Budapest Zoo is open every day of the year, from 09:00, national and religious holidays included. It is the closing time that moves, from 16:00 in midwinter to 19:00 at summer weekends, across eight seasonal blocks, with weekends running later than weekdays for most of the year.
Two rules catch more people out than the table does. Last entry is an hour before closing in every season, and a ticket bought earlier makes no difference to that. And most animal houses stay shut until 10:00, an hour after the gates. This page has the full table, the time each house unlocks, the keeper programme timetable and the best times to come.
Opening hours
January and February
| Monday | 09:00-16:00 |
| Tuesday | 09:00-16:00 |
| Wednesday | 09:00-16:00 |
| Thursday | 09:00-16:00 |
| Friday | 09:00-16:00 |
| Saturday | 09:00-16:00 |
| Sunday | 09:00-16:00 |
Last entry is an hour before closing, and the ticket offices shut at the same time. The animal houses open at 09:00 or 10:00 and close 30 minutes before the Zoo. A public holiday falling on a weekday runs that month's weekend hours.
March
| Monday | 09:00-17:00 |
| Tuesday | 09:00-17:00 |
| Wednesday | 09:00-17:00 |
| Thursday | 09:00-17:00 |
| Friday | 09:00-17:00 |
| Saturday | 09:00-17:30 |
| Sunday | 09:00-17:30 |
Last entry is an hour before closing, and the ticket offices shut at the same time. The animal houses open at 09:00 or 10:00 and close 30 minutes before the Zoo. A public holiday falling on a weekday runs that month's weekend hours.
April
| Monday | 09:00-17:30 |
| Tuesday | 09:00-17:30 |
| Wednesday | 09:00-17:30 |
| Thursday | 09:00-17:30 |
| Friday | 09:00-17:30 |
| Saturday | 09:00-18:00 |
| Sunday | 09:00-18:00 |
Last entry is an hour before closing, and the ticket offices shut at the same time. The animal houses open at 09:00 or 10:00 and close 30 minutes before the Zoo. A public holiday falling on a weekday runs that month's weekend hours.
May to August
| Monday | 09:00-18:00 |
| Tuesday | 09:00-18:00 |
| Wednesday | 09:00-18:00 |
| Thursday | 09:00-18:00 |
| Friday | 09:00-18:00 |
| Saturday | 09:00-19:00 |
| Sunday | 09:00-19:00 |
Last entry is an hour before closing, and the ticket offices shut at the same time. The animal houses open at 09:00 or 10:00 and close 30 minutes before the Zoo. A public holiday falling on a weekday runs that month's weekend hours.
September
| Monday | 09:00-17:30 |
| Tuesday | 09:00-17:30 |
| Wednesday | 09:00-17:30 |
| Thursday | 09:00-17:30 |
| Friday | 09:00-17:30 |
| Saturday | 09:00-18:00 |
| Sunday | 09:00-18:00 |
Last entry is an hour before closing, and the ticket offices shut at the same time. The animal houses open at 09:00 or 10:00 and close 30 minutes before the Zoo. A public holiday falling on a weekday runs that month's weekend hours.
October
| Monday | 09:00-17:00 |
| Tuesday | 09:00-17:00 |
| Wednesday | 09:00-17:00 |
| Thursday | 09:00-17:00 |
| Friday | 09:00-17:00 |
| Saturday | 09:00-17:30 |
| Sunday | 09:00-17:30 |
Last entry is an hour before closing, and the ticket offices shut at the same time. The animal houses open at 09:00 or 10:00 and close 30 minutes before the Zoo. A public holiday falling on a weekday runs that month's weekend hours.
November
| Monday | 09:00-16:00 |
| Tuesday | 09:00-16:00 |
| Wednesday | 09:00-16:00 |
| Thursday | 09:00-16:00 |
| Friday | 09:00-16:00 |
| Saturday | 09:00-16:00 |
| Sunday | 09:00-16:00 |
Last entry is an hour before closing, and the ticket offices shut at the same time. The animal houses open at 09:00 or 10:00 and close 30 minutes before the Zoo. A public holiday falling on a weekday runs that month's weekend hours.
December
| Monday | 09:00-16:00 |
| Tuesday | 09:00-16:00 |
| Wednesday | 09:00-16:00 |
| Thursday | 09:00-16:00 |
| Friday | 09:00-16:00 |
| Saturday | 09:00-16:00 |
| Sunday | 09:00-16:00 |
On 24 and 31 December the Zoo closes at 13:00, with last entry at noon. On every other December day last entry is an hour before closing, when the ticket offices shut as well, and the animal houses close 30 minutes before the Zoo.
When the animal houses open
The gates open at 09:00. Six of the houses open with them and the rest at 10:00, and every one of them closes 30 minutes before the Zoo does. Nothing else about the timetable changes a visit as much.
