Zoo Tour: England to Czechia, by car...

[Dormitator]

Time to plan another zoo trip to keep the spirits up in these dark times...

Early last year I planned an ambitious(ish) zoo tour from England over to France, Belgium and the Netherlands, aiming to hit some of the biggest and best that north west Europe has to offer, from Nausicaa's new giant marine tank, to Burger's incredible biomes, and Pairi Daiza's just all out craziness. This was all anchored by a room in Pairi Daiza's hotel, purchased and booked last year; unfortunately, life and a certain pandemic made this completely unworkable, and sadly it had to be abandoned. Fortunately I was able to swap the night's accommodation into a voucher to allow me to re-book in the future, so now the time has come to revisit this.

Though extremely expensive, the hotel room in Pairi Daiza actually offers decent value for money if you are intending to make the most of the experience. Two days at the zoo, two people would be around €140 in entrance tickets alone, so when you factor in dinner and breakfast (call it €30 for breakfast, €60 dinner assuming a good restaurant), early entrance to the park before the gates open to the public, not having to faff about with public transport to and from the zoo, plus late night access to some of the areas, the privilege of sleeping next to a walrus doesn't end up costing a huge amount extra.

The key difference between this trip and others I have done is that this time I'll have a car, allowing me the freedom to decide my own schedule, and avoiding the dreaded 'travel days' due to strange route timings. I'm also hoping that this will allow for more non-zoo experiences to be squeezed in on route, something I'm very aware my trips can lack. As such, it allows me to be a bit more ambitious and to potentially push a little harder with the security of having a car not having to rely on public transport to get from A to B. So, it's now potentially a 14 day trip in early September, driving from southern England, to Czechia, in a roughly oval-shaped route to pick up some of the zoos originally planned for last year, but also some new ones.

At the moment, the trip looks a bit like the below which is a remarkably efficient route (could either go clockwise, or anti).



The zoos in numerical order with a little background info on why they appeal:

1. Pairi Daiza, two full days, never visited, 4.5 hours from home. Hotel provides an anchor for a night. Crazy looking place, totally mad and really somewhere I'm interested to experience, even if I don't think I'll actually enjoy a lot of it. Big balanced collection also appeals.

2. Frankfurt, one day, never visited. 4.5 hours from previous. Another zoo with a big collection with a range of interesting species in an inner-city setting, historically important, Grzimek House is a 'must see' and I'm keen to visit before the renovations start (unless they already have...).

3. Plzen, one or two days, never visited. 4 hours from previous. Mammoth collection in some rather beautiful surroundings, seems to be going from strength to strength.

4. Prague, one day, last visited Oct '19. 1 hour 15 from previous. Tasmania section will be new, but not many changes otherwise I don't think. Beautiful city and one of my favourite European zoos.

5. Dvůr Králové, one day, never visited. 1 hour 45 from previous. Definitely a place to go with a car, zoo hotel looks interesting and isn't too expensive, having own car really makes things straightforward. Unique zoo and well regarded.

6. Leipzig, one day, visited March '18. 4 hours from previous. Quite an in your face zoo, but I loved Gondwanaland and the aquarium (though it looks like this will still be undergoing a facelift when I visit) as well as the pangolins, it's quite an impressive zoo.

7. Burgers, one day, never visited. 5 hours from previous. Looks like an incredible zoo with some awesome biodomes, probably only second to Plzen in terms of how excited I am to visit.

8. Antwerp, one day, never visited. 1 hour 45 from previous. Another historically important zoo with some nice exhibits.

9. Nausicaa, one day, visited many many moons ago, 2 hours 30 from previous. New extension looks exciting, and an aquarium would be a good way to avoid zoo fatigue.

My focus with the zoos chosen is to try and pick up a range of places, some of which are tricky to get to from 'normal' travel destinations for me. Prague might end up being better suited to a weekend of its own so it may fall off the list. It's tempting to push a bit and include Wroclaw as well for another awesome zoo (visited March '19) as well as including another country in the list, but we'll have to see. Walsrode might end up being added as well, only adds 1 hour 20 to the drive and it might be a nice break between Leipzig and Burgers.

So, questions and queries!

1. I'd drive past Cologne and some great zoos, which 'unfortunately' I did on my last tour when I was based in Dusseldorf in November 2019. The only zoo I missed in this area was Krefeld, is this worth a quick visit, or would a revisit to Cologne be better?
2. There are quite a few good zoos on the route (or pretty close) which I'm ignoring, am I being really silly here any missing something spectacular?
3. Can anyone recommend any good non-zoo sites around these areas which would be worth visiting? Plants are another passion of mine, so botanical gardens, arboreta or forests would be amazing.
4. Having the car adds a lot of flexibility, but I'm still keen to be efficient. I've yet to do proper research into this, but are there any zoos with hotels on the route? Dvůr and Pairi do make things easy!

Any thoughts appreciated! I've yet to think about a timed itinerary, but I also don't want to fill this with 14 different zoos - non-zoo days are important I've learnt!

