German Trip part 2

[JigerofLemuria]

Good afternoon everyone.

As last year's trip around Germany was a big success (and the Deutsch Ticket is "broken" in gaming terms), I'm going for round 2 this September! I plan to visit more zoos and natural history museums, with the main objective of photographing species I don't have in my gallery yet. The list of zoos I plan to go to are as follows;

1. Tierpark Hellabrunn, München
2. Tierpark Nürnberg
3. Wilhelma Stüttgart
4. Zoo Karlsruhe
5. Zoo Saarbrücken
6. Zoo Krefeld

However, the last zoo I'll visit is uncertain, as I have several options before I fly back to Barcelona. Those options being;

• Wuppertal Zoo
• Dortmund zoo
• ZOOM Erlebniswelt
• Allwetterzoo Munster
• Tierpark Hamm

In any case, I would very much appreciate your advice once more. I still have the guide @lintworm wrote me for Wilhelma, and I am open to suggestions; nothing has been written down for certain yet.

 

[twilighter]

Good afternoon everyone.

As last year's trip around Germany was a big success (and the Deutsch Ticket is "broken" in gaming terms), I'm going for round 2 this September! I plan to visit more zoos and natural history museums, with the main objective of photographing species I don't have in my gallery yet. The list of zoos I plan to go to are as follows;

1. Tierpark Hellabrunn, München
2. Tierpark Nürnberg
3. Wilhelma Stüttgart
4. Zoo Karlsruhe
5. Zoo Saarbrücken
6. Zoo Krefeld

However, the last zoo I'll visit is uncertain, as I have several options before I fly back to Barcelona. Those options being;

• Wuppertal Zoo
• Dortmund zoo
• ZOOM Erlebniswelt
• Allwetterzoo Munster
• Tierpark Hamm

In any case, I would very much appreciate your advice once more. I still have the guide @lintworm wrote me for Wilhelma, and I am open to suggestions; nothing has been written down for certain yet.

All zoos worth visiting, but I will give my vote for Wuppertal

 

[Andreaghido]

Good afternoon everyone.

As last year's trip around Germany was a big success (and the Deutsch Ticket is "broken" in gaming terms), I'm going for round 2 this September! I plan to visit more zoos and natural history museums, with the main objective of photographing species I don't have in my gallery yet. The list of zoos I plan to go to are as follows;

1. Tierpark Hellabrunn, München
2. Tierpark Nürnberg
3. Wilhelma Stüttgart
4. Zoo Karlsruhe
5. Zoo Saarbrücken
6. Zoo Krefeld

However, the last zoo I'll visit is uncertain, as I have several options before I fly back to Barcelona. Those options being;

• Wuppertal Zoo
• Dortmund zoo
• ZOOM Erlebniswelt
• Allwetterzoo Munster
• Tierpark Hamm

In any case, I would very much appreciate your advice once more. I still have the guide @lintworm wrote me for Wilhelma, and I am open to suggestions; nothing has been written down for certain yet.

Go to Wuppertal mate

 

[ralph]

Munich, Nurnberg and Stuttgart are all great. Karlsruhe is alright, not my personal favorite, but I did enjoy there Exotenhaus. Krefeld is ok, quite small though and easy to combine with Duisburg or something else in the area.
You could skip Saarbrucken. It's been a long time since I've been there, but I remember not being impressed.

Wuppertal would be a good choice, but so would Gelsenkirchen. It honestly depents if you enjoy city zoos or 'erlebnis' zoos more.
I haven't been to Hamm yet, but that one seems the worst pick of the 5 you mentioned.

 

[JigerofLemuria]

Munich, Nurnberg and Stuttgart are all great. Karlsruhe is alright, not my personal favorite, but I did enjoy there Exotenhaus. Krefeld is ok, quite small though and easy to combine with Duisburg or something else in the area.
You could skip Saarbrucken. It's been a long time since I've been there, but I remember not being impressed.

Wuppertal would be a good choice, but so would Gelsenkirchen. It honestly depents if you enjoy city zoos or 'erlebnis' zoos more.
I haven't been to Hamm yet, but that one seems the worst pick of the 5 you mentioned.

