How do you 'travel' to zoos?

Fresco3

Fresco3

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
I am curious as to how many of you zoochatters visit zoos. What I mean by this is:

Is a trip to a zoo a day-trip or a long extended trip for you? For example, when you're visiting a zoo that is a few hours drive away do you drive/get the train/fly there? And when you're at a location do you stay at a B&B in the area and visit multiple zoos or just go there, stay for a few hours and travel back?

Do you visit other, non-zoo, attractions?

I'm asking this as someone with an massive phobia of flying and somebody who generally dislikes travelling in general.
 
It depends on the location. I can take a day trip to Chester, Blackpool or Twycross. But if I wanted to go to Cotswold, Whipsnade or London I would have to stay at relatives places. And if I wanted to go to Bristol, Edinburgh or Colchester I would have to find a travelodge or something. And that isn't even counting international trips.

So far on all my zoo trips I have gone just for the zoo but when I go to Berlin in February I will of course be seeing other sites like Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag as well as going to museums and shops.
 
I do a combination of day trips and short breaks specifically to visit zoos in this country. From home I can drive to visit a number of zoos with journey times ranging from 45 mins to an hour and a half. I am considering a day trip to Hamerton, which is just under 2 hours away. For places further away, I try to find clusters of zoos and stay in a cheap Travelodge nearby so I can visit them over the course of a few days. It also means I have the time and energy to properly enjoy somewhere like Chester without a mammoth journey to cope with as well (which I would struggle with due to health reasons). I did attempt a camping trip to Kent to visit zoos over there, but it made me realise my camping days were well and truly over!

I am currently in the throes of planning my first European zoo trip to visit Berlin which will hopefully involve flying there, staying in the city and using public transport to get around. This terrifies me as I am not confident using public transport.
 
Basically anything up to two hours drive each way, is for me, a day trip.

I'll extend that to around two and a half hours each way as part of a day trip if it's an "extended weekend" (i.e. if it's a bank holiday or I've got an extra day off) or if it's a "big" meet up with zoo-nerds (IZES, Bartlett Society, etc.).

I'm lucky as, living in the Midlands, there's a lot of places I can make within two hours and even more within two and a half.

Much further than that is a stay over (nice B & B*'s with my wife, less fussy if it's a zoo nerd event and she doesn't accompany me) and I'll usually stay somewhere the best part of a week (Scotland, West Country, East Anglia) or a good few days (Kent) and visit a number of zoos in the area -there may be one "non-zoo-day" per holiday depending on the area, what's on offer and what I/we've done before and the odd "zoo and something else" day.

Abroad (not that I've done this much) it's either flight and public transport (Berlin**, Poland) or ferry and car if I'm visiting an area that's not too far a drive to get to and has a cluster of zoos within reasonable driving distance (e.g. Ruhr valley, Arhnem).

*I can recommend some nice B & B's in Linlithgow (near Edinburgh) and Kent if anyone needs them. Not cheapest but very, very good.

**I always do some non-zoo stuff in Berlin, it's a great city and not to do so would be a travesty (to me anyway).
 
BeakerUK said:
I am currently in the throes of planning my first European zoo trip to visit Berlin which will hopefully involve flying there, staying in the city and using public transport to get around. This terrifies me as I am not confident using public transport.
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You'll be fine, get a Berlincard which gives free public transport travel (and discount at the zoos and other attractions) and it reduces a lot of worry/stress -you don't have to keep buying tickets or worry about getting a wrong train (as it's no extra cost to remedy the problem). The underground (and overground) is really easy to use (much more straightforward than London and a lot less crowded) -if you struggle head to Alexanderplatz (awesome place, great eateries) and you can get just about anywhere in city from there. It's all a lot easier and more fun and even less stress on a second visit.
 
My longest round day trip was for a Chester walk & talk in 2013 ( I think) 7 hoursplus! Generally I don't travel more than that by car in a day! Biggest single trip without stopping was Paignton 4 hours 15! Followed by Another 2 hours driving to Bournemouth including a stop at Shaldon!
My 2000th post!
 
