild dogs, crocodiles and hippos, as well as an indoor big cat display.

Head for the Pritzker Family Children’s Zoo where you’ll find owls, beavers, black bears, wolves, turtles and ducks, as well as exhibits designed with kids in mind.

Elsewhere you can find the Farm-in-the-Zoo, housing farmyard animals like chicken, sheep, cows, pigs and even ponies. Here you can watch demonstrations covering topics like learning how to milk a cow, and finding out through talks about how families live on the farm. For kids between the ages of three and 12, a ride on the Children’s Train is a real treat.

Once you’ve had a stroll around the zoo, stop off at the Park Place Café for burgers, pasta and more. For organic food, head to the café at Wild Things, whilst pizza and drinks are on offer at the Pati at Café Brauer. The zoo is free to enter and open every day throughout the year.