Good to keep in mind that I can possibly revisit Duisburg after Krefeld; I still have to see those devils and wombat!
From what I've seen, Saarbrücken and Hamm do seem... A bit lesser. But the thing is that, for my photo albums on Instagram and Facebook, I am positively starved for some species, such as the mandrill (the pics I took at Hagenbeck were fine, but could be better), and ESPECIALLY the cougar. Along with the American black bear, I am positively ITCHING to see and photograph those species.

 

[ralph]

Good to keep in mind that I can possibly revisit Duisburg after Krefeld; I still have to see those devils and wombat!
From what I've seen, Saarbrücken and Hamm do seem... A bit lesser. But the thing is that, for my photo albums on Instagram and Facebook, I am positively starved for some species, such as the mandrill (the pics I took at Hagenbeck were fine, but could be better), and ESPECIALLY the cougar. Along with the American black bear, I am positively ITCHING to see and photograph those species.

I sincerely doubt you'll get better pics of the mandrills at Saarbrucken with that enclosure. If you want to get good mandrill pics, I recommend Dresden for a future German zoo trip. Additionally, Amsterdam, Rhenen, Antwerp or Magdeburg all should provide better photo-ops for that species than Saarbrucken would.

As for cougars, I haven't really seen many good enclosures for this species. Tierpark Hamm seems to be one of the worst for ones for photography though, but again I haven't personally visited this one yet. For photographing cougars, Paris or Pairi Daiza might be the way to go, but the cougars were no-shows for me in both of those zoos. The last time I saw cougars in Europe was in Pakawi Park, which is not the best zoo but gave me some nice cougar pics.

Again, I would not recommend Hamm or Saarbrucken when there are better zoos around, but if you insist on seeing those species, I guess that's plenty of reason to go. Do note that all the other zoos will probably have some species of interest to you as well.

If you do end up choosing Hamm or Saarbrucken, be sure to combine them with another zoo. Neither of them are full-day zoos.
(On that same note, you should combine Zoo Karlsruhe with the local Natural History Museum (it's quite good!) and Tierpark Oberwald (open 24/7 so you can go early or late on the day))

Good luck making your selection. I know there's always too little time in a zoo trip. I just came back from a 15-zoo trip and I still had to elimate a few options.

PS I combined Duisburg and Krefeld a few years ago. I did not see everything in Duisburg on that day, but did see the devils. No wombat though.

 

[JigerofLemuria]

I sincerely doubt you'll get better pics of the mandrills at Saarbrucken with that enclosure. If you want to get good mandrill pics, I recommend Dresden for a future German zoo trip. Additionally, Amsterdam, Rhenen, Antwerp or Magdeburg all should provide better photo-ops for that species than Saarbrucken would.

As for cougars, I haven't really seen many good enclosures for this species. Tierpark Hamm seems to be one of the worst for ones for photography though, but again I haven't personally visited this one yet. For photographing cougars, Paris or Pairi Daiza might be the way to go, but the cougars were no-shows for me in both of those zoos. The last time I saw cougars in Europe was in Pakawi Park, which is not the best zoo but gave me some nice cougar pics.

Again, I would not recommend Hamm or Saarbrucken when there are better zoos around, but if you insist on seeing those species, I guess that's plenty of reason to go. Do note that all the other zoos will probably have some species of interest to you as well.

If you do end up choosing Hamm or Saarbrucken, be sure to combine them with another zoo. Neither of them are full-day zoos.
(On that same note, you should combine Zoo Karlsruhe with the local Natural History Museum (it's quite good!) and Tierpark Oberwald (open 24/7 so you can go early or late on the day))

Good luck making your selection. I know there's always too little time in a zoo trip. I just came back from a 15-zoo trip and I still had to elimate a few options.

PS I combined Duisburg and Krefeld a few years ago. I did not see everything in Duisburg on that day, but did see the devils. No wombat though.