 

[TeaLovingDave]

When I get time, I'll have a detailed looksee at your plans to work out any particular advice/tips/suggestions I can provide - but generally speaking, I'm happy to give any assistance I can I've benefited from the help of myriad zoo enthusiasts both here and elsewhere online when it comes to my continental travels, so what comes around, goes around!

 

[Dormitator]

Thanks TLD, I really appreciate that. My European zoo visits have usually been based in a single city and trying to radiate out from a central base rather than going here, there and everywhere (though my Poland trip in 2018 was a change) so planning things needs a little consideration. Being able to hop in and out of places will be a rare luxury!

 

[Rayane]

Looks like a great trip and I understand the challenges when it comes to deciding which zoo to visit. You have to make sacrifices.

I visited the Wilhelma in Stuttgart, and both the zoos in Frankfurt and in Cologne a few months ago. I highly suggest considering a visit to the Wilhelma. If you like plants it's almost non questionable. It is a zoo as well a Botanical garden and it is a very nice one.

Zoo Frankfurt is a nice place, but compared to the other zoos you plan to visit, it will certainly be a little bit underwhelming. I think it is a nice stop, but it wouldn't make sense to me to visit Frankfurt over Stuttgart if you also like plants.
Then on your way to Plzen, a zoo I have not visited yet but everyone seems to agree on its quality, maybe you want to consider visiting Nürnberg. It is also a beautiful city.

When it comes to Czech Republic, there are many more zoos that are worth visits but Plzen and Prague together are no joke, Plzen is more than one can take in one day when it comes to species number, especially if you manage to get a little off-show tour.

On your way to Leipzig, I suggest, if you have the time and money, to make a small stop in Dresden. It is a magnificient city, worth the visit. The zoo could also easily be done in 2-3 hours in you have the time, it is very nice, I suggest reading Lintworm's review.

And last but not least, the Krefeld - Köln dilemma. If you really want to see the last Mountain anoa in captivity, then go to Krefeld. Otherwise I think you could use a second visit to Köln because you probably didn't see all the waterfowl species on your first visit. Maybe Wuppertal, if you've never been there, could also be a nice option if you're into bird - and rare ones.

Edit : what website did you use to plan that itinerary?

 

[lintworm]

You are planning a great trip, but currently you are doing a lot of driving compared to zoo visiting and some of the travel times are somewhat optimistic... Below some suggestions of great additions to keep the travel times per day at an acceptable level.

Just a couple of notes. I would highly urge you to visit Nürnberg as a stopover between Frankfurt and Plzen, this really is one of the best German zoos.

Additionally I second @Rayane that the Wilhelma in Stuttgart is a must if you are also into botany, it is a great zoo and a great botanical garden.

I am not sure whether Dvur adds a lot to the list you have now, but that is up to you. With your stamina (and if time allows) you might add a day there and drive to Wroclaw, one of Europe's great historical zoos and one of the big 3 in former Eastern Europe (together with Prague & Budapest).

Around Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Görlitz could be good 2-4 hour zoos, depending on your final plans.

Between Burgers' and Leipzig it seems a folly to drive in one go, but in between there is not a lot to interest the zoo nerd before hitting the Ruhr area, where Dortmund, Wuppertal or Krefeld would make interesting stops, depending on preference.

In the Netherlands, you would be silly not to add the Apenheul to your itinerary, it is located just over 30 minutes drive from Burgers' Zoo and even if you are not a great primate fan, you shouldn't miss it. Even though it is a small place, be sure to spend at least 4-5 hours there.

As you see, if you want to keep your distances any justice, you will have to take more stops, as there is a lot of great stuff to see along the road (and that is ignoring the many many smaller or less interesting big zoos around)....

 

[Andrew Swales]

As you see, if you want to keep your distances any justice, you will have to take more stops, as there is a lot of great stuff to see along the road (and that is ignoring the many many smaller or less interesting big zoos around)....

I would second this. You will driving past many zoos which equal or better anything you will see in the UK, and are in danger of seeing more motorway than zoos/animals...
'Smaller and less interesting' is very relative!

 

[Jurek7]

I spent 1 day in Pairi Daiza and saw everything. I stayed in a very pleasant and cheap B&B in a small village 30 min from the zoo. The biggest waste of time seems that one should be present at least 20 minutes before elephant bathing and such thing to get a good view.

With a car, I always stay in small hotels and B&Bs outside big cities to save money and have peaceful night. Germany has lots of such nice, comfortable and inexpensive rural night stays aimed at local visitors.

 

[Dormitator]

Firstly thanks everyone for their responses, I didn't expect to get so much attention for this rather far away trip!

Looks like a great trip and I understand the challenges when it comes to deciding which zoo to visit. You have to make sacrifices.

I visited the Wilhelma in Stuttgart, and both the zoos in Frankfurt and in Cologne a few months ago. I highly suggest considering a visit to the Wilhelma. If you like plants it's almost non questionable. It is a zoo as well a Botanical garden and it is a very nice one.