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I realize it does not help telling this to people with a phobia of air travel, but you do realize commercial jets are statistically the safest form of transportation?

I have done all types of zoo travel, depending on needs. I agree with a poster above that two hours drive is about my limit for making it a single day trip (which in my case living in Tucson would be one of the zoos or aquariums in Phoenix).

Four to six hours drive time would be about my limit for driving versus flying and would involve an overnight stay (at a hotel, not a B&B usually). I have done a couple of longer driving trips to central California over the last two years (the latter to meet up with Snowloepard), but those are too taxing and I doubt I would do it again.

In the USA longer trips involve flying due to our poor train routes (a source of endless frustration to me). Once I land somewhere, I will use public transportation (bus or subway) when it is feasible and rent a car when it is not. On some trips I have done one or the other and on some I have done both.

In Europe I will typically use train and bus (though of course I fly there from USA). I have done one or two day car rentals to get to places that are difficult to reach via bus.

Years ago I was into zoo photography more than any other type of photography so my trips were always centered on zoos. Now I am more interested in landscape and architecture photography (and animals in the wild), so zoos are a secondary focus of my trips.
 
The longest I’ll comfortably go on driving day trips is about 3 hours. I used to live in Texas, where everything is a bit far, so that was my only choice. The longest I’ve done is 4.5 hours- would not recommend.

I’m more likely to do a road trip if it’s a connect-the-dots type of thing. This summer, I started from northern Virginia, and made it halfway across the country to Nebraska. Go to a zoo, drive to the next location. Rinse and repeat.

I fly for farther away destinations, and will often rent a car from there. But only if it’s a drive that would be more than about 10 hours. For example, I drove to New York and did many things on two separate occasions this year, but two years ago I flew into Los Angeles, and rented a car. I drove as far north as San Francisco, all the way down to San Diego. As I type this, I’m waiting to get off my plane in Dallas for my next (though a bit lesser scale) adventure.

As for non-zoo attractions: absolutely, depending on location. In California, I spent time looking around Long Beach and Hollywood, and then later a scenic drive down the famed Pacific Coast Highway while looking for wild elephant seals and sea otters (and I was successful!). On my recent trip through the Midwest, though, I didn’t go anywhere really new, so I didn’t take time away from driving to go sight-see. I devoted multiple days to sightseeing in New York, but will not do so here in Dallas because I used to live not too far from here.

Personally, I enjoy travel to an extent. Sometimes I’m sick of it, but I also get a great thrill after I get through security at an airport and know I’m about to head to my next destination.
 
I'm too broke to travel for fun so I really only visit zoos if I'm already in the area. In the US, things are really spread out so depending on where you are, even just going to another state can be really time-consuming unless maybe you take a plane, which bumps up the price quite a bit. (also, many parts of the US don't have decent public transportation so you might have to rent a car or use Uber) I do plan on taking a trip to Dallas in the spring to visit the zoos and museums there. Four hour drive each way, I'll likely have to leave Friday and come back Sunday, I'm hoping that I can find an inexpensive youth hostel, otherwise I'll try out Airbnb.

With that said, if I'm in a new area, I try to make it a point to visit the nearby zoos! For larger zoos, I like to set aside a full day to visit. I'm also big on science museums.
 
Being from Australia, 1000km (600m) roadtrips in a day is something that is part of the norm. I prefer to use public transport but often that is not practical as many of the zoos and wildlife attractions I like to visit are outside big cities. I have done roadtrips in the UK and Germany, one through California and Arizona a few years back and around Texas earlier this year. Two years back I crossed the USA by train which was fun, but not to visit zoos as such (although I still managed four), If staying in a major urban area with good public transport I will use it whenever possible, otherwise taxi or uber. Japan is one country where only using public transport is entirely feasible, indeed it would be foolhardy to use a car.Obviously intercontinental travel is by jet airliner.

When travelling I am always visiting non-zoo attractions, and often the zoos are only secondary to the trip. Of course many of my trips are on business so that limits me as to where I can go.

At home I am often at zoos for meetings or functions but often don't see any animals. Bit sad really.
 
