Artis Royal Zoo Visiting ARTIS - Tips

honeybadger

honeybadger

Well-Known Member
Hi, I’ll be visiting ARTIS in 1 weeks’ time and need some help in finalizing the plan for my visit:
  1. Will 2.5 - 3 hours realistically cover most of the zoo grounds (without Micropia)? Based on the top view from Google Maps, the zoo doesn’t look that big, but it can be deceiving.
  2. Any notable must-sees exhibits / highlights of the zoo? I will definitely check the following exhibits: Bird House, Forest House, Pheasantry, Small Mammal House. I will visit Micropia as well.
  3. Where can I find these animals at ARTIS? They are listed in ZTL but I’m not too sure whether they’re currently on display or not:

    (a) Diana Monkey; (b) Snowy Owl - Ruins opposite Elephant or Off display?; (c) Blue Duiker
Thanks!
 
honeybadger said:
Hi, I’ll be visiting ARTIS in 1 weeks’ time and need some help in finalizing the plan for my visit:
  1. Will 2.5 - 3 hours realistically cover most of the zoo grounds (without Micropia)? Based on the top view from Google Maps, the zoo doesn’t look that big, but it can be deceiving.
  2. Any notable must-sees exhibits / highlights of the zoo? I will definitely check the following exhibits: Bird House, Forest House, Pheasantry, Small Mammal House. I will visit Micropia as well.
  3. Where can I find these animals at ARTIS? They are listed in ZTL but I’m not too sure whether they’re currently on display or not:

    (a) Diana Monkey; (b) Snowy Owl - Ruins opposite Elephant or Off display?; (c) Blue Duiker
Thanks!
Click to expand...

3 hours is a bit too short, especially for a first visit. It can be done, but it would be a rushed visit in which you would possibly miss a significant part of the zoo.

Artis has a very nice butterfly house and a neat invertebrate house too. Another highlight is the new lion enclosure.

Artis hasn't had blue duikers in 20 years, you might have looked at former holdings... The diana meerkats are in the gorilla enclosure, but I don't think they are on exhibit together, so they might not always be visible.

The small mammal house is best visited in the early morning, then is your best chance to see all the (dor)mice active.
 
Thanks @lintworm !!

lintworm said:
3 hours is a bit too short, especially for a first visit. It can be done, but it would be a rushed visit in which you would possibly miss a significant part of the zoo.

Artis has a very nice butterfly house and a neat invertebrate house too. Another highlight is the new lion enclosure.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury to spend more time in the zoo and need to pick & choose the exhibits that I want to see. :(

Thanks for the tips for the small mammal house - will try to check them first thing in the morning

lintworm said:
Artis hasn't had blue duikers in 20 years, you might have looked at former holdings... The diana meerkats are in the gorilla enclosure, but I don't think they are on exhibit together, so they might not always be visible.
Click to expand...

Yeah, you're right. I've crosschecked ZTL and it's listed under former holdings. My bad. :D

I'm open to any tips on how to make the best of my (limited) visit. :)
 
For the diana monkeys, the best place to see them is inside the gorilla building. If you have the gorilla viewing on your left hand, and the aldabra tortoise on your right hand. Between these two glass viewing panels is a wall, with a window at the top of the wall. This is the place you are most likely to see the diana monkeys
 
owensluis said:
For the diana monkeys, the best place to see them is inside the gorilla building. If you have the gorilla viewing on your left hand, and the aldabra tortoise on your right hand. Between these two glass viewing panels is a wall, with a window at the top of the wall. This is the place you are most likely to see the diana monkeys
Click to expand...

Thank you for this detailed tips! Will try to follow your instructions once I entered the building.
 
