The world’s most prominent travel guidance platform, Tripadvisor, recently ranked the celebrated conservationist Chester Zoo as the best zoo and aquarium in the country.
The new milestone for Chester arrives after the platform received consistently glowing visitor reviews. The respected rankings on Tripadvisor are formulated from millions of reviews and ratings from UK and world travellers submitted to the online advice platform.
Situated just four miles from Chester city centre, the zoological gardens provide a home for about 30,000 animals. A major northwest attraction, the zoo has accumulated more than 11,500 ‘excellent’ ratings on Tripadvisor. However, it has also earned acclaim from further afield, featuring in a 2026 top 10 of Europe’s best zoos and aquariums.
Commenting on its momentous achievement, Chester Zoo CEO, Jamie Christon, said that the conservation charity was over the moon with its new Tripadvisor ranking. He added that he felt proud of everyone at the zoo who made it a special place and emphasised that every visit directly supports critical conservation work in the UK and across the world. As a result, he said the zoo was enormously grateful to all who come to see its animals.
In the last year alone, the zoo’s important work has included developing an original vaccine to protect Asian Elephants from a lethal virus, bringing a tiny snail species back from the edge of extinction and planting a brand-new woodland habitat within the zoo’s 130-acre grounds with thousands of trees.
Chester Zoo is open seven days every week and is based in Upton-by-Chester.