Our first stop on our family trip to Pittsburgh was the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium. Be sure to bring some sunscreen! It was scorching the day we visited, but that actually made our trip better because many of the animals were more active during this time.
The zoo was easy to get to and parking was free. Claire and Grace were so excited to see every animal, so we made the most of our time moving from one animal to the next, but made sure to stop and watch the animals that seemed to be more active.
I received a pass to facilitate this post.
Visit Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium for Tons of Family Fun
Everyone has their favorite animal to visit when going to the zoo. My husband and youngest daughter, Claire, love the penguins, my favorite is always the polar bears and sea lions. Grace on the other hand loves absolutely every animal and says every one of them is her favorite! The polar bears, sea lions and otters were all extremely active because it was warm they were all in the water playing.
This zoo is great for all ages. There is a tram if you don’t want to walk or can not walk in between exhibits. But the walk through the zoo was easy for all of us. We stopped for lunch at the Safari Plaza that offered a ton of seating space, we also found out that this area is being renovated to have a balcony and eating area to overlook the elephants, giraffes, and zebras, with a ton of extra seating. This should be ready by next summer.
After lunch we decided to get out of the sun for a bit and headed into the PPG Aquarium, this is included in ticket costs. There were so many cool things to see, and a really cool tunnel that kids could crawl through to go under the water with sting rays and horseshoe crabs.
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium has a few areas around the zoo where they have animal interactions with visitors. These only occur during certain times of day. If this is something you love to do with your family, be sure to find out the times for these shows before your visit.
Find Time To Play at Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium
You would think that after all the walking we did that the girls would be ready to sit and relax, but they just wanted to have some free play, so before we headed back to the car, we were sure to stop by the Kids Kingdom, it is a huge play area with a large rope climbing area and a ton of slides for kids of different sizes.
The Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium should definitely be added as a stop on your trip to Pittsburgh this summer. I love the zoo because I love to see my children react to the animals and see them take everything in.
Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium
Location:
7340 Butler Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15206
(For TomTom, use 15201 as zip code)
Although the address for the zoo is One Wild Place, the above address is what you should use for driving directions.
Current Rates (April 1- November 30)
Adult – $15
Seniors (60+ years of age) – $14
Children (ages 2-13) – $13
Children under 24 months – Free
Parking – Free
Be sure to visit the Pittsburgh Zoo website for hours of operation. When planning your trip to Pittsburgh be sure to go to www.visitpittsburgh.com.
This was not a paid post. All opinions and views are my own. Thank you to VisitPittsburgh and Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium for providing passes and tickets for this post.