Zoo Frankfurt is a nice place, but compared to the other zoos you plan to visit, it will certainly be a little bit underwhelming. I think it is a nice stop, but it wouldn't make sense to me to visit Frankfurt over Stuttgart if you also like plants.
Then on your way to Plzen, a zoo I have not visited yet but everyone seems to agree on its quality, maybe you want to consider visiting Nürnberg. It is also a beautiful city.

When it comes to Czech Republic, there are many more zoos that are worth visits but Plzen and Prague together are no joke, Plzen is more than one can take in one day when it comes to species number, especially if you manage to get a little off-show tour.

On your way to Leipzig, I suggest, if you have the time and money, to make a small stop in Dresden. It is a magnificient city, worth the visit. The zoo could also easily be done in 2-3 hours in you have the time, it is very nice, I suggest reading Lintworm's review.

And last but not least, the Krefeld - Köln dilemma. If you really want to see the last Mountain anoa in captivity, then go to Krefeld. Otherwise I think you could use a second visit to Köln because you probably didn't see all the waterfowl species on your first visit. Maybe Wuppertal, if you've never been there, could also be a nice option if you're into bird - and rare ones.

Edit : what website did you use to plan that itinerary?

Thanks for the comment, the website was RouteXL, it's a little blunt but it can be very useful. It doesn't give you route options, but otherwise I find it quite handy sometimes.

I think I may have to nudge Wilhelma up the list, this is a zoo I really want to visit but I wondered if it was too far off the track to be worth it, and Stuttgart is a city I may well end up in at another time to visit. However, looking at the website (the information on ZC is rather sparse sadly) it does really look like my kind of place, and maybe I should be pushing it further up.

Nürnberg and Dresden are both good suggestions, thanks. I doubt either is a full day zoo, but certainly having smaller zoos at that end of the journey would be helpful. Thanks as well to Lintworm for seconding Nürnberg. I've been lucky enough to visit Jihlava, Brno & Ostrava in Czechia, all good zoos in their own right, but I'm not sure how much more somewhere like Zlin would give me in this.

I certainly didn't see all the waterfowl in Cologne, that proved quite a task on a very cold day in November! Wuppertal I visited in 2019 and really enjoyed, certainly a lovely zoo but I'm not too keen to return this swiftly, though I will one day.

You are planning a great trip, but currently you are doing a lot of driving compared to zoo visiting and some of the travel times are somewhat optimistic... Below some suggestions of great additions to keep the travel times per day at an acceptable level.

Just a couple of notes. I would highly urge you to visit Nürnberg as a stopover between Frankfurt and Plzen, this really is one of the best German zoos.

Additionally I second @Rayane that the Wilhelma in Stuttgart is a must if you are also into botany, it is a great zoo and a great botanical garden.

I am not sure whether Dvur adds a lot to the list you have now, but that is up to you. With your stamina (and if time allows) you might add a day there and drive to Wroclaw, one of Europe's great historical zoos and one of the big 3 in former Eastern Europe (together with Prague & Budapest).

Around Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Görlitz could be good 2-4 hour zoos, depending on your final plans.

Between Burgers' and Leipzig it seems a folly to drive in one go, but in between there is not a lot to interest the zoo nerd before hitting the Ruhr area, where Dortmund, Wuppertal or Krefeld would make interesting stops, depending on preference.

In the Netherlands, you would be silly not to add the Apenheul to your itinerary, it is located just over 30 minutes drive from Burgers' Zoo and even if you are not a great primate fan, you shouldn't miss it. Even though it is a small place, be sure to spend at least 4-5 hours there.

As you see, if you want to keep your distances any justice, you will have to take more stops, as there is a lot of great stuff to see along the road (and that is ignoring the many many smaller or less interesting big zoos around)....

Thanks Lintworm, lots of good points there. I loved Wroclaw when I visited, and I'd love to go again, but I'm not sure how much has changed there so it may be a step too far to be worth the revisit, but it is certainly one of the best zoos in Europe.

Dvur is difficult, it's not a zoo I think I would ever visit without a car, which along with the very interesting collection is one of the reasons for visiting. However, if Prague wasn't being included, it would save quite a bit of driving time which could be better spent on somewhere like Nürnberg. This might require some thinking about!

I managed to hit most of the Ruhr zoos the other year, but Krefeld may make an interesting diversion. Might even be able to do it in the same day as another smaller zoo which could help.

Apenheul I did think about, Primates are probably my least favourite group of animals to see in zoos, but the photographs and write ups of the place do seem incredible, and it does seem a unique place in Europe, if not the world.

I would second this. You will driving past many zoos which equal or better anything you will see in the UK, and are in danger of seeing more motorway than zoos/animals...
'Smaller and less interesting' is very relative!

Again fair points Andrew, I certainly see enough of the motorway in the day job than I'd like sometimes, no sense in adding more of that than needs be! However, road trips really appeal to me and there's always something interesting to see on foreign roads, at least for the first few hours...

'Smaller and more interesting', a tagline for Hamerton perhaps?

I spent 1 day in Pairi Daiza and saw everything. I stayed in a very pleasant and cheap B&B in a small village 30 min from the zoo. The biggest waste of time seems that one should be present at least 20 minutes before elephant bathing and such thing to get a good view.

