Liberec, Decin or Usti nad Labem

[ralph]

I'm currently planning another zoo trip to the Czech Republic.
In previous zootrips, I already visited Prague, Pilsen, Jihlava, Dvur Kralove, Brno, Ostrava and Zlin.
I'll be revisting some of those, but I also want to do a few zoos I haven't been to yet.

Right now I'm looking at 3 that would make for a good day trip from Prague; Liberec, Decin and Usti nad Labem.

My questions is for those of you who've visited these zoos; which one(s) did you like most?
I'll probably be able to do two of these but not all three, so I'd like to make the right choices.

Thanks!

 

[muskox2262]

I'm currently planning another zoo trip to the Czech Republic.
In previous zootrips, I already visited Prague, Pilsen, Jihlava, Dvur Kralove, Brno, Ostrava and Zlin.
I'll be revisting some of those, but I also want to do a few zoos I haven't been to yet.

Right now I'm looking at 3 that would make for a good day trip from Prague; Liberec, Decin and Usti nad Labem.

My questions is for those of you who've visited these zoos; which one(s) did you like most?
I'll probably be able to do two of these but not all three, so I'd like to make the right choices.

Thanks!

Děčín and Ústí combination is doable in one day quite easily, especially in summer when there are long days (I would recommend going to Děčín first, cause it is opened from 8 AM). Even by public transport, train connection is quite good.

 

[ralph]

That's actually not a bad idea. I usually like to take my time in a zoo, but this way I get to experience all of them. Decin seems small enough to do a 3 to 4 hour visit, so yes I will try to get there early and leave for Usti around noon.

 

[HOMIN96]

Decin seems small enough to do a 3 to 4 hour

I think even 2 hours are enough for Děčín

 

[TeaLovingDave]

The following is said with the caveat that I have not managed to visit any of the three collections you have initially asked about, and can only make (limited) judgements based on all I have heard and seen from other people's experiences.

Two collections which, I would argue, should be higher up your priority list than *any* of the three you cited are Zoopark Chomutov and Zoo Hluboká. Given the broad similarities in focus between the two, you could probably get away with visiting only one of these.

Zoo Zazjed, about 30 minutes outside Prague, is definitely worth a visit too - and would only take an hour to see properly, at most.

I assume you will be travelling by car, given the fact you have cited Zlin (a collection which is pretty much impossible by public transport) as a revisit option

 

[CGSwans]

I assume you will be travelling by car, given the fact you have cited Zlin (a collection which is pretty much impossible by public transport) as a revisit option

This appears to be incorrect. There are buses running directly from Prerov station to Zoo Zlin, and there are services to Prerov from Prague, Brno, Olomouc and even Budapest and Warsaw.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

This appears to be incorrect. There are buses running directly from Prerov station to Zoo Zlin, and there are services to Prerov from Prague, Brno, Olomouc and even Budapest and Warsaw.

I'll rephrase my poor wording then; getting there by public transport is infeasible and unpleasant, and you pretty much have to start and finish in Olomouc to avoid the following issues: journey times there are pretty long (even Brno, which is only 50 miles away, takes over three hours - and Prague just shy of five), getting there requires some fairly tight connections which can be easily missed if the initial train is delayed, some of the required buses end pretty early, and generally speaking you're looking at spending far more time travelling than visiting the zoo

For instance, this is what it would require to get there from Prague:



And back....



Even if you strike lucky with connection times, set off as early as possible and left as late as possible, anyone visiting from Prague would be looking at almost 11 hours of travel, across three regional buses, two long-distance coaches requiring pre-booking, and one train, for only six hours at the zoo itself. And if you miss that 5:24pm bus....



So I think my hyperbole was only *slightly* unwarranted!

 

[CGSwans]

I think I would probably try to stay overnight in Prerov to reduce all those risks.

 

[lintworm]

I have visited Zlin by public transport and if I would not have done it on Easter Sunday it would have been easy. I started the day in Vienna, took the direct IC to Otrokovice and from there the slow train to Zlin-Stred. On Sunday bus connections are quite hopeless, so it was faster to walk the 7.5 km to and from the train station. In late afternoon I took the train to Ostrava, with again changing trains in Otrokovice. On a weekday or Saturday it would be a relatively easy day trip for most of us from either Vienna or preferably Ostrava. The thing is that it is hard to find out the local bus schedule as they used to be unlisted on google maps.

 

[twilighter]

I have visited Zlin by car, but if Brno is on the Map, I am pretty sure there's direct Flixbus or RegioJet option Brno - Zlin. The zoo is outside the town, but taxi or local bus Jízdní řády IDOS.cz should work

 

[ralph]

@TLD; I visited Zlin with public transport from Brno in 2018. I don't remember how exactly, but I don't recall too much complications.