I have looked more thoroughly at pictures of Saarbrücken and Hamm and... The bars, my God. The enclosures are mediocre as is, but those bars will prevent me from taking decent pictures...
And while I have written down Karlsruhe's natural history museum down to visit (along with Stuttgart and Tuebingen's), I didn't know about Tierpark Oberwald, and their crazy timetable, and the gems in their ungulate collection! So yes, consider it written down

On another note, I have decided that my tour will not end in the Rhinelands; after visiting one of those zoos, I'll head to Hannover... To end my tour off with Vogelpark Walsrode!

 

[ralph]

Tierpark Oberwald was a very nice and quiet visit last April, and since then they've added musk deer to their collection, making even more worthwhile.

Walsrode is always a good destination. I want to go back there soon, but I don't know if I will find the time this year.

Have fun on your trip, you're about to visit some real gems!

 

[JigerofLemuria]

Tierpark Oberwald was a very nice and quiet visit last April, and since then they've added musk deer to their collection, making even more worthwhile.

Walsrode is always a good destination. I want to go back there soon, but I don't know if I will find the time this year.

Have fun on your trip, you're about to visit some real gems!

Thank you!
Also, if you'd like to recommend specific itineraries within the zoos themselves (I'll try to get to each one at opening time), please let me know :3

 

[ralph]

I always prioritize species I want to see most, so I have a chance to get back later on the day if they don't show themselves on my first attempt.
For example in Stuttgart I didn't see the fanaloka's until my third try.

 

[JigerofLemuria]

I always prioritize species I want to see most, so I have a chance to get back later on the day if they don't show themselves on my first attempt.
For example in Stuttgart I didn't see the fanaloka's until my third try.

Same plan as mine pretty much
Quokka is an obvious must-see at Wilhelma, I remember being told that the Australian area should be first on my priority list, as it gets crowded fast.

 

[JigerofLemuria]

UPDATE:
Due to budgeting reasons, I've had to stick to my original plan of leaving from Dusseldorf, hence I'll regrettably have to leave Walsrode for another time. But regardless, I'll still go on my trip, starting in Munich on the 8th of September, ending in Dusseldorf on the 16th.
Saarbrücken was considered for the chopping block, buuuut I'm not sure where to stop where there's a good zoo or natural history museum between Karlsruhe and Duisburg. Sure, there's Frankfurt, but I already visited it last year to great success; unlike Duisburg, I left no stone uncovered and managed to see it all there. Same thing's true for Heidelberg. So if anyone has any ideas for great zoos or natural history museums that I can visit on my way to the Rhinelands from Karlsruhe, I'll be glad go take them on.

 

[ralph]

How about Opel-Zoo in Kronberg? It's quite a nice zoo, but not a full-day zoo so I combined it with Zoo-Vivarium Darmstadt.

 

[JigerofLemuria]

How about Opel-Zoo in Kronberg? It's quite a nice zoo, but not a full-day zoo so I combined it with Zoo-Vivarium Darmstadt.

Looking into it now, and while Darmstadt looks fine enough, I'm definitely more interested in Kronberg! It has a number of European species that are rare in captivity, which definitely caught my eye! So thanks for the recommendation; Kronberg is officially my new stop-over on that route!

 

[Philipine eagle]

Good to keep in mind that I can possibly revisit Duisburg after Krefeld; I still have to see those devils and wombat!
From what I've seen, Saarbrücken and Hamm do seem... A bit lesser. But the thing is that, for my photo albums on Instagram and Facebook, I am positively starved for some species, such as the mandrill (the pics I took at Hagenbeck were fine, but could be better), and ESPECIALLY the cougar. Along with the American black bear, I am positively ITCHING to see and photograph those species.

Unless you'll need photos of how not to keep mandrill (and drill), don't go to Saarbrucken.
Those enclosures are horrible

Mandrill:



Drill:

 

[remar]

I would also highly recommend the zoo at Landau. Maybe not the biggest, but with many nice exhibits and also a pretty good stock list, for a zoo with that size.