With a car, I always stay in small hotels and B&Bs outside big cities to save money and have peaceful night. Germany has lots of such nice, comfortable and inexpensive rural night stays aimed at local visitors.

Thanks Jurek, I have a history of spending a couple of days at zoos of similar size to Pairi Daiza so I'm fairly confident that this will be a two dayer, though I'll bear that in mind about the elephants. Thanks for the out of town tips as well, might well be a more German experience that way, I've spent enough time in the cities!

 

[Rayane]

Nürnberg and Dresden are both good suggestions, thanks. I doubt either is a full day zoo, but certainly having smaller zoos at that end of the journey would be helpful. Thanks as well to Lintworm for seconding Nürnberg. I've been lucky enough to visit Jihlava, Brno & Ostrava in Czechia, all good zoos in their own right, but I'm not sure how much more somewhere like Zlin would give me in this.

Dresden is a very small zoo with limited highlights, 2-3 hours can be enough. I've never been to Nürnberg but I believe it's a bit more time consuming than Dresden.

Zlin was a big surprise for me, I had a really good time there and was really surprised by how qualitative it was. Very nice collection, very pleasant zoo. It is a big detour from your itinerary though. I have not visited Dvur Kralove and while Zlin is probably the better zoo, both are equally interesting in my opinion.

 

[TeaLovingDave]

Thanks TLD, I really appreciate that. My European zoo visits have usually been based in a single city and trying to radiate out from a central base rather than going here, there and everywhere (though my Poland trip in 2018 was a change) so planning things needs a little consideration. Being able to hop in and out of places will be a rare luxury!

A lot of people have pre-empted most of my suggestions, but to add further insight:

3. Plzen, one or two days, never visited. 4 hours from previous. Mammoth collection in some rather beautiful surroundings, seems to be going from strength to strength.

I think you are liable to only need the one day currently - it definitely needs two days to visit if one is going offshow, but I believe this area is still undergoing maintenance work and therefore requests to do so aren't being granted presently. @HOMIN96 may know more on that account.

If they *are* allowing offshow requests, and you didn't see Panay Cloudrat at either Prague or London when they held the species, worth doing so!

5. Dvůr Králové, one day, never visited. 1 hour 45 from previous. Definitely a place to go with a car, zoo hotel looks interesting and isn't too expensive, having own car really makes things straightforward. Unique zoo and well regarded.

Very much recommend this one - if you visit, make sure you allow time to visit the art gallery within the zoo administration building (comprising about 85 works by the Czech palaeoartist Zdeněk Burian), and the zoo museum in the basement of said building.

6. Leipzig, one day, visited March '18. 4 hours from previous. Quite an in your face zoo, but I loved Gondwanaland and the aquarium (though it looks like this will still be undergoing a facelift when I visit) as well as the pangolins, it's quite an impressive zoo.

If you've already visited Leipzig once, and therefore are familiar with the layout and contents of the zoo, it might well be possible to do it as a twofer with Magdeburg - especially if you end up heading to Walsrode after this day!

I'm known to be something of a cheerleader for Magdeburg, but it really is a collection which puts much of what we have to offer here in the UK in the shade, and is getting better all the time.

The only zoo I missed in this area was Krefeld, is this worth a quick visit

Only if you really want to see Mountain Anoa, really another option in that neck of the woods is a visit to Aquazoo Löbbecke Museum Dusseldorf - a very nice little aquarium/terrarium with a particularly good invertebrate collection. You could actually do the Aquazoo in the same day as Krefeld, thinking about it.

Can anyone recommend any good non-zoo sites around these areas which would be worth visiting? Plants are another passion of mine, so botanical gardens, arboreta or forests would be amazing.

I think I may have to nudge Wilhelma up the list, this is a zoo I really want to visit but I wondered if it was too far off the track to be worth it, and Stuttgart is a city I may well end up in at another time to visit. However, looking at the website (the information on ZC is rather sparse sadly) it does really look like my kind of place, and maybe I should be pushing it further up.

As regards Wilhelma, although it is now nearly six years out of date, I have written a comprehensive walkthrough account of the collection - including copious photographs. It is one of the three collections I intended to recommend to you on botanical grounds in any case - the others being Walsrode and Plzen.

The walkthrough account starts here.

Just a couple of notes. I would highly urge you to visit Nürnberg as a stopover between Frankfurt and Plzen, this really is one of the best German zoos.

Nürnberg and Dresden are both good suggestions, thanks. I doubt either is a full day zoo, but certainly having smaller zoos at that end of the journey would be helpful.

As I noted below, Dresden isn't a full day job but can be done with Chemnitz - but Nuremberg *is* a full day job, due to how large the site is (even if the collection isn't of corresponding size). Definitely worth a visit, mind you - especially now the Desert House is open. I'd intended a revisit for that reason in March 2020.

On your way to Leipzig, I suggest, if you have the time and money, to make a small stop in Dresden. It is a magnificient city, worth the visit. The zoo could also easily be done in 2-3 hours in you have the time, it is very nice, I suggest reading Lintworm's review.

