We live in Northern New Jersey, and want to go to the zoo. Should we go to Philly or the Bronx? I would like to hear from people who've been to both, so they can tell me which is better. (Better quantity and quality of animals, mostly) Drive-wise, Mapquest says Philly is 2 hours, and Bronx is 1 hour, but the last time we went to the Bronx zoo, it took at least 2 hours with traffic.

thanks for the help!
beth

I'm not sure how animals can have quality.

Have you looked at the web sites to see what the various exhibits and activities are? Do your children (I assume you're taking them) have specific areas of interest?

We live in Brooklyn and go to both zoos fairly frequently. The Philly zoo is fairly small with good exhibits. Philadelphia also is right across the river from the new Camden aquarium so you could conceivably do both in one day.

The Bronx Zoo is very large and has some new exhibits that have opened in the past couple of years. It's a pretty exciting place to go.

Personally - I plan on going to both within the next two months but if I could only do one I would go to the Bronx.

The Bronx Zoo is great. Ride the tram , go see the The World of Night, all those little creatures that come out after dark
The birds!!
It is a very good and large zoo.

It's also spring and so there are some new babies in the Bronx Zoo and probably the Philly Zoo as well.

If you came to NYC, you could get a family membership at the Bronx Zoo which would include the Central Park Zoo and the Coney Island Aquarium.

Have a fun trip.

The advantage of the Bronx Zoo is that after a day at the Zoo, you can scoot on over to Arthur Avenue to do some great food shopping then have dinner and even pick up some pastries for dessert. It makes for a great, all-day outing.

I've been to the Philly zoo a few times. Definitely not worth driving 2 hours to visit it.

Never been to the Bronx Zoo.

thank you very much. I guess the Bronx Zoo it is.

(by quality, I meant the "big" animals--apes, monkeys, giraffes, lions, tigers--rather than just the little guys I can find in my backyard.)