 

[Philipine eagle]

Looking into it now, and while Darmstadt looks fine enough, I'm definitely more interested in Kronberg! It has a number of European species that are rare in captivity, which definitely caught my eye! So thanks for the recommendation; Kronberg is officially my new stop-over on that route!

Kronburg is a good choice, and combinable with Darmstadt (which you can visit in 2 hours).

If I was you, I would do:

Karlsruhe - Darmstadt (Or Heidelberg which I consider a true gem in summer, but not everyone will agree on that - I did that combination on my 2022 trip)

The problem with Kronberg is : it's pretty remote if you want to go further north. Between Kronberg and Köln, there's only Neuwied. And after leaving Kronberg it's al long drive to Wuppertal or any of the other Ruhr area zoos. Yes, you can and are allowed to drive very fast, above 200 km per hour if you want to, on the tract between Frankfurt and Cologne, but that will not be possible at the hours after visiting Kronberg due to heavy traffic.

So I would recommend:

4. Karlsruhe - Heidelberg

5 Darmstadt - Kronberg

6. Wuppertal - Krefeld : Wuppertal is a terrific place, Krefeld has longer opening hours and a once in your lifetime shot with the mountain anoa.

That's a good pace with smaller and larger gardens each time, and without rushing.

 

[JigerofLemuria]

Kronburg is a good choice, and combinable with Darmstadt (which you can visit in 2 hours).

If I was you, I would do:

Karlsruhe - Darmstadt (Or Heidelberg which I consider a true gem in summer, but not everyone will agree on that - I did that combination on my 2022 trip)

The problem with Kronberg is : it's pretty remote if you want to go further north. Between Kronberg and Köln, there's only Neuwied. And after leaving Kronberg it's al long drive to Wuppertal or any of the other Ruhr area zoos. Yes, you can and are allowed to drive very fast, above 200 km per hour if you want to, on the tract between Frankfurt and Cologne, but that will not be possible at the hours after visiting Kronberg due to heavy traffic.

So I would recommend:

4. Karlsruhe - Heidelberg

5 Darmstadt - Kronberg

6. Wuppertal - Krefeld : Wuppertal is a terrific place, Krefeld has longer opening hours and a once in your lifetime shot with the mountain anoa.

That's a good pace with smaller and larger gardens each time, and without rushing.

OK, I'll take that into account, thank you!

 

[JigerofLemuria]

Unless you'll need photos of how not to keep mandrill (and drill), don't go to Saarbrucken.
Those enclosures are horrible

Mandrill:
View attachment 787387
View attachment 787388

Drill:
View attachment 787389

Ugh, these are ROUGH
Yeah, I think I'll get my chance somewhere else, Saarbrücken is off my plans.

I'll look into Landau too, it may replace Kronberg, we'll see.

Also, question to the crowd; I noticed Munich has the Auffangstation für reptilien ; would you recommend I pay a visit?
I also noticed there's a Sea Life there... But I'm going to Oceanografic next month, so I'll likely skip it.

 

[amur leopard]

Good afternoon everyone.

As last year's trip around Germany was a big success (and the Deutsch Ticket is "broken" in gaming terms), I'm going for round 2 this September! I plan to visit more zoos and natural history museums, with the main objective of photographing species I don't have in my gallery yet. The list of zoos I plan to go to are as follows;

1. Tierpark Hellabrunn, München
2. Tierpark Nürnberg
3. Wilhelma Stüttgart
4. Zoo Karlsruhe
5. Zoo Saarbrücken
6. Zoo Krefeld

However, the last zoo I'll visit is uncertain, as I have several options before I fly back to Barcelona. Those options being;

• Wuppertal Zoo
• Dortmund zoo
• ZOOM Erlebniswelt
• Allwetterzoo Munster
• Tierpark Hamm

In any case, I would very much appreciate your advice once more. I still have the guide @lintworm wrote me for Wilhelma, and I am open to suggestions; nothing has been written down for certain yet.

Along with the American black bear, I am positively ITCHING to see and photograph those species.

For what it's worth Osnabrueck is a great zoo and in my experience was really easy to see American black bear and Drill, both in excellent enclosures. I'd definitely consider it.