Open from 09:00: the Shark School, the Great Ape House, the Magic Mountain, the Rock Aviary, the Biodome and the India House.
Open from 10:00: the Savannah House, the Reptile House, the Elephant House, the Madagascar House, the South East Asia House, the Wombat House, the Australia House, the House of Wetlands, the Palm House and Aquarium, and the Butterfly Garden, which is a summer exhibit.
A 09:00 arrival earns its place only if you spend the first hour in the Magic Mountain or the Biodome, either of which will absorb it. Otherwise aim to be at the gate for 10:00, when the whole Zoo is open at once.
Budapest Zoo feeding times and keeper shows
From 1 April to 1 November the Zoo runs a daily programme it calls Be there!, about eighteen timed events between 10:00 and 16:30. This is the difference between walking past an enclosure and watching something happen inside it, and outside those months none of it runs.
Times can change, and one item is suspended for technical reasons: the 10:00 animal demonstration in the Biodome. The Zoo posts suspensions and changes on its own Important information page.
| Time | Programme | Where and when |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00 | Penguins feeding | |
| 10:00 | Animal demonstration | Biodome. Suspended until further notice |
| 10:30 | Carnivores feeding | A different predator each day, posted that morning in front of the India House by the Ashoka pillar |
| 10:30 | Bat feeding | |
| 11:00 | Sea lion training | |
| 11:30 | Gardening show | |
| 11:30 | Kea feeding | |
| 12:00 | Surprise animal encounter | Biodome corridor |
| 12:00 | World of sharks | Keepers in the tank in scuba gear, four days a week, not on Mondays, Thursdays or Sundays |
| 12:30 | Friends from the farm | |
| 12:30 | Bonsai talk | The Japanese Garden pavilion |
| 13:00 | Gorillas feeding | |
| 13:00 | Giant otter feeding | |
| 14:00 | Wildlife rescuers | |
| 14:30 | Pelican feeding | By the Great Lake, near the Crocodile House |
| 14:30 | Hiding animals | |
| 15:00 | Elephant training | The back enclosure at the foot of the Elephant House tower, reached from the hippo pool |
| 15:00 | Animal encounter | Biodome entrance hall |
| 16:00 | Sea lion training | |
| 16:30 | Visayan warty pigs | The outdoor area of the Poison House, or indoors in bad weather. May to August only |
Best times to visit
Time of day
10:00 is the hour to arrive. Everything is open, the first keeper programmes start, and you are ahead of the school groups that build through the middle of the morning.
The programmes cluster between 10:00 and 15:00. If you want two of them, that window decides the shape of your day.
Late arrivals are a false economy. The last entry is an hour before closing and the animal houses shut 30 minutes before that, so an hour before the gates shut buys you about half an hour of indoor exhibits.
Day of the week
Weekdays are noticeably calmer. Weekends are when Budapest itself comes, with families in numbers, and the Zoo feels like a local park rather than a sight.
A public holiday that falls on a weekday is the odd one out. The Zoo runs that month’s weekend hours, so the day is longer, and it is busy in the same way a weekend is.
Season
May to August brings the longest days, to 18:00 on weekdays and 19:00 at weekends, and the heaviest crowds, school holidays worst of all.
April, September and October are the comfortable months. The keeper programme is still running, to 1 November, and closing is somewhere between 17:00 and 18:00.
November to February is the short, quiet half of the year. The gates shut at 16:00, the houses at 15:30, and the keeper timetable is not running, so the indoor halls are the visit.
How long to spend
About three hours, the buildings
The Elephant House, the Savannah House and the Palm House with the Aquarium, then out through the Main Gate.
Half a day, the usual visit
Add the Magic Mountain and the Biodome, and time two keeper programmes into it.
A full day with children
The Urban Oasis and the Magic Mountain taken slowly, lunch inside, the playground and the carousel at the far end.
A morning in winter
The indoor halls are open all year, but the gates shut at 16:00 and the houses at 15:30, so start early.
Insider tips
A weekday public holiday buys you an extra hour
Because the Zoo switches to the weekend timetable, a public holiday in the middle of the week closes an hour or so later than the same weekday would. It is also as busy as a Saturday, so use the extra time at the far end of the grounds.
The shark dive does not run every day
The World of sharks programme at 12:00 puts keepers in the tank in scuba gear, but only four days a week. Mondays, Thursdays and Sundays are the days it does not happen, which is worth knowing before you build a morning around it.
Winter afternoons end sooner than you think
From November to February the gates shut at 16:00, the last entry is at 15:00 and the houses close at 15:30. A visit that starts after lunch is a short one, so treat the winter Zoo as a morning.