This is another I intended to suggest - and it can be done easily as a twofer with Chemnitz..... and a visit to the latter collection would mean seeing the best on-display amphibian collection in Europe.

I spent 1 day in Pairi Daiza and saw everything. I stayed in a very pleasant and cheap B&B in a small village 30 min from the zoo. The biggest waste of time seems that one should be present at least 20 minutes before elephant bathing and such thing to get a good view.

I managed it all in a day, but that was prior to more recent expansions *and* during the long summer opening hours, rather than early autumn as Dormitator plans - so two days might well be best. He could always spend a few hours mopping stuff up on the second Pairi day and then visit the excellent natural history museum in Brussels!

Dvur is difficult, it's not a zoo I think I would ever visit without a car, which along with the very interesting collection is one of the reasons for visiting.

It's actually pretty doable by public transport from Prague! But obviously, having a car makes doing the safari portion much, much easier. It's worth bearing in mind that the aforesaid safari area closes out of the summer season (which ends at the start of October) so it *would* depend on your trip being to schedule.

 

[Jana]

Others have covered possible zoos to visit. I add ideas about small "cultural" stops along the road (max 30km away from your route), usually just under 1 hour instagram-worthy places. Put the names into google pics to chose some. Starting at German border (direction Norimberg - Dvur).

Mariánské Lázně - town with baths, small romantic park in center
Pivovar Plzeňský Prazdroj - famous brewery in Plzen - Pilsen Urquel, they do tours with beer sampling
Točník and Žebrák - castle ruins, can do a small forest hike starting there
Hrad Křivoklát - castle
Hrad Karlštějn - castle, very nice but very touristy, nice hiking around
Český Kras - carst with paid entrance cave system (jeskyně)
Botanická zahrada Univerzity Karlovy - small botanical garden near downtown Prague
Průhonický park - stunning (+200ha) botanical park just south of Prague
Jezero Lhota - lake for swimming, nude beach
Skansen Přerov nad Labem - skansen of old village architecture
Kouřim - sleepy little town, cute old houses, ideal to see non-touristic Czechia
Chleby zoo - village zoo with doucs
Poděbrady - livelly nice town, baths, a castle, good restaurants
Kutná Hora - touristy old town in season, kostel Svatá Barbora, kostnice (bone church)
Kladruby nad Labem - hřebčín - starokladrubský kůň (stables with unique Czech horse breed), they do tours
Zámek Pardubice - a castle, but the whole central part of the town is nice
Lázně Bohdaneč - Bohdanečský rybník - a fish pond with bird sanctuary, viewing tower for birdwatchers
Hrad Kunětická Hora - castle
Zoopark Stěžery - typical small (low budget) private zoo
Jaroměř - pevnost Josefov - Josefovské louky - huge fortification, wet meadow bird sanctuary, Exmoor ponys
Nádrž Rozkoš - lake for swimming
Hospital Kuks - castle with large gardens and outdoor statues
Náchod - nice centre of the town, castle
Les Království - a river dam with road on top
Janské Lázně - ski center, baths, start of hiking tours to Krkonoše mountains
Opočno - sokolnické setkání - one weekend in October it has large falconer hunt open to visitors

Places on road Praha - Dresden:
Zámek Veltrusy - manor
Zámek Libochovice - cute manor with gardens
Litoměřice - nice town center
Hora Milešovka - hill with nice view, park in village Bílka and hike 2 km
Raná - Oblík - hill with huge souslik colony
Teplice - nice town center, baths, cute botanical garden
Česko-Saské Švýcarsko - hilly terrain for hiking

 

[HOMIN96]

but I believe this area is still undergoing maintenance work and therefore requests to do so aren't being granted presently. @HOMIN96 may know more on that account.

The main works are done (for now), so now it is mainly dependant on what mood the curator is currently in...

but I'm not sure how much more somewhere like Zlin would give me in this.

Oh Zlin would give you so much, from spring to early autumn it is definitely a must while in Czechia, comfortably our 2nd best zoo.

 

[Dormitator]

Dresden is a very small zoo with limited highlights, 2-3 hours can be enough. I've never been to Nürnberg but I believe it's a bit more time consuming than Dresden.

Zlin was a big surprise for me, I had a really good time there and was really surprised by how qualitative it was. Very nice collection, very pleasant zoo. It is a big detour from your itinerary though. I have not visited Dvur Kralove and while Zlin is probably the better zoo, both are equally interesting in my opinion.

Thanks Rayane, Dresden might not be worth a huge detour, but I'll see if it can be slotted in somewhere. Zlin looks like it might be a little too far off, but it's definitely one to try and keep on the radar.

A lot of people have pre-empted most of my suggestions, but to add further insight:

I think you are liable to only need the one day currently - it definitely needs two days to visit if one is going offshow, but I believe this area is still undergoing maintenance work and therefore requests to do so aren't being granted presently. @HOMIN96 may know more on that account.

If they *are* allowing offshow requests, and you didn't see Panay Cloudrat at either Prague or London when they held the species, worth doing so!

