Jerusalem with Kids: The Zoo, the Aquarium and What Else to Do

In Jerusalem, start with the Biblical Zoo: it works for every age, from toddlers who pet goats in the children's zoo to older children who crawl through tunnels to meet meerkats at eye level. Add the Israel Aquarium, about a kilometre from the zoo's entrance, for a shorter indoor visit with stingrays your children can feed. Then fill the gaps with the gazelles of Gazelle Valley, free birdwatching at the Bird Observatory, or the hands-on Bloomfield Science Museum.

Which venue to choose

The Biblical Zoo: for every age

Featured location The Tisch Family Zoological Gardens – The Biblical Zoo Jerusalem, Israel WAZAWAZA-WP The Tisch Family Zoological Gardens in Jerusalem – The Biblical Zoo, opened in 1940, is a zoo in Israel.

The zoo lies in the Malha valley, seven kilometres south-west of the city centre, and is known for its Afro-Asiatic collection, many of whose animals are described in the Hebrew Bible. For small children, the best of it is the three places where visitors touch animals. In Lemur Land you step inside to meet two species of Madagascar's lemurs; the Wet Side Story exhibit has a petting pool; and in the children's zoo they can pet and feed pygmy goats, sheep, rabbits and guinea pigs. The children's zoo also has a playground.

Older children get more out of Underground World, where they crawl into tunnels to see the meerkats and prairie dogs at eye level, and a dark room shows hidden animals such as the naked mole rat. At the Lorikeets Aviary you can feed the birds a special nectar, for an extra fee.

Plan around the feeding and enrichment schedule, which runs daily but ends at 2pm on Fridays. The morning is the busiest stretch: the small animals house at 10:00, the Syrian brown bear at 10:45, the mandrills at 11:15, the chimpanzees at 11:45 and the female elephants at 12:15. The meerkats follow at 14:30 and the giraffes at 15:00. At weekends the Living Classroom adds close encounters every hour on the hour, 11am-3pm on Fridays and 11am-4pm on Saturdays. New inside the Noah's Ark display, the Shai Doron Nature Conservation Center tells the story of the zoo's conservation work.

Two current changes affect your route: the bridge over the lake is closed for renovations, so you reach the zoo train station by the lake path, and Lemur Land can only be entered from the upper level. The train climbs from the lower level to the upper one for a nominal 3 NIS, paid as you board, but it does not run on crowded days.

The Israel Aquarium: a shorter visit, indoors

Featured location Israel aquarium מערב ירושלים, Israel Opened to the public in September 2017, this is described as the only inland aquarium in the region built around sea creatures. The displays represent four Israeli bodies of water: the Sea of Galilee, the Dead Sea, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. It stands beside the Biblical Zoo, which built it, but carries a separate admission ticket.

Israel's first public aquarium opened on 19 June 2017, and one gallery sets the country's four seas side by side: the Sea of Galilee, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. The stop your children will remember is the open pool in the Discovery Gallery, where visitors can feed common stingrays. In the tanks, look for zebra sharks, porcupine fish and puffer fish. Your ticket also covers the biodiversity exhibit and butterfly house, where fifteen species of tropical butterflies fly.

Like at the zoo, where visitors, particularly the younger set, can enter cages through tunnels and peepholes, the new aquarium offers similar features

Two things decide whether it suits a very young child: the aquarium's accessibility statement warns that it is relatively dark, and ride-on toys, scooters, bicycles and roller skates may not come in. At the other end of the age range, children of 6 and over can join the overnight tour, sleeping in tents on a plaza overlooking the large shark tank.

So which, for which ages?

With toddlers, choose the zoo and give it the whole day: petting, a playground and a train ride are all there. With school-age children, add the aquarium. It stops admitting visitors two hours before closing, so be through its doors by 16:00 on most days, or by 14:00 on Fridays and holiday eves.

Best time to visit

Both sites open 09:00-18:00 from Sunday to Thursday and on Saturdays and holidays, and 09:00-16:00 on Fridays and holiday eves. The zoo's last entry is an hour before closing. The aquarium's hours change when the clocks move to winter time, so check them before an autumn or winter trip.

Most of the zoo is outdoors, so its conditions follow the Jerusalem forecast, and it gives no refund if the weather changes. More than 70% of Israel's rain falls between November and March, and in winter it can fall as snow in Jerusalem, while June to September are usually rainless. On a wet winter day, the aquarium is the half of the plan the weather cannot spoil. The aquarium also recommends buying tickets in advance for busy days such as school holidays and festivals.

Tickets and saving money

As of September 2026:

• Biblical Zoo: ₪79 for adults and ₪64 for children aged 3-18; a person with a disability, child or adult, pays ₪39 with ID. Children need a ticket from age 3, and a parent's ID must be shown.
• Israel Aquarium: its price list runs from ₪39 to ₪73 a ticket, depending on the visitor category, and children pay from age 3.

For two adults and two children aged 3-18, a zoo day costs ₪286. The zoo's membership for a couple with two children costs ₪780 a year, so it pays for itself on your third visit; the combined zoo and aquarium membership for the same family costs ₪1,320. You can also save on lunch: the zoo recommends bringing your own food and drink, though some exhibits do not allow it.

Getting there

The zoo is at 1 Derech Aharon Shulov. Bus 33 runs there from Har Nof, Bayit VeGan, Malha Mall and Gilo, and bus 26A, from Bayit VeGan and Ramat Sharet, goes to both the zoo and the aquarium. The aquarium is about a kilometre from the zoo's entrance, along an access road that starts at the end of the zoo's parking area; you can walk or drive it, and parking by the aquarium's entrance is free.

Shabbat is the exception. In most of Israel public transport does not run on Shabbat, and Jerusalem's light rail stops about an hour before sundown on Friday, resuming half an hour after Shabbat ends; it does not run on Jewish holidays either.

Both sites describe their whole route as fully accessible, from the parking to the paths, and the zoo has accessible toilet stalls at the entrance and along the way.

Other wildlife nearby

Gazelle Valley, described as Israel's first urban nature reserve, opened in March 2015. It is named for a herd of about 55 gazelles living on land bounded by urban development.

The Jerusalem Bird Observatory stands between the Knesset, the Wohl Rose Park and the Supreme Court building. Its small wooden observation posts are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and entry is free.

Beyond the animals

The Bloomfield Science Museum, opposite the Hebrew University in Givat Ram, has indoor and outdoor hands-on exhibits, including a corner where huge bubbles are made with chains and sticks. At the Israel Museum, the Ruth Youth Wing for Art Education has galleries, art studios, a library of illustrated children's books and a recycling room.