Zoo Leipzig Tickets: Prices, Gondwanaland & Visiting Tips

Inside Zoo Leipzig: what you’re paying for

Zoo Leipzig was founded in 1878 and has spent the last two decades rebuilding itself under its “Zoo of the Future” master plan, due for completion by the zoo’s 150th anniversary in 2028. The result is a city-centre zoo arranged into themed worlds rather than rows of cages, with some of Germany’s most ambitious animal habitats.

Zoo Leipzig tickets cover all of it:

• Gondwanaland — a giant tropical hall of about 16,500 m², opened in 2011, where you walk through rainforest from three continents under one roof. Squirrel monkeys, iguanas and many other species live in the hall, a treetop path runs overhead, and a boat trip follows the river through the jungle (small extra charge).
• Feuerland — the newest area, opened in September 2026. This 10,000 m² coastal world has sea lions and a new colony of Humboldt penguins, with an underwater tunnel more than 100 metres long running through the pools.
• Pongoland — the great-ape complex, run together with the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. You can watch chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos and orangutans in large indoor and outdoor areas.
• Africa — including the Kiwara savanna, where giraffes, zebras and antelopes share a wide open plain.
• Asia — with the sloth bear ravine among its highlights.
• Founder’s Garden — the historic heart of the zoo, home to the koala house that opened in 2016 in a former ape house from 1901.

Who it suits: families with kids of any age, adults who want modern habitats rather than a petting zoo, and anyone in Leipzig on a rainy day — Gondwanaland is warm and humid all year. It doesn’t suit visitors looking for rides; the only paid extras are the Gondwanaland boat trip, the Pongoland gorilla trek (recommended from age 6) and gold panning at the South American hacienda.

Timing is everything

Zoo Leipzig is busiest on summer weekends, during the Saxony school holidays and on public holidays such as Easter and Whitsun. The quietest pleasant-weather days are weekdays in May, June and September. Winter weekdays are excellent value: prices drop from 1 November, and Gondwanaland feels like a holiday when it’s grey outside.

Be at the gate for 09:00 and do the outdoor worlds first. Feuerland is new and will draw crowds for a while, so get to the sea lions and penguins early. Leave Gondwanaland for the middle of the day — it’s indoors and warm whatever the weather, and you’ll appreciate it most after a few hours outside.

Check the keeper-talk and feeding schedule when you arrive. Building your route around two or three talks keeps you from walking back and forth across the zoo.

With small children: pushchairs and handcarts can be hired for €5 plus a €10 deposit, and you can reserve one online with your ticket. Distances add up across six theme worlds, so a cart is worth it even for children who usually walk. The gorilla trek in Pongoland is recommended from age 6, so skip it with toddlers.

Insider tip: The boat trip in Gondwanaland gets queues by late morning on busy days. Head into the hall shortly after it opens, do the boat first and walk the treetop path afterwards — the walking route is the part that copes best with crowds.

The insider entry

The cheapest legitimate way in is the evening ticket, valid from three hours before closing. In summer, when the zoo closes at 19:00, that gives you from 16:00: three hours is enough for Gondwanaland plus one or two outdoor worlds. It’s also the best way to come back for a second look at a favourite area after a full day earlier in your trip.

How to save on tickets

• Pick your season. Winter prices apply from 1 November to 20 March: €23 for adults instead of €27, and €15 for children instead of €18.
• Family ticket. Two adults and up to four children aged 6–16 pay €70 in summer or €60 in winter — cheaper than two adult and two child tickets. Extra children pay half the child price.
• Free entry. Children under 6 enter free.
• Online tickets include transport. Online adult, child and family tickets include travel on Leipzig’s local transport network in zone 110, which saves the tram fare.
• Concessions (€23 adults in summer) are sold at the cash desk on the day, with proof of eligibility.
• Leipzig Card holders get reduced prices: €23 for adults in summer, €19 in winter.
• Optional donation. Each ticket includes a voluntary €1 contribution to species-conservation projects.
• Annual pass. At €98 for adults, it pays off from the fourth summer visit — a subscription version costs a little less.

On Tiqets, the skip-the-line Zoo Leipzig ticket was listed from €22 at the time of checking, rated 4.7★ from 2,657 reviews. Official prices for adults are higher in summer, so compare the age group and date before you choose.

Getting there without the hassle

Zoo Leipzig is on the northern edge of the city centre, at Pfaffendorfer Straße 29, with the main entrance on Parthenstraße.

• On foot: the zoo’s signposted route from Leipzig Hauptbahnhof is about 820 metres, roughly 10–15 minutes.
• By tram: tram 12 runs from the main station towards the zoo; the stops Wilhelm-Liebknecht-Platz and Goerdelerring are each about 600 metres from the gates.
• By car: two covered car parks at Parthenstraße 8, directly opposite the main entrance, are open 24 hours and cost €1 per started hour or €8 for the day.
• From further away: Leipzig is about an hour and a quarter from Berlin by ICE, and Leipzig/Halle Airport is linked to the main station by S-Bahn.

Make it a trip

Leipzig makes a good two-day base for animals and rides:

• Belantis, eastern Germany’s largest theme park, is about 20 minutes south on the Cospudener See — pair a zoo day with a rides day.
• Zoo Berlin and its Panda Garden are a fast train ride north if you’re building a German zoo trip.
• The Leipziger Neuseenland lakes south of the city, former open-cast mines now flooded, have swimming beaches and boat hire in summer — the Cospudener See is right next to Belantis.
• In the city, the Monument to the Battle of the Nations and the Bach sites around St Thomas Church fill a half-day between the zoo and the park.

Find more parks on our Germany destinations hub or compare other animal parks on the zoos and aquariums hub.