Georgia Aquarium or Zoo Atlanta: Which Should You Visit?

If you only have one day, pick Georgia Aquarium for the bigger single spectacle: whale sharks and belugas under 11 million gallons of water. Pick Zoo Atlanta if you care about seeing the giant pandas coming back under a new agreement, about a year and a half after the last ones left. With two days, or one long one, you can fit both: they're in different parts of Atlanta, not next door to each other.

Which one to choose

Georgia Aquarium is the single biggest draw in the city: opened in 2005 on land donated by The Coca-Cola Company, it was briefly the largest aquarium in the world and remains the largest in the United States. Its Ocean Voyager gallery holds whale sharks, and the tank's 100-foot acrylic tunnel is the kind of thing you plan a trip around. It's also open all 365 days of the year, so weather never changes the plan.

Zoo Atlanta is older — it dates to 1889 — and bigger on the ground, 40 acres against the aquarium's footprint, with more than 1,000 animals across 220-plus species. It doesn't close for rain, either. And it's the one with the panda news: after Lun Lun, Yang Yang and their cubs left for China in October 2024, Zoo Atlanta announced in April 2026 that two new pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, are coming under a fresh conservation agreement.

What not to miss

Featured location Georgia Aquarium Atlanta, United States AZAWAZAWAZA-WP Its seven principal galleries contain upwards of 11 million US gallons of water. Nothing larger existed between its opening in 2005 and 2012, the year S.E.A. Aquarium in Singapore and China's Chimelong Ocean Kingdom surpassed it. It remains sixth in the world by size and the biggest anywhere in the United States.

At Georgia Aquarium, start at Ocean Voyager for the whale sharks and the tunnel, then work back through belugas, manta rays, bottlenose dolphins, California sea lions, sea otters and tiger sharks.

At Zoo Atlanta, the western lowland gorilla troop has produced 24 births since 1988, and Scaly Slimy Spectacular holds more than 200 reptiles and amphibians across 70-plus species — it's also one of the zoo's indoor buildings, useful on a wet day. KIDZone has the Treetop Trail ropes course and zip line (kids need to be 48 inches tall to do it unaccompanied) and the free Splash Fountain, running April through October.

Zoo Atlanta doesn't close for rain!

Tickets and saving money

Georgia Aquarium's fixed-date tickets start at $54.99 on off-peak weekdays and climb to $59.99-$64.99 over holiday periods, as of September 2026; an Anytime ticket with no set date is $69.99. As of September 2026, one child aged 3-12 is admitted free with every general admission ticket purchased, up to six, and children 2 and under are always free.

Zoo Atlanta doesn't publish a flat gate price at all — its tickets are date-based and dynamic, prices tend to rise the closer you get to your visit date, and walk-up prices on the day are the highest of the lot. Membership starts at $129 a year for unlimited daytime admission with no reservations needed, and there's a 10% military discount plus reduced rates for SNAP/WIC participants and college students.

If you're doing both, Atlanta CityPASS costs $106 plus tax for adults and $86 plus tax for children, valid over 9 days, and lets you pick Georgia Aquarium and Zoo Atlanta alongside three more Atlanta attractions. For a longer stay, Georgia Aquarium's own Land and Sea Membership bundles a year of unlimited admission to both venues under one purchase.

Getting there

Georgia Aquarium sits in Downtown Atlanta next to Atlantic Station and just north of Centennial Olympic Park. It's a 10-15 minute walk from MARTA's Dome/GWCC/Philips Arena/CNN Center Station on the Blue/Green line, or from Civic Center or Peachtree Center on the Red/Gold line; Bus Route 32 also runs there from Civic Center and Five Points. Its own parking deck is $20 for members and $30 for non-members.

Zoo Atlanta is in Grant Park, south of downtown at 800 Cherokee Avenue SE. Parking is metered at $3 an hour up to a $12 daily maximum, and there's a Relay bike-share hub right on Cherokee Avenue outside the gate. The two venues sit in different parts of the city, not within walking distance of each other, so plan on driving or taking transit between them if you're combining both in one day.

With kids and accessibility

Georgia Aquarium discourages strollers in its narrower hallways and caps them at 29 by 52 inches, but has a private nursing room on its second floor, free wheelchairs on a first-come basis, free sensory bags, and a daily low-sensory period with reduced lighting and sound until 10am. Outside food isn't allowed beyond small snacks for children or food allergies.

Zoo Atlanta rents manual wheelchairs for $14 a day and electric scooters for $33 (18 and over only), plus single strollers for $11 and doubles for $13, all near the front entrance. It also has four nursing stations around the grounds. On a hot day, above 95°F the zoo may close Treetop Trail or the giraffe feeding, but shade structures, misters and the Splash Fountain help; below 50°F, gorillas and orangutans tend to stay indoors by choice, so start with cold-tolerant animals or the indoor Scaly Slimy Spectacular instead.