The Berlin Zoo-Aquarium produces a superb guidebook, filled with information and colourful photos. The history behind this iconic structure is quite intriguing, especially the fact that it is still standing at all after the exterior survived a direct hit during WWII and only the interior was destroyed. Going through the ZooChat gallery I have seen an almost complete absence of mock-rock or immersive elements outside of the exhibits, as it appears that the displays are well-decorated, traditional tanks sets in walls and there are not many features outside of them. By that I mean rocky outcrops for kids to stand on, tree limbs hanging from the ceiling, or bark siding on the outer edges of the displays. Terrariums have been expanded and been packed with tiny enivonments over the years, but on the visitor side is it a fairly basic setup?
The Berlin Aquarium seems very similar to the zoo judging by photos and the many reviews from fellow zoo nerds, and that means an ample animal collection showcased in exhibits with straight lines and not much in the way of fancy extras. Having said all of that, the Berlin Zoo/Aquarium combination is quite clearly one of the greatest captive wildlife attractions of all time and I'm particularly fond of the layout of the historic aquarium. The ground floor (what we'd call the 1st floor in Canada) has a plethora of fish of all species in both freshwater and seawater tanks; the next floor up has loads of reptiles (with tuataras!); and amphibians and insects dominate the top level. Three nicely laid out floors packed with enough zoological species to make all zoo nerds salivate. It seems to me that it would probably take about 2 hours to tour just the aquarium, and do many ZooChatters see the aquarium and about half the zoo in a single day and then come back and tick off the rest of the zoo on day #2? Some folks attempt to cram in the Berlin Zoo & Aquarium combination in one day, plus the Tierpark on a second day, but to my untrained eye that seems a tad rushed. Thoughts?
Lastly, would Lisbon and Valencia be the two biggest and "best" aquariums in Europe? Would they be comparable to Shedd, Monterey Bay and Georgia in the United States? How would Berlin Zoo-Aquarium compare?
From the visitor's point of view there's not a great deal of theming - at least not to the level you'd expect of a smaller aquarium. Things may seem a bit sterile in photos, but I felt that the life inside the tanks more than makes up for it. There's also a large central tropical enclosure which visitors walk into to see crocodilians.
The aquarium may need more than two hours to see everything properly; the mixed-species tanks hold a number of fascinating species, which you may have to look for, including two species of sea krait.
I spent a day at Tierpark, an evening at Berlin Zoo, and the following day at the Zoo and Aquarium. It worked well for me but I guess you just need a bit of bad weather to make it very difficult.
I find this aquarium very difficult to compare to Lisbon; as you've mentioned, this place is also a reptile house and a historical building, whereas Oceanario Lisboa is a massive and fascinating aquarium. I've yet to see anything to beat Lisbon within Europe, but that doesn't mean much as I've yet to visit many of the other competing greats (inc. Valencia, Genoa, and ?Istanbul).
Lastly, would Lisbon and Valencia be the two biggest and "best" aquariums in Europe? Would they be comparable to Shedd, Monterey Bay and Georgia in the United States? How would Berlin Zoo-Aquarium compare?
Lisbon, Valencia, Genoa, Brest, Arnhem, Rotterdam, Istanbul and Copenhagen are the top ones (Sorry if I forgot one). I would say the first 3 and the last are the ones comparable to those 3, having the big/famous species, as Sea Otters, Manta Ray, Beluga, Walrus, Manatee, Seals, Sea Lions, Dolphins and various Shark species. Berlin would be like a smaller Shedd I would guess.
I largely agree with the list by filipinos on the best aquaria in Europe, but would probably add Nordsoen Oceanarium to his list (it is more specialized than the rest, only exhibiting Scandinavian cold water species) and I've not visited Istanbul's aquarium so I'd rather not comment on it. All have their strong and weak points and all are definitely worth a visit, but the best among them is IMO just behind the top-3 aquaria in USA. For some years my worldwide top-5 has been: Okinawa Churaumi, Monterey Bay, Georgia, Shedd, Valencia L'Oceanogràfic. I still haven't had the chance to visit the newly opened Marine Life Park and therefore can't comment on its position, but I'll be in Singapore this Autumn where I'll visit it.
Berlin's position depends on how strictly you define "aquarium". If you remove the land reptiles and land invertebrates (insects and alike) from Berlin and strictly focus on their water dwelling animals, it is well behind all of the previously mentioned aquaria. As I've already said elsewhere, Berlin's largest tank is also far smaller that the ocean tanks in many aquaria around the world. Despite being a repeat visitor, I typically spend 3-4 hours in Berlin's aquarium building as it contains some very rarely exhibited species among their smaller fish and inverts, but I suspect all but the biggest fish and invert fans could do it in about 2. Even on zoochat, I suspect few would understand my happiness when seeing e.g. the catfish Planiloricaria cryptodon or the beetle Sagra buqueti for the first time in Berlin (the latter has appeared a few other places since I first saw it in Berlin)
(sorry for this off-topic post - not directly relevant to Berlin )
Valencia/Lisbon, some of the main points: I prefer the larger and unusually shaped Ocean tank at Valencia with its long tunnel, but the shark and pelagic ray selection in the Ocean tank at Lisbon is generally better. Overall I prefer the coral reef tanks at Valencia with the interesting contrast of Caribbean/Indo-Pacific, the smaller coral specific tank and the big Red Sea tank (however, the last could certainly have better view; the only aquarium I've visited where a pair of bins actually were useful!). I also prefer Valencia's penguins over Lisbon's, but the exhibit for alcids in Lisbon is very nice. Valencia North Pacific fish exhibits (Japan+North America) are IMO better, but Lisbon's South Ocean exhibits (S. Australia+South Africa) are very nice with several species that are rare in Europe. In South European, deeper sea species (some of which are easily overlooked in the Izu section) and mammals I also prefer Valencia, though Lisbon scores a big point on the remarkable spotted ratfish. I should add that I like sea otters very much and they're a big rarity in Europe, but I've seen many exhibits for this species in North America and Japan. For that reason beluga and walrus have a bigger "wow"-effect on me, though their exhibits would benefit from additional space. While I can enjoy dolphin exhibits, dolphin shows and similar is not something that interests me and I generally avoid them.
In summary, Valencia and Lisbon are two excellent world class aquaria that both have their specific strengths and are clear contenders for "best aquarium in Europe", but overall I place the former in the lead. As always, this is very much a personal choice and there are certainly people that would rate them differently.
In addition to those already mentioned in posts #4 and 5, aquaria I consider world class are: Two Oceans (South Africa), Toba (Japan), Osaka (Japan), Nagoya (Japan), Tokyo Sea Life Park (Japan) and Enoshima (Japan). My opinion on top North American aquaria is well represented by posts in this thread. Again, all these have their strengths and weaknesses.
The Deep and National Marine Aquarium are IMO the best British aquaria and both are well worth visits, but they don't quite make it to the very top of my list. I have not visited Taiwan's National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium or South Korea's AquaPlanet JEJU, but from what I have read they may belong on the list. Some of Australia's main contenders are Sydney Aquarium (relaunched September 2012), Melbourne Aquarium (re-opens in a few months) and Oceanworld Manly (relaunched June 2012), but I would rather not comment on those as all have changed since my last visit. Japan's Aquamarine Fukushima was seriously damaged by the big earthquake and I have not visited since it was rebuilt.
There are additional aquaria with a single remarkable exhibit, for example Australia's Reef HQ and UAE's Dubai Aquarium, but that alone does not bring an aquarium to the very top of my list.
