Whilst in Barcelona earlier this year we were looking for somewhere to visit that hadn't been on my tourist's agenda on my previous visits. Having spent a morning at the aquarium in the port are we headed for the Zoo. Located in the middle of the City it is well signposted in every direction and features as one of the main stops on all of the sightseeing tour buses routes. There are a couple of car parks located near to all of the entrances and again this is all well signposted from the city's main access routes.

Over the last couple of years we've visited a few Zoos and Aquariums and it would be fair to say that Barcelona is one of the biggest Zoos. Like many Zoos these days they are signed up to the World Zoo conservation strategy and are committed to breeding programs for endangered species. Having opened for the first time in 1892 it has expanded to its current size from a private collection. Since those early days the Zoo has evolved and grown to become a rather large centre piece in the middle of the city.

Open 365 days a year, they are even open till lunch time on Christmas day, which would be a slightly different way to spend Christmas morning. As far as the prices we actually found it quite reasonable in comparison to the nearby Aquarium. In fact entrance for an adult is actually cheaper than the Aquarium at Euro16 for an adult and Euro9.60 for a child. There are a number of concessions available for larger groups and old age pensioners. In comparison to the prices of other attractions in the City it's actually quite reasonable and I have to say very much worth the money.

There are two main entrance and exits to the Zoo one comes through the Parc De La Ciutadella and the other from Carrer Wellington, each of them starting you in a different area of the Zoo. The Zoo itself is laid out in a pretty standard way with each different type of animal located close to other animals of a similar type. For example all of the Monkeys are located in one area and the cats in another. It's a pretty standard Zoo layout but it's a method that works and makes navigation relatively easy.

Of course upon arrival you are given a copy of the Zoo plan that shows you exactly where all of the exhibits are located and this is in Spanish, French and English. It makes navigating the park even easier and also acts as a guide to the sheer size of the park with 67 different species on display throughout the park. Through the park there are also signposts guiding you around and I think we've found this to be the easiest attraction of this type we've been to.

Located in various locations around the Zoo are a number of Cafe's and snack bars that are all very reasonable. We ate lunch at one of these cafe's and it cost us no less than the equivalent sandwich and drink would have cost in one of the takeaways or Cafe's in the streets nearby.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Barcelona Zoo for me was the habitats the animals were kept in. They are by no means small and the animals have plenty of room to roam around and feel comfortable. Obviously it's nowhere near the size they would have in their natural habitat but they aren't crammed into small pens and there aren't huge numbers making it uncomfortable. The Zoo seem to take their responsibility very seriously and with their breeding programs are not only keeping animals within the Zoo but also trying to reintroduce some of the species to their natural environment.

As the Zoo is a fairly big attraction within Barcelona it took us almost 5 hours to look around everything and even then we felt like we could have stayed much longer. There were a few species I'd never seen in a Zoo before such as the Dolphins who had a huge tank and an area where you could watch a show on 4 occasions throughout the day. There were also a couple of Wolves which I'd never seen as close as that before and throughout the Zoo there are impressive habits for all of the animals within the Zoo.

Overall Barcelona Zoo is incredible value for money. There are a lot of endangered species within the Zoo and it offers a great change for Adults and Children alike to see a variety of animals they would otherwise have no chance to see. The entrance price is reasonable and unusually so is the food and drink within the Zoos grounds. It isn't an attraction I would have really considered near the top of my list to visit in Barcelona but I am certainly glad that we went.