Have you ever vacationed just to visit zoos?

I've made many trips around Europe with the main objective of visiting zoos (Spain, Portugal, Czech Republic, Poland, Italy, France, Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Switzerland, UK...) although it's true that I combine visits to zoos with gastronomic tourism and normal tourism (emblematic buildings, museums, parks, monuments...). My only trips outside of Europe were to Indonesia and California. In Indonesia I visited several zoos but they were absolutely secondary in the total computation of the trip. Instead, in California they were the main targets. In general, I try to combine zoos with all the other more normal goals, but itineraries are often organized around zoos.

I think that a very determining factor to visit zoos is the displacement. I think the most convenient is to rent a car, as many zoos can be difficult to access by public transport. A car allows you to save a lot of time and be more free.

Another very important factor is the people you travel with. It is not the same to travel with people who love zoos than with "normal" tourists. In Indonesia I escaped to be able to visit the zoos by myself, on the rest of the trips I was accompanied by Friends or family.
 
snowleopard said:
Ironically, probably 95% of all the zookeepers I've ever met have visited a dozen zoos or less.
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I would say this is quite different in the UK - most keepers/zoo staff that I know have visited many more than that. Possibly, it's due to the distance of travel required between zoos in the US and Canada compared to here? I probably have 20/30 animal collections that most people would class as a "zoo" within 2 hours of my location.
 
I often plan holidays based on whether there is a zoo nearby, but rarely is it the sole reason for a trip. I would say that I have only had one holiday that was entirely based on zoo-visiting, when I went for a weekend trip to Kent in 2015, where I visited the RSCC, Wingham Wildlife Park and Wildwood.
 
Do you travel alone to visit zoos or do you usually do it in a group? Really finding people to share these trips with is sometimes difficult...
 
aramacao said:
Do you travel alone to visit zoos or do you usually do it in a group? Really finding people to share these trips with is sometimes difficult...
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I know that feeling. When I had my European trip this year, I did feel alone since I wasn’t able to share my experiences. I did wish that I had my zoo enthusiast friends were there with me or that I properly planned to meet with people from ZC.
 
I would not say it was solely to visit a zoo but my trip to San Diego was largely motivated by the zoo. I am also hoping to take another trip in the near future just for a zoo. Which one I have yet to decide, though.
 
I have made trips especially to see a zoo, such as Columbus and SDZ, but the vast majority of my trips are just normal vacations that also have me arranging to stop at a zoo, aquarium, or other park as part of the trip.

I visit more than the normal vacationer due to a wife that is agreeable and a son that likes animals, but usually I am limited to one or two animal attractions per trip. Next year we are going to California and that will take us to a few places in one trip that will be animal heavy, Monterey Bay, California Academy, and Aquarium of the Bay....and Oakland or SF Zoo if I can convince my wife along with whale watching and elephant seal observations.

This year was a "big" year for zoos/aquariums for me. I think I visited 11 or 12 different (and new to me) zoos/aquariums and a few (not including my "home zoo and aquarium") more than once.

I aim to take one trip per year with my son to a new zoo/city, I have yet to decide on this coming year. This year was Columbus zoo.
 
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PossumRoach said:
I know that feeling. When I had my European trip this year, I did feel alone since I wasn’t able to share my experiences. I did wish that I had my zoo enthusiast friends were there with me or that I properly planned to meet with people from ZC.
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So did I!
Last summer I made my first solo zoo trip to vist Aquazoo Düsseldorf, Zoo Köln, Zoo Duisburg and Krefeld Zoo. As a side note, going alone on a zoo trip also has its benefits, I was able to spend as much time as I wanted in these zoos and return to multiple areas/enclosures during my visit. Which is a bit more difficult if you are with a larger group, who don't want to go back and forth all the time.
 
Astrotom3000 said:
I started out with doing 2-day trips to the North Carolina Zoo where I would book a hotel room for a single night in Asheboro (about 2 hours from my residence). I did this at least once per year up to 2019. At the time, I wasn't really in a place to do more involved trips that weren't family gatherings.

Starting in 2022, with COVID-19 restrictions no longer an obstacle and being in a better position, I managed to embark on 3 zoo-centric trips this year.

