Maruyama Zoo is a fun place to family days out with kids. It’s the oldest zoo in Hokkaido, which opened in 1951. The distance from animals is short. Namely, you can see the famous walking coca-cola polar bears very close. All in all, moseys with family in Maruyama zoo are jolly and fun even in the snow season.
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About Maruyama Zoo
Maruyama Zoo is an active wildlife Zoo surrounded by rich nature in central Sapporo. They try to create an ecological setting that closes to the natural habitat environment of animals. The enclosure in the clean Zoo allows you to get pretty close, and you can view animals from indoors and almost over the glass. The animals in the zoo are well-taken care of by the zoo staff.
It’s open in the winter, even in the snow season. You can see the red pandas, lions, wolves, and other animals playing in the snow. This experience is unique. Also, the zoo is designed possibly to view animals from indoors. Therefore, you can enjoy and stroll in the zoo comfortably in all weather.
How is the weather in Hokkaido? [Click Here]
Family Friendly
There are a lot of child-friendly facilities, like breastfeeding areas, a child playground, and eateries.
The Maruppa Child Playground
There is a child playground called Maruppa (まるっぱ) near Maruyama Zoo west gate. It’s very popular with children as many pieces of equipment can be played.
Baby Stroller Rental
You can rent a baby transport and baby stroller at the Maruyama Zoo entrance (main gate, west gate).
Fee: ¥250/stroller
Breastfeeding Room
There are five breastfeeding rooms in the Maruyama Zoo. The boiled tap water to make your baby’s formula at the Zoo Center.
- Children’s Zoo (adjacent to the Chibikko Center on the left of the entrance): 2 rooms
- Salsan Observation Rest House 1F: 1 room
- First Rest House (Umijusha Soba): 4 rooms
- Sika deer and wolf house 2F: 3 rooms
- African Zone Kirinkan 2F: 2 rooms
Information
Due to the opening hour and closed time may different every year, please check the information before you go.
Opening hour: 9:30-16:30/March-October, 9:30-16:00/November-February
Closed: Second and fourth Wednesday of every month
*Other irregular closures in April and November
Fee: Free/junior high school students or younger, ¥400/senior high school students, ¥800/adult
Annual Pass: ¥1,000
Parking: ¥700/car
Address: Miyagaoka 3-1, Chuo-ku, Sapporo
Contact: 011-621-1426
How To Get Here
It’s easy to access, notice the parking fee is 700 yen per car.
By Car
About 17 minutes drive from Sapporo station to here.
By Subway
From Sapporo-station(Sapporo subway), get on the Tozai Line, going toward Miyanosawa. And, get off at Maruyama Koen Station and walk for about 15 minutes.
By Subway and Bus
From Sapporo-station(Sapporo subway), get on the Tozai Line, going toward Miyanosawa. And get off at Maruyama Koen Station.
- From Maruyama Koen Station on Subway Tozai Line, take JR Hokkaido Bus (En 15) and get off at “Dobutsuen Mae” bus stop, walk 1 minute.
- From Maruyama Koen Station on Subway Tozai Line, take JR Hokkaido Bus (En 14) and get off at “Sogo Ground Mae” bus stop, walk 5 minutes.
Conclusion
I was impressed that they well-take care of the animals, and the overall property was well maintained. We were worry that kids may feel bored as it’s not a big Zoo. And the result is they love it so much.
We usually visit the Maruyama Zoo, Maruyama Park [Click Here], and Hokkaido Shrine [Click Here] on the same day because next to each other.