The longest I've driven in one day and came back the same day was 5 1/2 hours. I drove to the Mirage Secret Garden in Las Vegas from Phoenix then stopped at Keepers of the Wild in Valentine, AZ on the way back. Both are smallish facilities so it wasn't hard to do.

Usually if I'm visiting an out of state facility, though, I fly. I'm not a huge fan of flying, but I drove to San Diego by myself once and almost wrecked driving home because I started falling asleep and that was after staying the night. I guess the 'magic number' for driving vs flying is 4 hours. As for visiting other things while I'm there, yes. I like lighthouses so if I can plan a trip that involves both, I'm quite happy. If there aren't any lighthouses then I won't likely visit anything else. I'm not into museums or flower gardens or such.
 
We do all sorts -
- day trips by car for anywhere under 2 hours away
- we've done one daytrip on the train which would have been an 8 hour roundtrip in the car
- overnight stays at the closest Premier Inn for anywhere 2+ hours away
- full on zoo roadtrips where the primary focus is travelling around visiting collection(s) every day. The longest one we've done I think is 6 days which was 8 different collections.
- combining zoo visits with a long weekend or week away doing other stuff e.g. we'll fly to Edinburgh and tour the city which includes a visit to the zoo, or go to London for the weekend and take in a show / museums and visit the zoo

To be honest as we've got older and have a bit more expendable money we are more likely to stay over and have a nice meal for places about 2 hours away. It makes for a more relaxing day at the zoo as you're not thinking about the drive home.
 
I need to find someone who has a better car than me and is happy to go on zoo road trips - that would be wonderful! I have persuaded a couple of people on short break zoo trips aimed at visiting a cluster of zoos, but I would absolutely love to do a full on zoo road trip.
 
BeakerUK said:
I need to find someone who has a better car than me and is happy to go on zoo road trips - that would be wonderful! I have persuaded a couple of people on short break zoo trips aimed at visiting a cluster of zoos, but I would absolutely love to do a full on zoo road trip.
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If you didn't live in the U.K. I would be more than happy to go on zoo trips with you. I got a new car 3 years ago and have only done one zoo trip. Back when I spent all of my time in San Diego at Sea World I always said if I ever got a better car I'd be there every weekend. Since then, my focus shifted more to zoos and have gotten a better car, but I haven't driven to San Diego nor anywhere else other than a single trip to 2 in-state facilities. The trips I mentioned in my previous post, I did with a rented car. I have nobody to go on zoo trips either.
 
These days I pretty much just travel for the zoo and nothing else. I’ll drive to the local zoos for a day trip (Chester, Blackpool), take the train to those further away and stay over for a night or two (Edinburgh, Colchester) and then fly out to anywhere further away, stay over for a few nights and try to cram in as many visits as I possibly can locally.

In the past I was travelling internationally for ballroom dancing and many of my zoo visits used to be tagged on to the back of these events. Now it’s all about the zoo.
 
I used to try and combine a zoo trip with a gig/concert if it was more than a couple of hours driving and then stay the night at a hotel. If there were no gigs of interest and the weather forecast was good for a few days during a holiday spell, I'd go to several zoos and have early nights in quiet hotel locations.

BeakerUK said:
I need to find someone who has a better car than me and is happy to go on zoo road trips - that would be wonderful! I have persuaded a couple of people on short break zoo trips aimed at visiting a cluster of zoos, but I would absolutely love to do a full on zoo road trip.
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I only have a 51 plate 1300 fiesta and that took me down to Alicante and back, then two trips as far as Gelsenkirchen (as well as Paignton and up to the Highlands) in the last 6 months :D I might retire it when the MOT runs out in July and just save for a trip to USA. Reading the advice on going Berlin still leaves me undecided on how to do that, although it will probably be in April after school holidays. It is half the distance of Alicante from my home and if it broke down, I'd like to be able to just leave it behind :D One of the benefits of having the car, has been taking several lenses and not worrying about them on aeroplanes etc, but I am going to switch to a bridge camera at some point, so less to think about with regards to public transport. But using public transport I feel means booking ahead for better prices and gambling more on the weather (I admitted before, that I am a fair weather fan ;)) and other disruptions.