First was Orlando in January, where I did Jacksonville Zoo, Sea Life Orlando, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Florida Aquarium, Zoo Tampa, SeaWorld Orlando, and GatorLand USA (this one was long because I was also meeting with family down there). I will admit, I did experience a little "zoo fatigue" towards the end of this trip. I was originally planning to do both Brevard and Central Florida in a single day, but I scrubbed that in favor of GatorLand, which was not far from my hotel.

I also did Atlanta during Memorial Day Weekend, after attending a family gathering in Charlotte that weekend. This trip included Sea Life Charlotte-Concord, Lazy 5 Ranch, Greenville Zoo, Georgia Aquarium, Zoo Atlanta, and Tennessee Aquarium.

My most recent trip had my returning to Central NC, where I stayed in Asheboro for a week and did the North Carolina Zoo twice, Greensboro Science Center, and various parks and attractions in the area (such as Town Creek Indian Mound and Morrow Mountain) that were otherwise awkward for me to plan day trips around. This last one wasn't purely zoo-centric because I wanted to incorporate some local attractions into my itinerary; after my Atlanta trip, I got the slight feeling that I wasn't really "experiencing" the area I was visiting.
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Now that you mention Atlanta..... I realized that I flew there from New York with my brother mainly for Georgia Aquarium. We ended up also going to Zoo Atlanta and the non-zoo related Coca Cola factory in our two days there. It was a very brief trip and ended up including one major non-zoo activity, but the intent was for the aquarium. So I guess its the closest I've been to a pure-zoo trip that required really far travel.

aramacao said:
Do you travel alone to visit zoos or do you usually do it in a group? Really finding people to share these trips with is sometimes difficult...
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PossumRoach said:
I know that feeling. When I had my European trip this year, I did feel alone since I wasn’t able to share my experiences. I did wish that I had my zoo enthusiast friends were there with me or that I properly planned to meet with people from ZC.
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I honestly prefer travelling alone when I am going on a zoo-heavy trip. No one I know shares my hobby and wouldn't enjoy going to as many places as me. I have gone to zoos with friends and family on my travels, but I just prefer zoo-heavy excursions to be solo.
 
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SusScrofa said:
How many of you have travelled far to another state/country just to visit a zoo or zoos?

Personally, I have never done a 'pure-zoo' trip, but since I love zoos any time I go on vacation to a different US state I plan to visit at least 1-2 zoos. On my visit to California, I did travel to San Diego pretty much for the zoos, but I was in Los Angeles before and I did studio tours, La Brea Tar Pits, hiking and Disneyland (plus Los Angeles Zoo). When I spent the summer at my family in New York, I visited New England and did many non-zoo related things like museums, mansions, historic sites and bar-hopping but I did add a few nearby zoos and aquariums as well, plus I would do zoo day-trips around New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania throughout my 6 weeks visiting. I live in Florida and will be travelling from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa in early December to do Busch Gardens, Zoo Tampa and other facilities thanks to an affordable promotional pass, but I'm not sure I would count that as a major trip because I live only 4 hours away and the roller coasters at Busch Gardens plus a boat cruise will be pretty major non-zoo events.

I have been thinking of travelling to US states like Ohio, Nebraska and Missouri strictly for the zoos. These would be short trips, but would require plane tickets and planning. But I hesitate, because I feel like I may be disappointed in just vacationing somewhere for zoos. No offense to those living in those states and I could be wrong since I'm not all that familiar with them, but outside of the zoological aspects I have no interest visiting those states and I don't feel there is anything outside of the zoos there that would interest me at all (weather, hiking, historical aspects, nightlife, etc doesn't strike me as great - no beaches either :p).

I haven't been overseas in many years and very few times anyways, and have never been to any zoos when I have. As much as I want to tour some of the great collections in the UK/Western Europe I do feel when I eventually visit I will only be partaking in the non-zoo aspects since I will be limited in time and there is simply too much historical and naturalistic experiences in these countries I want to do first. The same would apply to any other non-North American country I suppose.

