The Wawel Castle, the Cloth Hall and the Market Square or St. Mary’s Church are places that every tourist visits in Krakow. However, Krakow can also be visited in a slightly different way. Not everyone knows that there is a zoo in Krakow far from the tourist centre. Situated in the Wolski Forest, the Cracow Zoo is an interesting place which is worth seeing when visiting the city. What animals can we see in the zoo in Krakow? What is the ticket price list? What are the prices?
Back in the days when Krakow was the capital of Poland, the kings residing at Wawel Castle collected animals in a small zoo. Later, from 1895 onwards, animals could be seen in Krakow in the petting zoo of Stanisław Rehman in Czarna Wieś, but this was not the first zoo of any real significance in Poland. The first zoo was established in the village of Podhorodce on the Stryi river (not to be confused with Podhorce) on the initiative of the director of the orchard of the Lviv Horticultural and Orchard Society, biologist and zoologist – Stanisław Konstanty Pietruski.
A private scientific zoo with features of a modern zoo operated on the Stryi River from 1833 to 1848. Pietruski collected specimens of around 500 species, and his zoo was considered the largest private zoo at the time.
A normal ticket costs 38 PLN, a concessionary one 32 PLN. It is best to go to Krakow Zoo on a weekday in the early afternoon. Otherwise it is very crowded. It is worth remembering that parking in front of the zoo is paid, and it is not permitted to commute to the zoo in Krakow by car on weekends and holidays.
The Krakow Zoo is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with visits until 7 p.m. A highlight of the zoo are the feeding shows – elephants at 1 p.m., sea lions at 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. and penguins at 10 a.m. When going to the zoo, be aware that you may not be able to see some of the animals. They may be sleeping or sitting hidden in their boxes. Tickets to Krakow Zoo cannot be booked in advance. You can pay at the ticket office by card.
The photo shows a monkey that is popular with Poles but unfortunately is not in the zoo’s collection. Photo Source: Dennis Jarvis, WikiCommons, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic
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