Visiting zoos in Germany

[Shirokuma]

Can anyone recommend good combinations of German zoos that can be visited together? Perhaps using one base city and travelling by public transportation.

I don't think this has been covered before but please point me in the right direction if it has.

 

[Cat-Man]

you could be based in berlin, then do the two parks and you can easily get to leipzig & dresden by train from there, or you could be based in a rhineland city, and visit Cologne, duisburg etc.

 

[dublinlion]

I was in Berlin in November and visited Berlin Zoo/Aquarium and the Tierpark and had intended to get to either Leipzig or Dresden but my companions were zoo ed out at that stage and staged a mutiny. The german transport system is fantastic and reasonably priced so it is very easy to get around. If you have not visited the berlin zoos before, keep in mind that its a struggle to see the zoo/aquarium in a single day and the Tierpark would need two days minimum to see everything as it is huge and a bit hilly in parts.
There is also a rainforest exhibit in potsdam and an aquarium in the raddison hotel in berlin.
The Tierpark is a great zoo and my favorite and I hope to go back for a better planned visit next year.

 

[Tim May]

Germany is my favourite country for zoo-visiting; I agree with Cat-Man’s comments.

If you stayed in Cologne then, as well as Cologne Zoo, you could visit the zoos in Duisburg, Krefeld, Wuppertal, Dortmund and Munster all of which can be easily reached by public transport from Cologne; the Dusseldorf Aquarium, too, is within easy travelling distance.

Another possibility is staying in Stuttgart; in addition to Stuttgart (Wilhelma) Zoo, you could travel to Frankfurt, Munich and Nuremburg on day trips (although the journeys are longer than those in the Cologne area).

Another suggestion would be to stay in Hamburg; as well as Hamburg (Hagenbecks) you could travel to Hannover and Walsrode.

My favourite, though, would be to stay in Berlin and visit both the (West) Berlin Zoo and the (East) Berlin Tierpark; these are, without doubt, my two favourite zoos in the world. Travelling to Leipzig from Berlin would be possible too, but at least two days are needed in each of the Berlin zoos to see them properly (and I've often spent three days in each zoo and never felt that I've spent too long there).

 

[IanRRobinson]

If you've never visited Germany before you really should start with Berlin. As Tim says, the two zoos are so big that to see them properly would take up a week. In particular, the ungulate collections held between the two sites are as comprehensive as it gets in Europe.

 

[zoogiraffe]

I can only agree with what Tim and Ian have said that the Berlins is a very good starting point,if you haven't done any German zoo's before if you don't fancy that I would recommend Koln,Wuppertal,Duisburg,Krefeld and Dusseldorf and all the rest that are in the area,as there is alot more than these that can be done with ease using public transport.

 

[Shirokuma]

Thanks for this advice. I've never been to any of the German zoos and feel it's a big gap in my zoo education, so to speak. I need to take a week's holiday by the end of March so might go then.

 

[reduakari]

Thanks for this advice. I've never been to any of the German zoos and feel it's a big gap in my zoo education, so to speak. I need to take a week's holiday by the end of March so might go then.

If you are interested in exhibitry, don't miss Hamburg, Hannover, Gelsenkircken and--especially--Leipzig. All of them are leagues ahead of the fascinating but traditional Berlin and Cologne zoos in terms of presentation. But all of the above, plus several others mentioned here, are must-sees for a truly well-rounded zoo education.

 

[chizlit]

I'd go with either the Cologne or Berlin suggestion.

With Cologne a few zoo's not to get a mention and certainly worth a day trip are Zoom and just over the border in Holland, Gaiapark. Rheine Zoo is also a possibility, but I've not visited there , the gallery shots look nice enough, even though it's in NRW area I'm not sure how easy it is to reach by local train (looks like a link from Munster, which would take well over 2 hours from Cologne, perhaps Maguari can advise or a local German member).
I'm sure there might be other zoo's near by in Holland too that can be reached within 2 - 3 hours by train from Cologne, but I'll leave that too local members or again Mr Maguari.

Can I advise that if you are using a city such as Cologne use a specail area day ticket, they are such good value (can be used on local trains, so not IC or ICE, but is valid also on trams and buses), it really keeps the costs down, and local transport is so good (something the UK needs to learn!)

 

[Javan Rhino]

Thanks for this advice. I've never been to any of the German zoos and feel it's a big gap in my zoo education, so to speak. I need to take a week's holiday by the end of March so might go then.

Oddly enough I'm in the early stages of planning a trip [Koln, Duisburg, Krefeld, Wuppertal, ZOOM Gelsenkirchen and possibly one or two more] sometime in March/April.

2012 should be a good year zoo visiting if I have my way