This is not a huge zoo, but it is very well curated and continuously upgraded. It is particularly known for its gorilla breeding program but all exhibits are first rate. The only unfortunate thing about it is that tourists cannot reach it directly via rapid transit.

If you are in Chicago at the holiday season, don't miss the Christmas light display, which is lovely. It also allows the opportunity to see animal activity at a different time of the day -- when we were there, a mother gorilla was making a bed for herself and her little one with a blanket and was nursing him as she lay down.

We took the #22 bus from Marina City for $2 each. The zoo is free. We stopped first in the Conservatory which was really beautiful & well maintained. A section of it was being decorated & was not open to the public, but when we told one of the staff that we were from out of town she let us in to browse & take pictures...nice!

Then we went on to visit the many birds, animals & fish. There were a lot of groups of kids who seemed to really enjoy being there. There is a merry-go-round which seemed popular with the little ones. The grounds were clean & the flowers were really pretty.

There are several places to eat. We were surprised at how nice this zoo is since it is one of very few zoos that are free & where kids can learn about the different animals. As you can see from our pictures we enjoyed our visit too!

Got married in Lincoln Park on 8/8/08. We went to visit the Polar bears while waiting for the minister to arrive. Hey, how many people can say that the whole zoo was invited to their wedding????

For a free zoo this one is amazing, set in a cool older part of downtown with wonderful new upgrades. Kids loved it.