Thanks, I missed them a number of times at London but managed to get extremely lucky with my final pass past their enclosure last time I went to Prague, superb animals. Knowing how much I can linger chasing photos I imagine Plzen will be a two-dayer even without going behind the scenes.

Very much recommend this one - if you visit, make sure you allow time to visit the art gallery within the zoo administration building (comprising about 85 works by the Czech palaeoartist Zdeněk Burian), and the zoo museum in the basement of said building.

I love Burian's work, I had no idea that they had a gallery and a museum, that's epic.

If you've already visited Leipzig once, and therefore are familiar with the layout and contents of the zoo, it might well be possible to do it as a twofer with Magdeburg - especially if you end up heading to Walsrode after this day!

I'm known to be something of a cheerleader for Magdeburg, but it really is a collection which puts much of what we have to offer here in the UK in the shade, and is getting better all the time.

I'm hoping that opening hours will still be decent in September which will really help with doubling up. Magdeburg looks like a good place to visit now to watch it develop over the years. Leipzig could be tricky to predict time-wise mainly with the uncertainty over the aquarium opening after the re-vamp or not. Not having the aquarium to do would speed things up, I spent about three hours there last time.

Only if you really want to see Mountain Anoa, really another option in that neck of the woods is a visit to Aquazoo Löbbecke Museum Dusseldorf - a very nice little aquarium/terrarium with a particularly good invertebrate collection. You could actually do the Aquazoo in the same day as Krefeld, thinking about it.

Probably not then... I'm not too bothered about going to places just to see one thing, especially if it has a reputation of being somewhat secretive! I visited the Aquazoo in Nov. 2019, superb place. Really deserves more attention on here, I was well impressed by it.

As regards Wilhelma, although it is now nearly six years out of date, I have written a comprehensive walkthrough account of the collection - including copious photographs. It is one of the three collections I intended to recommend to you on botanical grounds in any case - the others being Walsrode and Plzen.

The walkthrough account starts here.

Thanks, that's a superb walkthrough. I think it's probably going to be added to the itinerary...

As I noted below, Dresden isn't a full day job but can be done with Chemnitz - but Nuremberg *is* a full day job, due to how large the site is (even if the collection isn't of corresponding size). Definitely worth a visit, mind you - especially now the Desert House is open. I'd intended a revisit for that reason in March 2020.

This is another I intended to suggest - and it can be done easily as a twofer with Chemnitz..... and a visit to the latter collection would mean seeing the best on-display amphibian collection in Europe.

Nuremberg I think might be added to the list, it looks fantastic. Dresden and Chemnitz might be on a second tier of zoos to visit, but well worth bearing in mind. I think it slightly depends on the dreaded Covid restrictions here, if the amphibian house is closed I don't see much reason to visit.

Others have covered possible zoos to visit. I add ideas about small "cultural" stops along the road (max 30km away from your route), usually just under 1 hour instagram-worthy places. Put the names into google pics to chose some. Starting at German border (direction Norimberg - Dvur).

Mariánské Lázně - town with baths, small romantic park in center
Pivovar Plzeňský Prazdroj - famous brewery in Plzen - Pilsen Urquel, they do tours with beer sampling
Točník and Žebrák - castle ruins, can do a small forest hike starting there
Hrad Křivoklát - castle
Hrad Karlštějn - castle, very nice but very touristy, nice hiking around
Český Kras - carst with paid entrance cave system (jeskyně)
Botanická zahrada Univerzity Karlovy - small botanical garden near downtown Prague
Průhonický park - stunning (+200ha) botanical park just south of Prague
Jezero Lhota - lake for swimming, nude beach
Skansen Přerov nad Labem - skansen of old village architecture
Kouřim - sleepy little town, cute old houses, ideal to see non-touristic Czechia
Chleby zoo - village zoo with doucs
Poděbrady - livelly nice town, baths, a castle, good restaurants
Kutná Hora - touristy old town in season, kostel Svatá Barbora, kostnice (bone church)
Kladruby nad Labem - hřebčín - starokladrubský kůň (stables with unique Czech horse breed), they do tours
Zámek Pardubice - a castle, but the whole central part of the town is nice
Lázně Bohdaneč - Bohdanečský rybník - a fish pond with bird sanctuary, viewing tower for birdwatchers
Hrad Kunětická Hora - castle
Zoopark Stěžery - typical small (low budget) private zoo
Jaroměř - pevnost Josefov - Josefovské louky - huge fortification, wet meadow bird sanctuary, Exmoor ponys
Nádrž Rozkoš - lake for swimming
Hospital Kuks - castle with large gardens and outdoor statues
Náchod - nice centre of the town, castle
Les Království - a river dam with road on top
Janské Lázně - ski center, baths, start of hiking tours to Krkonoše mountains
Opočno - sokolnické setkání - one weekend in October it has large falconer hunt open to visitors

Places on road Praha - Dresden:
Zámek Veltrusy - manor
Zámek Libochovice - cute manor with gardens
Litoměřice - nice town center
Hora Milešovka - hill with nice view, park in village Bílka and hike 2 km
Raná - Oblík - hill with huge souslik colony
Teplice - nice town center, baths, cute botanical garden
Česko-Saské Švýcarsko - hilly terrain for hiking

Thank you so much Jana, this is amazing. I had the brewery on my to do list, I've looked into some of the others as well but there's much more here than I expected, thanks! Rübeland Hermannshöhle is one place I have on the non-zoo list for Germany as well for the Olms.

