Yesterday, I did something I had promised myself I would never do: I visited the Rome Zoo, officially known as Bioparco, with my family.
It wasn’t my first visit ever: I had been here during my primary school years on a school trip, and then at least once more with my parents.
And then I grew old enough to understand that loving animals means respecting their right to live in an environment that suits them, in the midst of nature.
Yet, in the end, I took my two-year-old daughter to visit the Bioparco in Rome. I gave in because my daughter sees animals in cartoons every day, and I wanted her to see some real animals.
In this post, I’ll share my impressions of the visit and other useful tips for those visiting for the first time.
I visited the Bioparco. Here are my impressions.
First, I’ll share my honest impressions of the Bioparco. Then, I’ll reveal all the useful information for a pleasant visit.
Here’s what I think.


One of the advantages of the Bioparco is definitely its location. The zoo covers a rather large part of the public park “Villa Borghese” (or Borghese Gardens). This is the most important park in the historical center of Rome, quite close to Piazza di Spagna. This park offers many activities for those visiting with children. My favorite remains relaxing on the lawn and having a nice picnic.
Inside this park within a park, animals are kept in open-air environments delimited by ditches, which attempt to reproduce their natural habitat more or less faithfully.
We could not see all the animals because, after walking for more than 3 hours, we were tired. Some were hidden in their dens.
The animals in the petting area (referred to as “farm”), like donkeys and sheep, did not come close.
I was surprised that my daughter, (she’s two years old), didn’t seem that interested in the animals. She showed interest in the monkeys though:
- the dozens of macaques enclosed in a large pit dug into the ground
- the gorilla that approached the glass at our call
- and some tiny monkeys whose names I do not remember.
Another very popular area was the tanks and ponds with waterfalls and flowing water, home to the seals, and the penguins.
The major disappointment for me was that the animals in the Bioparco did not interact in any way with us observers (why would they?). But also, that the animals did not interact with each other in most cases (being perhaps a single specimen or one of two.)
My partner did not improve the situation, repeating “poor…” every time he stopped to look at the “caged” animal of the moment.
I state that the cages do not always resemble cages with iron bars, but are areas delimited by ditches or walls with glass so that you can look through them.
Visiting with children
The Bioparco is equipped for those visiting with children.
There are two small areas with swings and slides and another two areas with picnic tables.
The bathroom in front of the “farm”, the little area with donkeys and sheep you can pet, is the best. There you’ll find a baby changing table in the common area of the bathroom, in front of the sinks.
At the only food point we found open, there were reasonably priced dishes. For €12, we got the children’s menu, which includes a plate of pasta with tomato sauce, a portion of fries, a chicken cutlet, and a small water. That was enough for us, as we had recently had breakfast at a café in the nearby Prati district.




The Animals
The Bioparco hosts about 1200 animals belonging to 150 species. Having the chance to see wild animals for us adults was an emotion: animals are wonderful.
We started with the giraffes, who welcomed us in their area right near the entrance of the Bioparco.
Right after, we saw the birds of prey, specimens of owls, obviously in cages.
This was painful: majestic birds, with their wings a symbol of freedom, in cages.
Another hard thing to bear is the tank with the seals: two non-communicating tanks, one next to the other, where two solitary seals swim continuously, covering the same tiny perimeter with their elegant swimming. And they deserve much better than those tanks; what sadness.





Among the other animals we saw were:
- rhinoceroses
- mouflons and goats
- wild dogs
- gazelles
- zebras
- flamingos
- waterfowl
- hippos amphibians
- brown bears
- wolves
- komodo dragon
- camels
- Asian elephants
For some reason, we were unable to find the reptile house, maybe because after walking, running, and trying to show the animals to our daughter, who was more interested in the swing, we were already quite tired.
By the way, let me also tell you that another place we visited with our daughter and where we had the most fun was instead the Explora Museum, which is quite close to the Bioparco.
An “Ethical” Zoo
The fact that it is no longer called a zoo (even though it is written as such on the ancient entrance portal) but Bioparco reflects the modern foundational principles of the institution.
From research on the City of Rome’s website, I discovered that the animals present in the Bioparco were not taken from their natural habitat.
They were either born on-site or brought here by the Law Enforcement who rescued them from poaching or from those who held them illegally.
The Bioparco is a member of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria. Members of the association collaborate voluntarily to maintain genetic diversity (for example, by exchanging specimens) and sometimes carry out re-introductions into nature.
Next to the “cages”, you can read some stories about how the animals arrived at the Bioparco of Rome.
Animals are never, under any circumstances, “purchased.” There are many episodes of animal rescues, which, without proper care, would have died instead.
All of this has made us reevaluate the Bioparco in Rome, which, in the end, does something good for animals.
Vegetation
One aspect that I appreciate about the Bioparco, as well as the Borghese Gardens area in general, is the vegetation.
I walked among hundreds of plant species, including exotic plants and century-old trees. The parks of Rome, in this regard, are surprising. However, remember that the paths that cross the Bioparco are not shaded.
Ticket and Costs
One thing that didn’t excite me is the cost of the adult ticket, which I think is exaggerated: €18 each. Children up to 13 years old have free access.
You can pre-purchase tickets online on the official website of the Bioparco of Rome at no additional cost.
We didn’t find a queue at the ticket office: there are few visitors during the week.
Near the entrance is the little train that crosses a part of the park: it has a separate cost; we didn’t take it, nor did the other visitors who were in the park then.
Map

At the ticket office, after purchasing the tickets, they gave us this color map, which is easy to follow. There are also physical signs indicating where the animals are located, but the map was quite useful.
It is interesting to know that on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, the animals receive the meal at specific times which you can find on the brochure where the map is also.
Best Time to Visit
There’s a lot of walking if you want to see all the species: at least 3 hours. The avenues are not shaded, so I do not recommend visiting in the summer months. Forget about it in July and August.
The ideal time is a spring or autumn day as we did.
Being one of the favorite destinations for local families with children, I’ve heard that the weekend is very crowded.
But if you come during the week like we did, it will be just you and a few others, and the visit will be pleasant. You won’t have to queue either at the ticket office or in front of the animals.
History of the Bioparco

The inauguration of the Zoological Garden of Rome dates back to 1911, designed by Carl Hagenbeck, who had also worked on the Hamburg Zoo. In 1935, a new project by the Italian Raffaele de Vico brought the park to its current size of 17 hectares and beauty.
The buildings designed by De Vico are much appreciated for their harmonious aesthetic appearance, like the “geodesic” shaped aviary that is still there today.
The ethical turnaround occurred in 1994 when it was decided to transform the zoo into a Bioparco to preserve endangered species and educate on biodiversity conservation.
How to Get There
We went by car, as we live in a village near Rome not served by public transport.
The closest metro stations are those on line A, Flaminio and Spagna.
Many buses reach Bioparco: 3, 53, 52, 217, 360, 926, 910 (this one only on weekends and public holidays).
The tram line 19, which has its terminus near Piazza San Pietro, also arrives at Bioparco.
Wrap-up
I was quite satisfied with visiting the Bioparco, the place is beautiful and full of trees and plants. There are many animals and they are not doing so badly.
However, I am still convinced that the best would be to be able to admire the wonderful animals in their natural environment, and that is what we should strive to preserve.
I also reflected on the fact that we human beings would also live better in our more appropriate natural environment, which surely cannot be a city full of cars and concrete buildings.
I don’t think I will visit the Biopark again at least until my daughter is a bit older and asks me to.
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