Anyways, what is your experience with 'pure zoo' trips and would you recommend them?
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I often decide on visiting collections and then backtrack from there to fill out a more rounded holiday that my family will also enjoy, with more generalised sight-seeing and activities. Thankfully my partner is happy visiting zoos so even regular holidays can be pretty zoo heavy. On our honeymoon for example we even squeezed in 3 zoos Crococun Zoo, Xcaret, and Cozumel Dolphin Discovery!

I on occasion do travel solo internationally and within the UK for zoo visits. I often want to fit a lot in to a small itinerary or multiple collections in a day and worry others would slow me down!

I would imagine one of the most visited destinations previously by UK based zoo chatters purely to visit a zoo would have been Duisburg to see the river dolphin before it passed away. Somewhat of a pilgrimage or right of passage to many a zoo enthusiast I am sure.
 
aramacao said:
Do you travel alone to visit zoos or do you usually do it in a group? Really finding people to share these trips with is sometimes difficult...
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I have had a similar problem. My dad was my zoo buddy but he is getting up in age. My friends are lukewarm to this sort of stuff but I think they are warming to it. I was lucky in Denclver my travel buddy was cool about the stop.

I am absolutely prepared to make solo trips but until last year it was new to me to enjoy my own company.
 
SusScrofa said:
How many of you have travelled far to another state/country just to visit a zoo or zoos?
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I won't say my lady and I travel somewhere EXCLUSIVELY to visit a zoo, but most of our trips have the presence of a zoo (preferably with good animal-interactive experiences) as a strong motivator (up to 75% of the reason, if the place in question looks interesting enough to us).

If I'm on a solo jaunt, say, traveling for a convention or business trip, I make it a point to visit whatever local zoos are in the area. I also make it a point to keep an eye out for decent electronic surplus stores or ham radio-related stuff which may be in the same area.

Example: When I made my road trip to the Bay Area (California) this last September, a trip I do every year for 'techie scrounging,' I also made it a point to stop by Turtle Bay Adventure Park in Redding. The result is I found out what it was like to feed nearly 50 pounds worth of beaver his breakfast while he was parked in my lap. ;-)

I didn't know beaver fur was that soft... I expected it to be a lot coarser.

Keep the peace(es).
 
No, but if there is a zoo around I'll make every effort to visit. This summer I extended my stay in Mexico City to ensure I would see the Chapultapec Zoo.
 
I have countless times, I have seen 32 Zoos from San Diego To The Bronx most of these trips being from vacations, but we do see Omaha and St. Louis More when we vacate though.
 
Literally me haha. Every time I travel, I have to check out their local zoo or sanctuary or any animal site.

Missioned all the way to San Diego just to visit the Zoo and Safari Park. Worth it.
 
snowleopard said:
My trips are well known for including 50 zoos (2012), 65 zoos (2014), 81 zoos (2015) or even 95 zoos (2019) in a single summer...insanity to most people. I cut back this summer with only 24 Scandinavian zoos. ;) All of that is because I want to visit as many zoos as possible, I have been researching zoos all my life, and it's one of my passions along with soccer and movies. Ironically, probably 95% of all the zookeepers I've ever met have visited a dozen zoos or less. So many people who work in zoos are amazing at their jobs and know a ton about animals, but have little desire to spend a lot of money touring zoos all over the globe.

However, when my wife and I traveled together in the early days of our marriage, we often had zoos and aquariums included but not always as the main focus. We'd see national parks, famous monuments and many other attractions along the route. Now she stays home with the 4 kids while I see zoo after zoo on my solo vacations. In return, she goes away more than I do to get a break with her sister in Calgary, Alberta.
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After just reading this and many, many of your posts over the years, you should be called 'TheZooMonster' not snowleopard. :D
 
Most of my holidays over many years have been planned around zoos and seeing wildlife.
In 2019 I set myself the task of visiting a zoo every week through the year. Managed 53, all but two (Jardin des Plantes and Cleres) in England, not including repeat visits to my local collection
 
FBBird said:
Most of my holidays over many years have been planned around zoos and seeing wildlife.
In 2019 I set myself the task of visiting a zoo every week through the year. Managed 53, all but two (Jardin des Plantes and Cleres) in England, not including repeat visits to my local collection
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Were repeat visits allowed? Or did you visit a different zoo each week for 53 weeks in a row?
 
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