Washington & Baltimore zoo trip

[Dormitator]

Hi all, I'm hoping to visit Washington & Baltimore in early summer next year, would anyone have any recommendations for zoos to visit, and how many days to plan for? I'm visiting my family in NYC afterward, but having never been to Washington I'm relishing the opportunity to explore the area.

Current plan includes a day each at the Smithsonian museum, Smithsonian zoo and the Baltimore Aquarium. So in addition to this, are the Maryland Zoo and the Adventure Aquarium in NJ worth visiting as well? Are there other places I'm missing?

Any advice very much appreciated!

 

[The_UltimateBea]

The Baltimore zoo and adventure aquarium are both excellent facilities. If you and to pick one I would go with the aquarium.

A non zoo area of Washington you might want to check out is the National Archives where you can see the original Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Bill of rights.

In addition, I recommend taking a day to just walk around the National Mall area visiting the monuments and government buildings. Also, if you go to the website of your congressional representative you can book a tour of the capitol with a chance to see congress in session if that sort of thing interests you.

 

[TinoPup]

Err, *which* Smithsonian museum? I assume you mean Natural History, which is an amazing place, but there's 17 Smithsonian museums in DC, not including the zoo
Definitely stop at the Maryland Zoo! You can do the zoo and aquarium in a day, though I highly recommend doing a weekday and not the weekend for that, mostly because kids at the aquarium will practically double your time spent there. We kept putting off going to the zoo - traffic would be bad, it's closed in winter, etc - and finally got around to it this summer, it's much better than I expected and a few of their exhibits are breathtaking. A large part of the zoo, the elephants and lions and most of the giraffe area, will be closed on your visit.
If you can, I suggest stopping at the Philly Zoo on your way to NYC, as well. The Zoo360 trails are very unique.

 

[Imperator Furiosa]

You could honestly do two Smithsonian museums or the Natural History Museum and National Zoo in a single day, the fossil hall at the Natural History Museum is closed through June 2019 and that's like half the first floor so it's faster to get through the whole museum for now. Personally I'd recommend the Air and Space Museum (which has a giant IMAX theater) or the National Museum of the American Indian if you check out another Smithsonian museum, both have some very cool exhibits. Also all the Smithsonian facilities and a few other DC museums are free so that makes it much more feasible to visit multiple ones in a day.

The Maryland Zoo is worth a stop, they've got a few cool species there like okapi, slender-snouted crocodiles, and some birds native to the swamps in Maryland. It's a nice little zoo that's easy to get through in a couple hours. You could probably do it in a single day with the Baltimore Aquarium but traffic can be awful in Baltimore sometimes so make sure you give yourself time to get between the two if you do.

I've never personally been to the Adventure Aquarium and Philly Zoo but both seem worth visiting, they both have some very cool species.

 

[The_UltimateBea]

If you're into history, the American History Museum has some great artifacts like Lincoln's hat, Jeffereson's desk and an original Edison light bulb.

Even with the Fossil Hall closed, I would still recommend a full day at the Natural History Museum. On my last visit, I only got trhough half of it in a full day. Each of the larger Smithsonian museums can easily be 3 day undertakings to see everything.

If you're going to do two things in one day, it should be the Maryland zoo and National Aquarium although the Aquarium could easily warrant a full day too.

 

[Dormitator]

Thanks for the replies everyone, very much appreciated!

The Baltimore zoo and adventure aquarium are both excellent facilities. If you and to pick one I would go with the aquarium.

A non zoo area of Washington you might want to check out is the National Archives where you can see the original Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Bill of rights.

In addition, I recommend taking a day to just walk around the National Mall area visiting the monuments and government buildings. Also, if you go to the website of your congressional representative you can book a tour of the capitol with a chance to see congress in session if that sort of thing interests you.

Thanks, it sounds like the zoo and aquarium are doable in a day which is rather convenient, as long as I don't get too distracted at the aquarium. Unfortunately being British means I doubt I'd get to see congress in session, as fascinating as that would be!

Err, *which* Smithsonian museum? I assume you mean Natural History, which is an amazing place, but there's 17 Smithsonian museums in DC, not including the zoo
Definitely stop at the Maryland Zoo! You can do the zoo and aquarium in a day, though I highly recommend doing a weekday and not the weekend for that, mostly because kids at the aquarium will practically double your time spent there. We kept putting off going to the zoo - traffic would be bad, it's closed in winter, etc - and finally got around to it this summer, it's much better than I expected and a few of their exhibits are breathtaking. A large part of the zoo, the elephants and lions and most of the giraffe area, will be closed on your visit.
If you can, I suggest stopping at the Philly Zoo on your way to NYC, as well. The Zoo360 trails are very unique.