I will look into the zoos you mentioned.

I'l probably be using public transportation for this trip. I do have a driving licence so renting a car is a possibilty, it's really just a matter of preferences. I really dislike driving.

 

[Dassie rat]

Zlin is one of 4 ZTL zoos with a red-bellied macaw and a scarlet-headed blackbird
One of 3 ZTL zoos with a red-rumped cacique and a western piping hornbill
One of 2 ZTL zoos with a spotted wood owl, a New Guinea singing dog and a lesser adjutant
And the only ZTL zoo with a black-legged seriema and a northern screamer

 

[Jakub]

Lesser adjutants aren't visible for public, mainly because of breeding purposes. Only one black-legged seriema left, in some period of time also being kept offshow.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

I started the day in Vienna, took the direct IC to Otrokovice and from there the slow train to Zlin-Stred. On Sunday bus connections are quite hopeless, so it was faster to walk the 7.5 km to and from the train station. In late afternoon I took the train to Ostrava, with again changing trains in Otrokovice. On a weekday or Saturday it would be a relatively easy day trip for most of us from either Vienna or preferably Ostrava. The thing is that it is hard to find out the local bus schedule as they used to be unlisted on google maps.

Weirdly, Google Maps seems to think that the direct IC train in question runs non-stop from Breclav to Bohumin after leaving Vienna - and hence suggests a significantly more convoluted route to get between Vienna and Zlin-Stred.... which is why I have never come across that option checking the OBB website, it definitely still stops at Otrokovice as you say!

Given the fact I have been planning a return visit to Vienna for the back end of March, this is very dangerous information which you have provided me with I'd be interested to learn how safe the walk to the zoo is, as a last-resort option if the buses prove difficult to work out.

 

[lintworm]

Weirdly, Google Maps seems to think that the direct IC train in question runs non-stop from Breclav to Bohumin after leaving Vienna - and hence suggests a significantly more convoluted route to get between Vienna and Zlin-Stred.... which is why I have never come across that option checking the OBB website, it definitely still stops at Otrokovice as you say!

Given the fact I have been planning a return visit to Vienna for the back end of March, this is very dangerous information which you have provided me with I'd be interested to learn how safe the walk to the zoo is, as a last-resort option if the buses prove difficult to work out.

Google Maps is quite unreliable in such areas... But the walk from the station is mostly on bicycle lanes or pavementd with only a small stretch without either if I remember correctly, but it certainly felt safe.

Just as a note, quite a number of birds, including the seriema, will still be in their winter quarters end of March. Still it is a place worth visiting then though it is a good weather zoo.

 

[Dassie rat]

Liberec is one of 5 ZTL zoos with a Korean ring-necked pheasant
One of 4 ZTL zoos with a common bulbul and a crowned river turtle
One of 3 ZTL zoos with a reed vole
It is the only ZTL zoo with a Congo citharin

Decin is one of 4 ZTL zoos with a Mexican spider monkey

 

[Dassie rat]

Usti nad Labem is one of 5 ZTL zoos with a black-winged hatchetfish, a black-backed jackal (no sub-specific status) and a Bleher's rainbowfish
It is one of 4 ZTL zoos with a Treasury Island tree frog and a Ticto barb

 

[Dassie rat]

Chomutov is one of 2 ZTL zoos with the hardun (nominate subspecies), ring-headed dwarf snake and Kazakhstan steppe tortoise
It is the only ZTL zoo with the common wall gecko (nominate subspecies)

 

[Dassie rat]

Hluboká is one of 5 ZTL zoos with a long-tailed rosefinch (nominate subspecies), Himalayan brown bear and black-winged hatchetfish
It is one of 4 ZTL zoos with a Cyclades viper
It is one of 3 ZTL zoos with a little corydoras, steppe and Turkestan rock agamas, an Arabian a small-spotted genet, common Eurasian cuckoo and northern bullfinch
It is one of 2 ZTL zoos with a white-throated laughing thrush, Marie-Galente anole and hardun (nominate subspecies)
It is the only ZTL zoo with a dunnock

 

[aramacao]

Personally, I can say that visiting Usti and Decin on the same day is perfectly possible. I did, but I was traveling by car.

Usti is a bit bigger, but it can really be combined with another zoo, too. I visited it twice: once I dedicated a whole day to it (unnecessary, but I went calmly) and a second time I visited it combining it with Zoopark Zajezd.