Arignar Anna Zoological Park - Vandalur Zoo With Timings & Ticket Price 2017:
Vandalur Zoo is not another ordinary zoo in India. It is one of the biggest Zoological parks in South East Asia. It is spread over 510 hectares area. Chennai's first zoo is established in the year of 1855 which was then shifted to Vandalur in the year of 1979. It is loaded with almost all important animals like lion, tiger, monkeys, white tiger, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, crocodiles, giraffe, elephant, birds, reptiles, fish and some rare species too.
Kanum pongal will be one of the days where this Chennai zoo gets a lot of visitors.
Walking through the full zoo without rest takes 4-5 hours. If you cannot walk and want to see all the animals, take cycle or battery operated car(1 hour ride with stops in animal cages).
Walking through the full zoo without rest takes 4-5 hours. If you cannot walk and want to see all the animals, take cycle or battery operated car(1 hour ride with stops in animal cages).
Vandalur Zoo Timings:
9 AM to 5 PM. Tuesday is Holiday. Sometimes there might be exceptions like Kanum Pongal.
Highly Recommended:
- If you want to spend time with your family hassle free. If you do not want to get tired, do not try to cover all the places.
- If you are animal lovers.
- If you have kids.
- If you want a litter-free place to roam around.
- A day to spend with friends without burning a hole in your pocket.
- If you have guests at home and you do not want to spend a lot.
Vandalur Zoo Address:
Arignar Anna Zoological Park - Vandalur Zoo,
Near Crescent Engineering College,
GST Road,
Vandalur,
Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Pin code - 600048.
How to reach Arignar Anna Zoological Park - Vandalur Zoo from Chennai?
Vandalur Zoo is located around 32 kilometers from city.
By Bus & Car - It is well connected from Tambaram. Residents located in OMR Navalaur - Thiruporur stretch can come to Kelambakkam and take Vandalur Kelambakkam road. You can take bye pass of you are located somwehere near Poonamalle. I am not very familiar about those areas. Google maps can help you out.
You can take either buses going to Vandalur, Urapkkam, Guduvanchery, Maraimalar Nagar, Chengalpet, Kelambakkam, Thiruporur, Mamallapuram if you are taking bus from Tambaram. If you are located in Chennai city near Guindy, come to Guindy and take train or bus.
By train - Vandalur railway station is little far from Zoo when compared to Vandalur bus stop. So, my choice is to take bus if you are coming from Tambaram. If bus is crowded, take train. Trains from chennai beach to chengalpet runs via this place. So, you can come directly if you are coming from far away places.
Entrance Ticket Price 2017:
Ticket price for 10 years and above - Rs.30
Ticket price for 2-10 years old children - Rs.10
Exclusive Battery operated car - Rs.330 for 1 hour.
Lion Safari -
Mobile phone with Camera - Rs.25(Even if you do not take photos)
Still Cameras - Rs.25
Handy Camera - Rs.150
Vandalur Zoo Cycle Fees Per Hour:
Refundable amount per cycle - Rs.200
Tandem - Rs.35 (A cycle that 2 can ride. High demand but few in nos. )
Deluxe - Rs.25
Adult bicycle - Rs.15
Child bicycle - Rs.12
Pram - Rs.15
Tip - Check the brakes and condition of the cycle thoroughly. Riding in moderate speed is good as you might not know the condition of the cycle completely.
Vandalur Zoo Parking charges:
Car Parking - Rs.20
Bike Parking - Rs.10
On a crowded day, the car parking near the entrance gets full. They have another parking area nearby. You can see a long line of cars in the Vandalur Kelambakkam Road on holidays. To avoid such issues, go early in the morning or go late afternoon.
Why Vandalur Zoo Chennai is the best option to spend a whole day?
- Well-maintained Zoo.
- Cheap ticket price that is valid for the whole day.
- A real treat for kids.
- Neat roads.
- Has drinking water in many places.
- Huts available where you can take rest.
- Stone benches available here and there.
- Waste bins available in many places.
- Not very crowded until its a long weekend and holidays.
Pack your bag - Things to carry:
Below are the things we carry during our visits to Vandalur Zoo. You have to plan according to your requirements.
- Take umbrellas, caps, sunglasses during summer
- Towel if visiting with kids
- Handkerchiefs
- Spare dresses for kids
- Water bottles(Very important!)
- The backpack is preferred over duffle bags and handbags as you can carry easily.
- Good and comfortable slippers or shoes. You have to walk a lot if you choose to walk.
- Comfortable clothes. You might like to sit down and get up multiple times if you walk.
- Trolley for babies. I am not very sure whether you can take it. But I remember my neighbour told about it once.
