Busch Gardens vs Tampa Zoo: Which Is Better To Visit?

Planning A Trip To Tampa, Florida And Trying To Decide What To Do While You’re Here, But Need More Info On Busch Gardens vs The Tampa Zoo?

While living in Central Florida, I’ve explored a lot of the entire region and been to able to visit Busch Gardens and the Tampa Zoo a couple of times, and although I enjoyed my time at both, here are more details about these two Tampa attractions so you can decide if one vs the other, or both are worth adding to your itinerary.

🎡🐨 Busch Gardens vs The Tampa Zoo

Both are fun places to visit in this part of central Florida so it just depends on how much time you have and how much you want to spend.

Both Busch Gardens and the Tampa Zoo are located in north Tampa, just 15 minutes apart, and aside from going to a nearby beach (my favorite is Anna Maria Island for the beach and the Mexican food) or checking out some of the nearby circus history, these are two of the best and most popular attractions in this Central Florida city.

If you’re not sure whether to visit one vs the other on your next trip to Tampa, here are all the details between Busch Gardens and the Tampa Zoo to help you decide.

Similarities Between The Two

When deciding between Busch Gardens vs the Tampa Zoo, here are a few of the similarities between these two attractions:

📍 Location – both the zoo and the theme park are located in north Tampa so as far as transportation and everything, they’re very easy to get to

🦍 Animals – although Busch Gardens is a theme park, both it and the Tampa Zoo have animals so you don’t have to choose one vs the other to see them

⛑️ Care – the Tampa Zoo is known for its huge conservation efforts and rescue, rehabilitation, and release of local wildlife, while Busch Gardens is also known for housing some critically endangered species as well as receiving the Humane Certified seal from American Humane; so both locations support and take great care of their animals

🎢 Why Visit Busch Gardens

You may want to visit Busch Gardens vs Tampa Zoo to ride some rides.

While both attractions have certain similarities regarding the animals, their care, the cost, and the location, here are a few reasons why you might want to choose Busch Gardens vs the Tampa Zoo for your next trip:

🎢 Theme Park – this is a full theme park with rides, rollercoasters, and shows on top of it’s animal exhibits, so if you want a big amusement park kind of day, you should choose Busch Gardens vs the Tampa Zoo

↔️ Size – this is one of North America’s largest zoos with over 200 species and thousands of animals, plus 8 rollercoasters, 1 water ride, and multiple kid-friendly activities/play areas

🦁 Animals & Encounters – Busch Gardens is home to 200+ species and thousands of animals (including favorites like cheetahs, tigers, gorillas, lions, hyenas, etc.), plus special viewing and animal encounters like the safari train, rhino-encounters, giraffe encounters, a sensory-friendly animal insider tour, and much more

🦒 Special Tours – aside from the extra animal encounters, Busch Gardens also offers a VIP tour and special animal insider tours that give you more behind the scenes access

🚌 Free Transportation – if you’re visiting Orlando and don’t have a car to drive yourself to Busch Gardens, the park offers a free transportation shuttle to/from the Orlando area that’s valid with any admission ticket, fun card, or annual pass, but you do have to make advanced reservations

⛈️ Weather Assurance – since the weather in Florida, especially Central Florida, can be pretty crazy during certain times of the year, it’s nice to know that Busch Gardens offers a do-over for weather-related instances like early closures, over an hour ride closures, late park openings, or above 110 degrees heat index

🎃 Special Events – particularly during the holiday season, Busch Gardens has a few special events like a Halloween Spooktacular, Howl-O-Scream, and Christmas Town

➡️ Trying to decide where to visit in Florida? here is a comparison between Miami, Orlando, and Tampa to help you out

🐯 Why Visit The Tampa Zoo

There is a special manatee area here where they help injured manatees.

Although Busch Gardens is a great place to visit to see animals and ride some rollercoasters, the Tampa Zoo is still a great place worth visiting and you might prefer to visit it vs Busch Gardens because:

🤩 Fame – the Tampa Zoo is one of a few US zoos featured on the Nat Geo WILD/Animal Planet show Secrets of the Zoo, where you can see tons behind-the-scenes stories of these animals and the team that cares for them

🐯 Animals – the zoo participates in almost 100 AZA’s Species Survival Programs and is home to over 1,000 animals including some favorites like elephants, penguins, monkeys, leopards, panthers, tigers, and much more

🐒 Conservation – aside from participating in the species survival programs, Zoo Tampa is also a leader in Florida wildlife rescue, rehabilitation, and release, as well as numerous global conservation efforts

🐧 Special Encounters & Tours – besides just regular animal viewing at the zoo, they also offer special encounters and experiences with stingrays, manatees, rhinos, penguins, tortoises, leopards, giraffes, elephants, and koalas

🎟️ Cost – depending on when you go and how many days you go, both admission tickets can be fairly close in price ($50-60), but typically Busch Gardens is more expensive ($150+), so the Tampa Zoo is a better option vs Busch Gardens for a more budget-friendly attraction

🎃 Special Events – similar to Busch Gardens, the Tampa Zoo also has a few seasonal events like the Halloween Creatures of the Night, Christmas in the Wild, and New Year Celebration

✌️ Should You Visit Both?

Although both Busch Gardens and the Tampa Zoo have quite a few similarities, each attraction offers a few unique experiences, different animals, and various conservation efforts, so you may not want to choose one vs the other.

If you have enough time in Tampa, aren’t on a restricted budget, and want to see as many animals as possible, then I’d say definitely visit both, but if you have to choose one over the other, I’d say go with Busch Gardens for an animal and rollercoaster combo experience.

🔁 Sum Up: Busch Gardens vs The Tampa Zoo

Although Tampa isn’t the most exciting city to visit in Florida in my opinion, if you’re going to be here, both Busch Gardens and the Tampa Zoo are the two best and most popular attractions, but if you have to choose one vs the other, I’d say pick the Tampa Zoo for a cheaper experience at a famous zoo or pick Busch Gardens for one of the largest North American zoos with a combo theme park experience.