Zoo and Chateau Zlin-Lesna — Attraction in okres Zlín

Well, that was a mixed bag. It's a beautiful area, the setting of the zoo around the castle is quite magnificent. Different areas stood out with interesting designs and it was a memorable visit. Wish they had more signs in English though, because with some other people we did the loop the wrong way around somehow.

Why the low rating, if it was so nice? I have to say, the staff wasn't. We visited on a croded Sunday and waited in line for 15 or so minutes only to be pointed to the other line because no English. We waited in the other line and this lady didn't speaks English either, but wrote down on a piece of paper what the tickets cost managed to ask if we pay cash or card etc. But this lady was nice, she tried and lets be honest we were in a line to buy tickets, I think the options were zoo or zoo+castle, not a lot of English is needed in that situation. It's just the first lady didn't even try and we had to stand in line with four kids twice because of it. But then we were leaving and there was a lady in front of us with a stroller, she started going through an open gate and this man came and told her she has to go through the revolving door type thing with her stroller like everyone else. I had my kid in the baby carrier that day, but what sort of treatment is that? 🤯

So it seems to be an amazing place, but unfortunately not really foreigner nor young kid friendly...

This Zoo is phenomenal. We've visited a lot of zoos in the region (AT, CZ, SK, HU) and this one ranks as top 3 on my list. However be aware that: 1. The zoo is huge, I mean really huge. Yes, it's bigger than you think. 2. The layout basically makes you follow one set route. Which is fine as it avoids backtracking and let's you discover the thematic (continent-wise) exposures BUT it prevents the crowd to disperse, so if you arrive in busy day (like we did) you will be followed by crowds of people following the same route. 3. Toilets are few and far apart, there were queues for the ladies. If visiting with small kids, plan accordingly. 4. Food options are clustered, which is good, but given the "one set path" also quite far apart. 5. Some of the commented feedings are extra charge, but i.e. 40CZK for vultures feeding was definitely worth it. My advice is: enter via entry 2 (parking 5/6), so you will have the large park, castle and rays as last stop with possibility to chill at the end (and having the rays as motivation for the kids to keep...

The chateau isn't too big, but it is quite beautiful, both inside and out. The part of the zoo with the elephants, which I thought would be the most interesting was unfortunately under construction, there were some other parts that were a little rough around the edges, but for the most part, it was quite nice. On weekdays, except mondays, you can only visit the castle at 1 pm on a tour in czech, no english pamphelt was provided, so the tour part was quite redundant for me, as a non czech speaker. There is also a really nice japanese garden, but the animals didn't really impress, maybe I just got unlucky. Another issue I had, was that there was no student discount, which I found quite odd, but the full price is fairly reasonable (11 euros) for the castle and zoo. I ended up spending 4 hours here, I would say, prepare at least 3 hours, and up to 5, for your visit. Overall, I would definitely recommend, if you are in the region and you have more time, but I wouldn't say it is a must...