Avoid carrying plastic bags, outside food, soft drinks.
Restrooms:
Available but not located widely.
Food & Refreshment:
Hotel Tamil Nadu is located inside Vandalur Zoo to the right side of the entrance. Do not expect high class standard. You can get average food. You can get snack items, juices and main course.
There is a coffee stall located in the second half of the Vandalur Zoo where you can get coffee, tea and some snacks like bajji, puffs. You can buy some tea powders too.
One Aavin parlour is located in the first half of the Vandalur Zoo. After that, you have to wait till you reach the tea stall which is located far away.
Lion Safari:
The safari takes approximately for 30 minutes in total. If you are out of time and not very interested, you can skip this.
What should not you miss at Vandalur Zoo?
- Elephant feeding time. It is located almost at the end of the Zoo. So, plan to come to that place at that time sharply.
- If you have kids, you should not miss the monkeys located inside few cages behind peacocks. You can see the monkeys very closely. There will be very little monkeys too which will be naughty most of the times. Kids will definitely enjoy watching them doing mischievous things.
- If you love peacocks, you should not miss them. You can see the peacocks open up their feathers beautifully. I got to see them every time with feathers beautifully opened.
- After the first tiger's area, there was another place for tiger(located somewhere interior to the left of the road). You can see tigers roaming inside it very closely. We spent almost half and hour near to the tiger. There was a board carrying the sign so watch for it. I had visited the vandalur zoo around 5 times. But I spotted it only last time. I am not sure whether it will be always there. There were some vandalur zoo employees sitting behind it. They told that there are 5 cubs too inside the cage. But they did not come out. There was a board mentioning the names of the cubs too. Though the place was completely secured, I felt really afraid to watch the tiger very closely. It was walking and starring to us. My kid and hubby enjoyed it but I got afraid:)
- Walth-through aviary. A real calm place with only birds chirping all around.
You can see the lions roaming freely and coming close to your vehicle.
Though Vandalur zoo is safe, it is better to go along with crowds to avoid problems. During holidays and weekends, it is almost crowded and you need not worry.
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Informative..hope I will visit soon :)
ReplyDelete“Shouting Rude Staff, Visitors Are Slaves, Out Station & Family Visitors Better Avoid This Place”
ReplyDeletePlease Read This Carefully Before Jumping In To Danger. Seeing positive reviews in this site, I visited this zoo with my family on 12 April 2016. Paid the entry fees (Rs.30+30+10), Vehicle fee (Rs.660) & Camera fee Rs.25. Started journey inside zoo. The woman driver of zoo vehicle was very polite. On the way I took some photographs of the animals. suddenly a wild life ambulance stopped in front me, a person came out from the ambulance and started shouting to me, to my wife and my 5 year old daughter in tamil language like barking of rabid stray dog. As we are illiterate of Tamil language, we did not fully understood what he was shouting, we partially understood that he was shouting because I took photograph when his Ambulance was moving in front of me. I told him sorry and also told him that I am unaware that Ambulance photograph prohibited there and not concentrated my vision on Ambulance and I am going to delete the Photograph if Ambulance is captured in my camera. Hearing this he ran at me and again shouted and barked at us for some minutes. My wife and 5 year old daughter became frightened. The woman driver of zoo vehicle is also frightened. We witnessed that the wild animals are very calm and quiet there, but this kind of human animals are very wild and aggressive there, as he belongs to an ambulance, then how can he treat the animals with his wild culture less temperament. There was no sign, no board, no instruction showing ambulance photograph is prohibited. I am working in a Government Medical college for more than 15 years and not heard in my life that Ambulance Photograph is illegal. This place is only suitable for local lovers as they can chat and roam and can escape from external eyes. Outstation and family visitors better avoid this place. Only specialty of this zoo is that it exists in a large area and lovers can hide in isolated places. We can see a large number of lovers there. No special animal is present there. There is a board showing elephant bathing and feeding as specialty. You can see hundreds of elephant feeding bathing in kodanad elephant sanctuary. My last word - avoid this if you are with family, go any other zoo, you can see all animals in a short area with no sadist human animals. Thank you.
Hello sir..It s quite unfortunate... I hv never heard that ambulance should nt b photographed. Even if it s prohibited, it s not the way to treat visitors. You could hv probably complained to the adminstration..
ReplyDeleteThere is no use in complaining about the staff to their superiors, especially in govt sectors. Nothing is going to happen. The superiors also will bark.
ReplyDeleteThere is no use in complaining about the staff to their superiors, especially in govt sectors. Nothing is going to happen. The superiors also will bark.
ReplyDelete