The main works are done (for now), so now it is mainly dependant on what mood the curator is currently in...

Oh Zlin would give you so much, from spring to early autumn it is definitely a must while in Czechia, comfortably our 2nd best zoo.

Thanks HOMIN96, that's really useful to know. Two days it is then... Zlin would be great, but I think it's too far for this one sadly!

I think the Tierfreigelände I des Nationalparks Bayerischer Wald, Grafenau wildpark might also be a step too far, are there any other good German (or German-style!) wildparks that aren't a two hour diversion from the route?

 

[TeaLovingDave]

I love Burian's work, I had no idea that they had a gallery and a museum, that's epic.

Been meaning to do a post or two on Dvur - most likely in my "Last Saloon" thread - which would include significant portions focusing on these aspects along with the Burian artwork, the mounted skin of Nabire (their last Northern White Rhinoceros) is in the gallery, with her skeleton mounted in the basement museum.

I'm hoping that opening hours will still be decent in September which will really help with doubling up. Magdeburg looks like a good place to visit now to watch it develop over the years.

September opening hours would be ideal for the purpose - when I visited in September 2018, I managed to do Zoo Halle, Zoo Leipzig and Wildpark Leipzig in a single day.... and that was with the vagaries of public transport taken into account too!

I visited the Aquazoo in Nov. 2019, superb place. Really deserves more attention on here, I was well impressed by it.

Another collection I plan to cover in my Last Saloon thread eventually

I think the Tierfreigelände I des Nationalparks Bayerischer Wald, Grafenau wildpark might also be a step too far, are there any other good German (or German-style!) wildparks that aren't a two hour diversion from the route?

There are two pretty good ones not all that far from Walsrode - Wildpark Lüneburger Heide and Wildpark Schwartze-Berge. I've only been to the latter myself, but can definitely recommend it in terms of smaller ones, there is also the aforementioned Wildpark Leipzig (but if you are aiming to visit Magdeburg on the same day as Leipzig I wouldn't bother with it.... and to be honest, if you ended up with time to spare on that day you would be much better off visiting Tiergarten Schonebeck, as this is only about 3 or 4 miles from Magdeburg and holds more than a few rodent oddities).

 

[Rayane]

Thanks Rayane, Dresden might not be worth a huge detour, but I'll see if it can be slotted in somewhere. Zlin looks like it might be a little too far off, but it's definitely one to try and keep on the radar.

Well, it wouldn't be a detour, it's basicaly on the route from Prague to Leipzig. Google Dresden just to have an idea how beautiful the city is, even if it's for breakfast on your way to Leipzig, I insist, it's worth the stop.
When it comes to the zoo, the real highlight for me was the European bird area, if you want to see from very close European birds, then go, if you take pictures, they will probably be the best ones of the species there you will ever get.

For Plzen, even though it is probably a two-dayer with or without the off-show area, I recommend at least trying to check out the backstage area because it is a very unique experience.

 

[Penshet]

I can only second (third? fourth?) the recommendation for Zoo Dresden. A really nice place and I thorougly enjoyed my visit, maybe even moreso than I enjoyed Leipzig (but that may be because Leipzig was very busy).

 

[Rayane]

I can only second (third? fourth?) the recommendation for Zoo Dresden. A really nice place and I thorougly enjoyed my visit, maybe even moreso than I enjoyed Leipzig (but that may be because Leipzig was very busy).

Same here, see, you're going to visit a lot of big, busy zoos. I went to Dresden after spending 8 days between the two Berliner zoos, Leipzig, Magdeburg and it was the quieter day I needed.
It's a little breath of fresh air between all those almost overwhelming zoos.

 

[Arek]

In Plzeň don’t forget about Akva Tera. It is branch of zoo in city center. Reptiles, fishes and invertebrates in old building (with some rarities behind the scenes).

If you decided to visit Walsrode than very good wildpark is Wisentgehege Springe (less than 100 km from Walsrode). It is even possible to spend the night in a cottage among wolves, but is really expensive.