I visited Artis in the summer of 2019 and it was my first major zoo of a lengthy trek to many zoos in Western Europe. I spent an hour just in Micropia (which you are skipping) and then an additional 6 hours in the main zoo. It's one of the oldest zoos on the planet and is full of 'houses', such as a Bird House, Forest House, Reptile House, Insect House, Butterfly House, Small Mammal House and an Aquarium. All those buildings slow down a typical zoo visit and so you are really going to have to pick a few notable things you want to see and then miss the rest.
 
snowleopard said:
I visited Artis in the summer of 2019 and it was my first major zoo of a lengthy trek to many zoos in Western Europe. I spent an hour just in Micropia (which you are skipping) and then an additional 6 hours in the main zoo. It's one of the oldest zoos on the planet and is full of 'houses', such as a Bird House, Forest House, Reptile House, Insect House, Butterfly House, Small Mammal House and an Aquarium. All those buildings slow down a typical zoo visit and so you are really going to have to pick a few notable things you want to see and then miss the rest.
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Thank you for sharing your experience! Any major highlights from those houses? I might need to shift my itinerary to provide extra buffer time for the visit. :):)

As for Micropia, I think you misunderstood my earlier message. I'm going to Micropia (alluded in Qn 2) and already allocated 1.5 hours for it. :D For Qn 1, I was just wondering how many hours does it take to cover the zoo grounds w/o the Micropia part.
 
honeybadger said:
Thank you for sharing your experience! Any major highlights from those houses? I might need to shift my itinerary to provide extra buffer time for the visit. :):).
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If you go to my Snowleopard's 2019 Road Trip thread, there's a 3,000 word review of Artis on the second page.
 
I would say you don’t need to miss anything - you just have to consider how long you linger at each enclosure and some things you might have to stroll by without a longer stop.

But that is my personal preference - I would rather see everything, even if in some parts superficially, rather than missing out whole bits of the zoo.
 
Snowy owls are kept behind the scenes or have left the collection.
The aquarium is currently undergoing renovation, should reopen in 2026.

I would say that the reptile house is also worth visiting, you could do this before you visit the Bird and Forest Houses, which are next to it.

If you have more questions, feel free to send me a message.
 
I visited the zoo earlier this week and it was amazing!! The forest house + bird house is a highlight for me. I really liked how the zoo modernise the older buildings and the plethora of informative signages!!

In the end, we spent 4+ hours in the zoo and covered most of the exhibits, with only the reptile house as the major omission - the zoo was closing down by then. Plans were changed so we only visited the place after lunch. On hindsight, it was a good decision as we had a nice stroll and some of the animals spent more time in their outdoor areas as the weather warms up.

I could only caught a glimpse of the diana monkeys exactly as @owensluis described.

This is my first zoo in a colder climate so I’m not the best judge of how sufficient the spaces are. However, I’m really happy with how big the exhibits are, even if it means some animals can’t be easily seen. The new lion exhibit is really amazing as well - can’t imagine seeing the lions in the old small exhibit. We were lucky there was a feeding session when we first reach the exhibit, they were sleeping 1 hour later :D

Thank you everyone for all the tips!!
 
honeybadger said:
I visited the zoo earlier this week and it was amazing!! The forest house + bird house is a highlight for me. I really liked how the zoo modernise the older buildings and the plethora of informative signages!!

In the end, we spent 4+ hours in the zoo and covered most of the exhibits, with only the reptile house as the major omission - the zoo was closing down by then. Plans were changed so we only visited the place after lunch. On hindsight, it was a good decision as we had a nice stroll and some of the animals spent more time in their outdoor areas as the weather warms up.

I could only caught a glimpse of the diana monkeys exactly as @owensluis described.

This is my first zoo in a colder climate so I’m not the best judge of how sufficient the spaces are. However, I’m really happy with how big the exhibits are, even if it means some animals can’t be easily seen. The new lion exhibit is really amazing as well - can’t imagine seeing the lions in the old small exhibit. We were lucky there was a feeding session when we first reach the exhibit, they were sleeping 1 hour later :D

Thank you everyone for all the tips!!
Click to expand...

Glad you enjoyed it!
 
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