Top 10 Central European Zoos?

[HungarianBison]

Zlín has a very nice division into continents and especially future projects are very great. Wroclaw is also very nice (African savannah, oceanarium), but I simply like Zlín more.

And Zlin has very nice flora, too.

 

[xmoose]

Zlín is really nice! I am a bit surprised is so far behind Plzen. Sure, it hasn´t Pilsens huuuuuge collection, but landscape and expositions are really great (not that Plzen was bad, I like them both)

 

[DelacoursLangur]

If you had to choose between visiting Vienna and Budapest, or Wroclaw and Ostrava, what would you choose?

 

[Philipine eagle]

If you had to choose between visiting Vienna and Budapest, or Wroclaw and Ostrava, what would you choose?

Budapest zoo is not in its best shape, although both man-made rocks, Magic hill and some other things are worth seeing. But between those 2, it would always be Vienna for me.

I have never been to Wroclaw and Ostrava certainly is a good zoo, but it may not be able to compete with Wroclaw.

If I have to pick a pair: Vienna and Budapest : large collections, fab architecture and interesting cities.

 

[Sneeuwpanter]

Neither is Pairi Daiza....

To clarify Central Europe is Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland.

I personaly wouldn't even count Germany as central Europe. Maybe former eastern Germany.

For the few zoos i've visited (not German)

1. ZooPrague
2. Zoo Zürich
3. Zoo Wroclaw
- With some distance -
4. Servion Zoo
5. Lausanne aquarium
6. Zoo Liberec
7. Zoo Basel (was dissapointed, perhaps expectations were to high)

Zoos that has my interest would be Zoo Lodz and Sosto Zoo and offcourse Vienna zoo

 

[Dormitator]

Mine for what it's worth, including the whole of Germany in Central Europe:

1. Berlin
2. Prague
3. Tierpark Berlin
4. Leipzig
5. Cologne
6. Stuttgart
7. Plzen
8. Wroclaw
9. Ostrava
10. Frankfurt

I spent a very rushed two hours at Vienna with a non-zoo friend, had I been able to explore at my own pace this would certainly be on the list somewhere but as it stands it's not really fair to add it.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

I personaly wouldn't even count Germany as central Europe. Maybe former eastern Germany.

I've been giving this point some thought since you posted it, and I think the problem comes down to the fact that culturally-speaking, even though it is now over 150 years since Germany first formed as a unified state, there is still a wide variation in the "feel" of the country across the various Bundesländer partially-reflecting older divisions such as the Kingdoms of Prussia, Bavaria and Württemberg, the various city states and regions controlled or influenced by the Hanseatic League, and areas heavily influenced by the culture of surrounding countries. These cultural variations lie underneath the further socio-cultural differences which were created by the division of Germany for much of the 20th century and which remain nearly 35 years on from the reunification of the country.

The upshot of all of the above is that I think that it would be closest to the truth to view Germany as being a country which partially falls within western Europe, central Europe *and* northern Europe, with some regions falling under two categories.

My gut instinct (with the caveat that I have no direct experience of the three Bundesländer in italics) is that the division would be something like the following:

Western Europe: Baden-Württemberg, Bremen, Hesse, Niedersachsen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland
Central Europe: Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia
Northern Europe: Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Niedersachsen, Schleswig-Holstein

...and that the balance therefore falls mostly towards Germany being primarily central European in "feel".

 

[Sneeuwpanter]

That's a well thought out reasoning which i think is spot on. Being from the Netherlands i've always thought of my neighbouring country as western Europe. Giving your reasoning my top 10 would be

1. Zoo Leipzig
2. Tierpark Berlin
3. Zoo Zürich
4. Zoo Prague
5. Zoo Berlin
6. Zoo Wroclaw
7. Tierpark Hellabrunn
8. Zoo Magdenburg
9. Zoo Dresden
10. Zoo Servion

 

[TeaLovingDave]

On another note.....

Prague
Tierpark Berlin
Zoo Berlin
Innsbruck Alpenzoo
Wroclaw
Magdeburg
Plzen
Leipzig
Dvur Kralove
Tierpark Nuremberg

--

This is, of course, with the caveat I have never visited Vienna

Having now revisited *all* of the collections I originally cited, and visited several other major Central European collections (including Vienna) for the first time, I reckon it might be appropriate to reassess my original list as follows:

Prague
Tierpark Berlin
Zoo Berlin
Innsbruck Alpenzoo
Vienna
Wroclaw
Tierpark Dahlholzli
Dvur Kralove
Tierpark Nuremberg
Zagreb/Hellabrunn/Plzen

Zurich, however, I think may be much more solidly a Western European collection - obviously I have never been to Switzerland but I feel that it perhaps falls more into the latter category.

After my recent first visit to Switzerland, I am now inclined to suggest that Zurich falls within Central Europe, whilst Bern falls within both Western and Central Europe. Basel, however, falls within Western Europe only. I've obviously not visited any of the other cantons as yet, but I'd be inclined to suggest that at the very least, those bordering France fall within Western Europe alone (barring Valais, which probably counts as Central Europe as well).