As a centre for nature and conservation education activities, the National Zoo & Aquarium is proud to welcome over 20,000 school children every year! You can explore the zoo in your own time with a self-guided visit or take part in a one-hour Discovery Learning Session, which are aligned to the national curriculum and designed to complement classroom learning. For a more personalised approach, you can also work with us to create a completely tailored experience that meets your specific learning needs.

To ensure the safety of our animals and your students, all students must be directly supervised and accompanied by a responsible adult at all times. While we encourage the following supervision ratios (and offer them Free of Charge) schools are able to determine their own risk assessment and ratios in line with State and Department regulations.

Our free of charge supervision ratios are:

• 0 - 3 Year Old Children 1:4

• 4 - 8 Year Old Children 1:8

• 9+ Year Old Children 1:10

Click here to view our risk assessment
Click here to view our certificate of currency
Click here to view our child safe policy

Self-guided Visit to the Zoo

Schools are welcome to visit the National Zoo & Aquarium 10am-5pm, 364 days a year! We recommend following our Adventure Trail. Print off maps for your students here and plot your way to visiting all your favourite species!

Minimum cost: $360 for groups of up to 20 students. Larger groups are charged at $18 per student.

Book your self-guided visit here.

Discovery Learning Sessions

Book a Discovery Learning Session to connect with our animals and have all your students questions answered! Whether booking our general tour to spark interest and joy in nature, or choosing one of our Australian Curriculum aligned Discovery Learning Sessions, these 60-minute interactive sessions add so much depth to your National Zoo Visit. Browse our tour offerings here.

When booking, the time selected is for your tour time. We recommend arriving at least 15 minutes before your experience, but you are welcome to arrive any time after 9:30am, and may stay until closing at 5pm.

Tours are available at 9:45am, 11am, 12:45pm and 2pm. Up to two tours operate at each session, with a maximum of 30 students per tour.

Minimum cost: $300 for groups of up to 15 students. Larger groups are charged at $20 per student.

Book your discovery learning session here.

Tailored Tours and Custom Experiences

Didn’t quite find what you were looking for in our Discovery Learning Sessions? Reach out to [email protected] to discuss your unit and how we can tailor a tour to meet your learning outcomes.

Minimum cost: $375 for groups of up to 15 children. Larger groups are charged at $25 per student. Extra animals, discussion points or topics can be added to the tailored tours and are charged at the guide price of $300 per additional hour.

Food at the Zoo

All groups are welcome to bring their own food to the zoo. The Zoo has two large grassed areas where we recommend schools eat. Our Barking Owl viewing grass has 5 picnic tables and grass seating for 100 primary students. Larger groups would be more comfortable in our Viewing Park located next to Rhinos. We also have free to use BBQ’s in these areas.

Food and drinks are available for purchase by students. However, to avoid long wait times we strongly recommend that schools pre-order all food. Teachers are welcome to order hot drinks.

Group catering is available for more substantial meals. Menu and booking instructions are available here.

Adventureland Playground

When visiting our Adventureland Playground, we ask that school bags are left on the grass outside and groups are limited to 45 students at a time.

Please ensure students are well supervised and remain respectful of other patrons visiting the playground.

Student Purchases

We ask that groups making purchases are limited to 10 students at a time to ensure easy access for other zoo visitors.

Each group wishing to make a purchase from our café, bistro or gift shops must be accompanied by a supervising adult. The school remains responsible for student purchasing and the zoo will not enforce any rules around purchasing such as price limits, drinks containing caffeine, or food with possible allergens.

Accessibility

Accessible bathrooms are located in our Aquarium, Lion catwalk, next to Little Penguins and at our Adventureland Playground.

How do I use the booking system to book my self-guided Trip?

1. Create an account with Book Canberra Excursions by selecting ‘Register’ or ‘Sign in’ using the following link: https://www.bookcanberraexcursions.com.au/

2. ‘Plan a Trip’ and submit the requested details of your trip.

3. Find the National Zoo & Aquarium in the list. It can help to hit “change sort to A>Z”.

4. Choose your preferred AM or PM time.

5. Select Program “self-guided” and choose your arrival time. Each arrival time has a one hour arrival window. You are then welcome to stay at the zoo as long as you wish.

6. If bringing less than the recommended ratio of supervisors, please update your details to meet requirements, and note in the booking that you will have less than the recommended.

7. Review your booking details and predicted costs on the right hand side of the page. Click “Next”

8. Provide your School details, accept the Terms & Conditions, and hit “Book Now” Your booking will remain as a draft until you hit “Book Now”. Please follow all steps to ensure you have actually booked.

How do I use the booking system to book my Discovery Learning Session?

1. Create an account with Book Canberra Excursions by selecting ‘Register’ or ‘Sign in’ using the following link: https://www.bookcanberraexcursions.com.au/

2. ‘Plan a Trip’ and submit the requested details of your trip.

3. Find the National Zoo & Aquarium in the list. It can help to hit “change sort to A>Z”.

4. Choose your preferred AM or PM time.

5. Select the desired Program and time. The time selected is the time your tour will start. You are welcome to arrive any time during the day between 9:30am and up to 15minutes before your tour time.

6. If bringing less than the recommended ratio of supervisors, please update your details to meet requirements, and note in the booking that you will have less than the recommended.

7. Each tour is limited to 30 students, with two tours running concurrently at each time slot. If you have more than 30 students, you are welcome to book the same tour time twice for your group to have the same itinerary. For example, a group of 45 would book 23 students at 9:45am, and book another session at 9:45am for the remaining 22 students.

8. Review your booking details and predicted costs on the right hand side of the page. Click “Next”

9. Provide your School details, accept the Terms & Conditions, and hit “Book Now” Your booking will remain as a draft until you hit “Book Now”. Please follow all steps to ensure you have actually booked.

I can’t book the session I want. It is only showing self-guided

While schools are welcome to visit any time, we only offer Guided Discovery Sessions during ACT school Term. We do not offer sessions in School Holidays, Public Holidays or weekends. Please check your dates for validity and if you still have concerns reach out to us at [email protected]

The system says I don’t have enough teachers

If bringing less than the recommended ratio of supervisors, please update your details to meet requirements, and note in the booking comments that you will have less than the recommended.

My booking is still pending

It is very unlikely a pending booking will be rejected. The tour time is reserved for you and our bookings team will work to approve the booking as quickly as they can. Among other duties, this may take up to one week.

Can I use my membership for free entry

Adult members can enter separately and rejoin the group in the zoo. Child members cannot use their membership for school excursions