Thanks, I knew I should have been more specific there. I'll bear that all in mind, any idea why such a large area will be closed? Renovations?

I visited Philly Zoo last year, really interesting place. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to have been too much change there since summer 2017 so I think I'll be passing it over in place of somewhere new.

You could honestly do two Smithsonian museums or the Natural History Museum and National Zoo in a single day, the fossil hall at the Natural History Museum is closed through June 2019 and that's like half the first floor so it's faster to get through the whole museum for now. Personally I'd recommend the Air and Space Museum (which has a giant IMAX theater) or the National Museum of the American Indian if you check out another Smithsonian museum, both have some very cool exhibits. Also all the Smithsonian facilities and a few other DC museums are free so that makes it much more feasible to visit multiple ones in a day.

The Maryland Zoo is worth a stop, they've got a few cool species there like okapi, slender-snouted crocodiles, and some birds native to the swamps in Maryland. It's a nice little zoo that's easy to get through in a couple hours. You could probably do it in a single day with the Baltimore Aquarium but traffic can be awful in Baltimore sometimes so make sure you give yourself time to get between the two if you do.

I've never personally been to the Adventure Aquarium and Philly Zoo but both seem worth visiting, they both have some very cool species.

Shame about the fossil hall, that would be a must see for me so I don't think a trip to the Smithsonian NHM could be considered without seeing it! I@ll have a long think about that, but the Air and Space Museum may make up for it... Maryland Zoo sounds good then, native US species would be particularly interesting. I won't have a car with me so I'll be dependent on public transport, which I'm guessing may include the bus, so I'll remember the advice about traffic.

 

[TinoPup]

Massive renovations that are taking several years to do. There's still a path that will take you around to the giraffe building and their temporarily small yard (and the okapi), but most of their yard is closed, along with the entirety of the elephants and lions. You can see a bit of what they're doing when you're on the path, and looking through the trees by the giraffes, and it looks like it's going to be amazing.

The only big change at Philly has been the penguins, which is a really nice area, but nothing compared to Maryland Zoo's I believe at least one bus goes to the zoo, it's in a large public park and a lot of the employees take the bus. It's also only about 15 minutes by car so uber would be pretty cheap. You shouldn't have any issues with traffic going between them, since it'll be around the middle of the day if you're doing both.

 

[dinosaur50]

Hi all, I'm hoping to visit Washington & Baltimore in early summer next year, would anyone have any recommendations for zoos to visit, and how many days to plan for? I'm visiting my family in NYC afterward, but having never been to Washington I'm relishing the opportunity to explore the area.

Current plan includes a day each at the Smithsonian museum, Smithsonian zoo and the Baltimore Aquarium. So in addition to this, are the Maryland Zoo and the Adventure Aquarium in NJ worth visiting as well? Are there other places I'm missing?

Any advice very much appreciated!

when in early summer fossil hall at the Natural History Museum re opens june 8 2019

 

[drill]

[

Hi all, I'm hoping to visit Washington & Baltimore in early summer next year, would anyone have any recommendations for zoos to visit, and how many days to plan for? I'm visiting my family in NYC afterward, but having never been to Washington I'm relishing the opportunity to explore the area.

Current plan includes a day each at the Smithsonian museum, Smithsonian zoo and the Baltimore Aquarium. So in addition to this, are the Maryland Zoo and the Adventure Aquarium in NJ worth visiting as well? Are there other places I'm missing?

Any advice very much appreciated!

Catoctin Zoo for Booted macaques and crested guan.

 

[Dormitator]

Massive renovations that are taking several years to do. There's still a path that will take you around to the giraffe building and their temporarily small yard (and the okapi), but most of their yard is closed, along with the entirety of the elephants and lions. You can see a bit of what they're doing when you're on the path, and looking through the trees by the giraffes, and it looks like it's going to be amazing.

The only big change at Philly has been the penguins, which is a really nice area, but nothing compared to Maryland Zoo's I believe at least one bus goes to the zoo, it's in a large public park and a lot of the employees take the bus. It's also only about 15 minutes by car so uber would be pretty cheap. You shouldn't have any issues with traffic going between them, since it'll be around the middle of the day if you're doing both.

Ah I guess that makes sense, thanks. Shame it's not going to be open for a while, might be one to miss until I get another chance in a couple of years. Thanks for the travel advice as well, I never entirely trust Google Maps to get it right in the real world!

[

Catoctin Zoo for Booted macaques and crested guan.

Both nice species, duly noted. Thanks!