Edinburgh Hotels near Edinburgh Zoo

The Edinburgh Zoo Penguins

The Edinburgh Zoo, in the intervening nine decades, has grown from a small affair with the rock-hewn lion and bear enclosures of its 1913 opening, to becoming the thirty-two hectare home of more than a thousand individual animals, of which penguins are only the most comical. The penguins can be viewed at their most graceful while darting about in the water of their there-metre deep tank at speeds approaching 40 kph, although the Zoo’s daily Penguin Parade staged for the benefit of its patrons is often the avian counterpart to herding cats, with similar results. But zoo goers love it.

The Zoo is situated on the slopes of Edinburgh’s Corstophine Hill, and for the convenience of its patrons runs free thirty-minute Hilltop Safari tours between 10:00AM and 3:30 PM. The two Safari vehicles leave from the sea lion enclosure, with their drivers providing descriptions of the passing sights during the journey to the summit of the hill.

The Edinburgh Zoo Preservation Program

Widely known as a preserver, as well as collector, of the world’s endangered species, the Edinburgh Zoo has been the birthplace of Siberian tigers, Persian and snow leopards, Pallas cats, lions, giraffes, and several species of monkey, among others. But one animal which visitors will never see at the Zoo is an elephant, because elephants need companionship and the Zoo has no room to accommodate an elephant family.

The Edinburgh Zoo opens daily at 9:00. Closing varies according to the season. There are picnic and play areas, as well as two cafeterias, a full-service restaurant, and food kiosks throughout the park.

Accommodations near the Edinburgh Zoo

Just two kilometers from the Zoo, the Ellersly House Hotel Edinburgh offers guests the gracious seclusion of a country home set among gardens, yet is only a ten minute drive from the City Centre.