The Madison Zoo has a large portion of their area dedicated to a children’s zoo, with goat feeding, an animal exhibit with porcupines, red pandas, meerkats, cockatoo, and more. In the children’s area there is also a carousel, electric train ride, and a tree house playground.

The zoo’s animal exhibits range from prairie dogs to rhinoceros, ostriches to poison arrow frogs, and orangutans to polar bears. And of course we can’t forget the captive lion. One of the most interesting parts of the zoo is the Discovery Center, where you can watch honeybees build a hive or look at a python’s skin under a microscope. This is also where you’ll get a chance to see tarantulas, cockroaches, giant centipedes, and other terrifying little creatures. At the Herpetarium in the same building, you’ll find giant tortoises, alligators, a huge Burmese python, and a variety of other reptiles. A map of the zoo’s exhibits and attractions can be found here.

The Henry Vilas Zoo has a number of events throughout the year, which you can find on their calendar here.

The Madison Zoo is open 9:30 am–5 pm every day of the year with the exception of certain holidays. The zoo buildings are open 10 am–4 pm. Admission is free, but carousel & train rides cost $1.50 each.

Address:
702 South Randall Avenue
Madison, WI 53715
Phone: (608)258-9490

Official Website

My experience has been positive, and I do recommend their bus service.

You can pay for a bus fare either online prior to your trip, or pay the bus driver directly. If you pay online, you’ll need to bring a printout of your confirmation. That’s what I’ve done in most cases, however I’ve also simply walked up to the counter, paid the fare, and boarded.

If I could improve one thing about the ticket buying process, it would be to have a more mobile-friendly web site. My wife was recently buying tickets for us, and the site was slow, and not particularly optimized for iPhone.

To buy tickets, you can go up to CoachUSA.com.

Van Galding and Coach USA provide trips throughout the midwest. You can take a bus from any of their cities for a relatively good price. In my experience, the busses are on time, and follow their schedule to the minute.

The trips to Chicago have recently been slightly behind schedule because of the enormous construction along the toll roads. Not really anything they can do about that, though. I’ve noticed the bus drivers are compensating by having shorter stops (even asking the passengers to not exit the bus at stops, like they used to).

On recent trips, the buses are usually not even half-filled to capacity, meaning you can spread out and take up the extra seat next to you (which is awesome). Also, on every trip I’ve taken they’ve provide free wireless internet. You don’t even have to enter a password — it just works! Although, it’s a bit slow. I did a speed test, and got 12kbps. It works great for casual surfing, and basic work.

There are definitely alternatives, the Megabus comes to mind, which is a newer bus service with doubledeckers. If you schedule way ahead of schedule with them you can often get good deals. You might want to do a comparison.

Most of the time, we’ll buy two adult-passenger tickets for $30/each (one way) and one ticket for our 2-year old daughter (it was $10, they do charge for kids, but we’ve taken a lap baby on for free before).

The buses are comfortable, have soft cushioned seats, and a restroom on board. Highly recommended!