Alternate transportation to the zoo

[Arizona Docent]

The excellent thread on Zoo Monorails that recently started has inspired this new thread. Which of the world's zoos are accessible by forms of public transportation other than bus? (Nothing wrong with using the bus, I do it often on vacation, but every major city has this. Just looking for more unique options.) Bonus points if you know a zoo or aquarium that can be reached by boat (aka water taxi).

Wuppertal Zoo, Germany. This one is the most unique, arrive on the Schwebbeban, the world's oldest monorail (a hanging type).

Dallas Zoo, USA. Light rail, with a station right across from the zoo.

Philadelphia Zoo, USA. Electric trolley on rails.

National Zoo, USA. Subway (although must walk a few blocks).

Bronx Zoo, USA. Subway (walk a couple blocks through a rough neighborhood, but I did it ok).

Le Menagerie, France. Subway (which they call Metro).

London Zoo, United Kingdom. Subway (which they call officially The Underground and unofficially The Tube; however it is several blocks walk).

Zoo Zurich, Switzerland. Electric trolley on rails.

 

[Maguari]

If anything can beat Wuppertal I'll be amazed. The Schwebebahn is BRILLIANT.

 

[zooboy28]

The excellent thread on Zoo Monorails that recently started has inspired this new thread. Which of the world's zoos are accessible by forms of public transportation other than bus? (Nothing wrong with using the bus, I do it often on vacation, but every major city has this. Just looking for more unique options.) Bonus points if you know a zoo or aquarium that can be reached by boat (aka water taxi).

Taronga Zoo, Australia Can most easily be reached by Ferry from Circular Quay, very cool ride.

Sydney Aquarium, Wildlife World, Australia Can also be reached by Ferry from Circular Quay, although you could also take the monorail, depending on where you were coming from.

Korkeasaari Zoo, Finland Zoo is on an island, which can be reached by ferry during summer, and bus year round.

Lots of zoos can be reached by other forms of public transport, e.g. trams (Melbourne Zoo), metro (London Zoo, Berlin Zoos, etc).

 

[filipinos]

The Lisbon Zoo, being almost in the middle of the city, has right next to it one of the most important stations (Sete Rios), with the Train (a trip of 12 minutes from my house to the zoo thanks to this), the Bus, the Car, and the Subway all having stops in the interface. Inside the Zoo there´s the Cable Car, that passes trough the entire zoo, including off-show areas.

The Lisbon Oceanarium can be achieved by Bus, Subway and Train, all in the Gare do Oriente Station (very near to the Aquarium), and there´s also the Dock in front of the Oceanarium, with a boat trip that departs from Seixal (near my house too ) to Parque das Nações (where the aquarium is located). Next to the building
there´s the EXPO Cable Car, from wich the interior of the aquarum can be seen, and the station is next to it.

 

[Gulo gulo]

There's a ferry that goes from Philly to Adventure Aquarium.

The New England Aquarium is accessible by ferry from multiple locations north and south of Boston.

 

[cleusk]

There's a trolley which goes to the Fort Worth Zoo during the summer.

 

[BeardsleyZooFan]

Maritime Aquarium can be reached by boat.
Roger Williams Park Zoo has its own trolley.
Central Park Zoo can also be reached by subway. I actually took a taxi there from Grand Central Station.

 

[CGSwans]

Melbourne Zoo is served by both a train and tram line without 100m.

Anybody who goes to Taronga via car or bus, rather than by ferry, is missing out.

 

[geomorph]

Oregon Zoo can be reached by the Portland light rail system known as MAX from downtown; two of its lines serve the Washington Park Station, which is steps away from the entrance to the zoo. Washington Park Station is the only underground station in the system, and at 260 feet below the ground it is the deepest subway station in North America! The elevators that transport passengers from the subway platform to the surface feature signs that show the geologic history through which they are traveling; where normal elevator doors would feature an indicator of the current floor location of a cab, these have an arrow pointing to '16 Million Years Ago' (subway platform level) or 'Present' (ground level).











Nearby is the entrance to the zoo:



All photos taken by geomorph.

 

[DDcorvus]

Planckendael near Mechelen is perfectly reachable by Boat

 

[Buldeo]

San Francisco Zoo, USA

While it doesn't stop right @ the zoo, San Francisco's MTA light rail stops a block away. Pick up the L Taraval line anywhere downtown, then get off @ the last stop (conveniently called SF Zoo).

Convenient? Yes. Timely? No. Due to the lack of a dedicated right-of-way once above ground, Muni takes for-ev-er to reach the zoo. The city's only 7 miles from end to end, and it took an hour and a half to get there. It's quicker to drive.

 

[Shirokuma]

Antwerp Zoo is right next to the central station. The station actually forms the wall of one side of the zoo.

 

[nanoboy]

Marineland Melanesia on Green Island off the coast of Cairns, Australia, is reached by ferry (it's a tiny island after all!), and by seaplane!! They supposedly have the largest croc in captivity, but that might be outdated now.

 

[Hix]

Marineland Melanesia on Green Island off the coast of Cairns, Australia, is reached by ferry (it's a tiny island after all!), and by seaplane!! They supposedly have the largest croc in captivity, but that might be outdated now.

You can also get to Green Island by helicopter.

A canal runs through London Zoo, and I have a recollection of boats transporting visitors to the zoo that way.



Hix

 

[alissymo]

So cool!! The zoo I live in only has a kiddy train

 

[carlos77]

In Mexico City, Chapultepec zoo is very close to a subway station. However, Los Coyotes and San Juan de Aragon zoos are not near subway stations and maybe hard to reach for foreign visitors.
As a frequent visitor to the U.S. it should be mentioned that U.S. zoos do a great job at giving information on their webpages about public transportation access. I have found the information quite reliable, though this does not often mention details about the trip or access itself.
Some examples;
Yes the public transportation to the San francisco zoo is very slow.
There is a subway station very close to the maryland zoo but the neighborhood is tough.
Some transportation have different schedules on weekends, so you have to watch for that.
However many european ( spain, italy, france) and latin american zoos in the countries i have visited give no information on public transportation access.
Barcelona zoo is very accesible by public transport, but Madrid zoo is almost impossible because the buses from the metro to the casa del campo leave with no order.
In italy, outside of rome, public trasport is very disorderly, i never was able to find how to reach that zoo in Tuscany.
The menagerie at the jardin des plantes in Paris is across the street from a subway station that looks very much like the station in martin Scorsese´s film "Hugo", though i am not certain if is the same place.

 

[zooboy28]

Barcelona zoo is very accesible by public transport, but Madrid zoo is almost impossible because the buses from the metro to the casa del campo leave with no order.

You can easily walk from the metro station (Casa de Campo) to Madrid Zoo, it is maybe 5 minutes walk down past a reserve (at least I think its a reserve, lots of Mediterranean vege).

 

[Hvedekorn]

Aqua Ferskvandsakvarium (Freshwater Aquarium) in Denmark can be reached by boat in the summer.

Isn't Basel Zoo located almost next to a train station? I guess most zoos located within a town/city can be reached from the station if you're willing to walk a bit (and providing the city does have a train station).