I'm in Seattle for the next day or two, and was wondering which of the three facilities will be the best to visit, as I only have 1 day to devote to visiting. So which would be the best attraction? Woodland Park Zoo, Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, or the Seattle Aquarium?
I've never been to any of these establishments,but based on the critical acclaim Woodland Park Zoo gets,most of us would probably recommend it over the other two.
Woodland Park has some of the best zoo exhibits ever built with their African savanna, gorillas, penguins, and grizzly bear exhibits. If you want to see zoo design at its finest then would recommend going there. Point Defiance is nice, but reduced from its glory days when it had belugas and walrus (it just died) and its polar bear exhibit was state of the art (30 years ago). It has a very nice tropical aquarium with sharks and coral reef species. I haven't been there since they built their clouded leopard complex which looks very cool from photos. Both zoos are worthy with unique and interesting exhibits, but Woodland Park is world class.
If you have access to a car, Northwest Trek would be my choice hands down. The grounds and scenery are absolutely stunning and the enclosures are huge and lush. I visited many years ago and was so blown away I thought at the time it was the best zoological park in the country. I may still think so. However if you need to stay in the immediate city area, then as others have said Woodland Park Zoo is the clear winner.
Thanks for the replies everyone! Well after a quick consult with google maps and advice from you guys, it looks like Woodland Park is the winner Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze in a quick visit to the aquarium too, considering they are so close.