Since coming back from my October trip, I haven't felt so compelled to go anywhere in the UK, apart from the foolish abandoned trip to see the Polar Bears in the snowfall ... that didn't actually reach them :rolleyes:
 
I'm lucky: I live in the inner suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. I have Melbourne Zoo 10 minutes drive from my house, and Werribee Open Range Zoo approx. 30 minutes drive, as well as Healesville Sanctuary (only Australian animals) approx. 1.5 hours drive, and Moonlit Sanctuary (also only Australian animals) approx. 2 hours drive.

Once per year I drive to Adelaide and visit Adelaide Zoo, Monarto (open range) Zoo and Gorge Wildlife Park, and this year (actually last year as it's now 12.30am on Jan 1st), my best friend lived in Canberra for 3 months.

While my friend was in Canberra I went up there and stayed a few times. In that time I did day trips to Mogo Zoo (Batemans Bay) which is 2 hours drive from Canberra, Altina Wildlife Park (4 hours from Canberra) and Dubbo (open range) Zoo (also 4 hours from Canberra) - and of course I visited Canberra Zoo too.

So for me it's usually a combination of day trips and incorporating zoos into other road trip type holidays I'm doing anyway. If I have a friend somewhere near a zoo, I'm more than likely to go and visit them - as it means I get to go to a zoo too :)
 
What an interesting question. I'm sure everyone will have a different answer.

I love my car, so the only other means of transport I use for leisure within the UK is the train when a trip to London is involved (don't we all?).

My overseas zoo visits have all come about because I've been in the area; for either business or leisure. I'll try to visit a zoo while there, if possible. I don't push it too hard though and have seen the outside of some decent collections over the years as either I haven't had time, or have been with others who aren't zoo fans.

What this thread has made me realise is that other than day-trips, I've never undertaken a trip with an overnight stay either home or abroad that was done to visit zoos as its primary purpose, in the first place. I think Berlin is going to force a change to that. I really want to go to Berlin, for the zoos first and foremost, so there's 2018 resolution number one.

Just adding - mode of transport for travels abroad; either fly and rental car, or fly and public transport if I'm staying within the confines of a city. Driving's a doddle even travelling solo these days, thanks to the sat-nav.
 
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NigeW said:
I love my car, so the only other means of transport I use for leisure within the UK is the train when a trip to London is involved (don't we all?).
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No chance, I'd rather drive the two and a quarter-ish hours there and back. It's door to door (no inconvenience/time lost of getting from home to station and station to zoo), more reliable (my history of trains and stoppages/delays/strikes has never been good), at least as quick all in and cheaper especially when there's a plus one or more (i.e. petrol < fares+other travel costs).

That said, I think if the drive was more than three hours I'd probably have to, reluctantly, use trains -it'd be way cheaper and more convenient than staying over in London which I would rather do than six hours driving in a day (I have a general rule of thumb that the day's driving time for a zoo visit shouldn't exceed the time I'd spend in the zoo).

NigeW said:
My overseas zoo visits have all come about because I've been in the area; for either business or leisure. I'll try to visit a zoo while there, if possible. I don't push it too hard though and have seen the outside of some decent collections over the years as either I haven't had time, or have been with others who aren't zoo fans.
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Get some new others. :D

NigeW said:
I think Berlin is going to force a change to that. I really want to go to Berlin, for the zoos first and foremost, so there's 2018 resolution number one.
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Great resolution, make sure you keep it!
 
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Looking at the weather forecast last night, as I am not as much of a party animal as I used to be, I had considered going to Chester Zoo today ... supposedly a couple of hours of hours sunshine at least, which I would have focused my attention on a probably empty Painted Dog enclosure ... but I decided the clear 150 mile run up there was not worth it (new year's morning up the M6 would surely have been a breeze)?.
While talking to a keeper somewhere a couple of months ago, I expressed a feeling of hypocrisy that I nurture ... I am concerned about what we are doing to the climate and environment, therefore the effect on wildlife's habitat, but there I am in my old banger clocking up the miles to show my support for captive environments.
I might just look at going to less zoos this year and using public transport more.
 
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