 

[Dormitator]

Thanks all for your continued comments, it's making everything rather difficult! Tough decisions must be made I think. Although I'm keeping all options open, and won't put my hand in my pocket to pay for anything that isn't Pairi Daiza or the ferry crossing until August, at the moment I'm looking at removing Czechia from the itinerary, and instead making Nürnberg my furthest destination. The original itinerary I came up with last week was:

Itinerary
Day 1 – early ferry from Dover to arrive into Dunkirk, drive to Belgium. No good zoos on route, so free day to relax, shop, visit a brewery or two. Hotel in Antwerp.
Day 2 – Antwerp zoo. Then drive 1.5 hours or so to night in Netherlands. Could do Apenheul on route if time allows.
Day 3 – 30 min drive, then Burgers zoo. Then 2 hour drive into Germany for hotel.
Day 4 – 1 hour drive to Hannover Zoo. Then hour drive to Hermannshöhle, then 1.5 hour drive to Magdeburg for hotel.
Day 5 – Magdeburg zoo. Then 1.5 hour drive to Leipzig for hotel.
Day 6 – Leipzig zoo. Then 1.5 hour drive to Dresden for hotel.
Day 7 – Dresden zoo and botanical garden. Then 3 hour drive to Plzen for hotel.
Day 8 – Plzen zoo.
Day 9 – Plzen again, then 2 hour drive to Nuremburg for hotel.
Day 10 – Nürnberg zoo, then 2.5 hour drive to Stuttgart for hotel.
Day 11 – Zoo, then 1 hour drive to Frankfurt,
Day 12 – Frankfurt zoo and Palmengarten, then drive to Brussels for four hours for hotel.
Day 13 – drive 45 minutes to Pairi Daiza.
Day 14 – Pairi Daiza, then 2.5 hour drive to Boulogne-sur Mer for hotel
Day 15 – Aquarium, then potter, and ferry home in evening.

So I lose Prague and Dvůr Králové (gaining Magdeburg, Nürnberg and Dresden as recommended, and Hannover for convenience and to compare to ZOOM) from the list and have a reasonable circuit. However, it is still rather frantic, and I'm aware there is a lot of culture which I'm missing out on, as well as wildparks. I'm lucky enough to travel a reasonable bit (in normal times!) for work, so I'm keen to add in some places which I just wouldn't journey to on public transport if I was an hour or so away, or which are just plain difficult to reach and are on route. I doubt for instance that if I was in Berlin I would travel to Magdeburg unless I was there for an extremely extended holiday (there being so much to do in Berlin), and likewise I'd be unlikely given my extreme disinterest in primates to ever travel to visit Apenheul, but a 20 minute detour makes it potentially interesting.

If Plzen is removed, this also means Dresden is no longer on route, thus giving me three extra days to potentially spend:

• Extra day in Belgium/Netherlands at the start of the trip, maybe pick up some smaller zoos. Gives a bit more time to find breweries (one big advantage of the car - I can take some home without weight limits).
• Extra day in Leipzig to visit the wildpark.
• Extra day between Frankfurt and Brussels for Wildpark Gangelt.

These two wildparks look pretty good, though it is a little tricky to find useful information on both of them. However they do look to be in the upper quartile of the German wildparks, if not the best, and I'd be extremely unlikely to ever visit either of them. Losing Plzen would be disappointing, but it would be one for another trip.

Still lots to think about. It's tempting to add somewhere like BestZoo or ZieZoo to the list for an hour or two, but I know I'd only be going for the collection, not necessarily the husbandry...

Been meaning to do a post or two on Dvur - most likely in my "Last Saloon" thread - which would include significant portions focusing on these aspects along with the Burian artwork, the mounted skin of Nabire (their last Northern White Rhinoceros) is in the gallery, with her skeleton mounted in the basement museum.

That is pretty impressive. It certainly seems like much more of a zoo geek's collection than it first appears, ungulate collection notwithstanding.

September opening hours would be ideal for the purpose - when I visited in September 2018, I managed to do Zoo Halle, Zoo Leipzig and Wildpark Leipzig in a single day.... and that was with the vagaries of public transport taken into account too!

That's quite a feat, knowing what I'm like I highly doubt I'd be able to do Zoo Leipzig in anything under a full day but the other two might be doable. However looking at Halle I'm not being bowled over by it, but it might be worth looking at in more detail.

There are two pretty good ones not all that far from Walsrode - Wildpark Lüneburger Heide and Wildpark Schwartze-Berge. I've only been to the latter myself, but can definitely recommend it in terms of smaller ones, there is also the aforementioned Wildpark Leipzig (but if you are aiming to visit Magdeburg on the same day as Leipzig I wouldn't bother with it.... and to be honest, if you ended up with time to spare on that day you would be much better off visiting Tiergarten Schonebeck, as this is only about 3 or 4 miles from Magdeburg and holds more than a few rodent oddities).

Thanks for the additional recommendations, yet more to research...

Well, it wouldn't be a detour, it's basicaly on the route from Prague to Leipzig. Google Dresden just to have an idea how beautiful the city is, even if it's for breakfast on your way to Leipzig, I insist, it's worth the stop.
When it comes to the zoo, the real highlight for me was the European bird area, if you want to see from very close European birds, then go, if you take pictures, they will probably be the best ones of the species there you will ever get.

I looked at Dresden in more detail and was thoroughly impressed, with the botanical garden next door it would definitely be worth a stop. It made it into the initial itinerary, but if I drop Plzen it might be best to drop Dresden as well so I'm not doubling back on myself. I've got a few months to think about it

I can only second (third? fourth?) the recommendation for Zoo Dresden. A really nice place and I thorougly enjoyed my visit, maybe even moreso than I enjoyed Leipzig (but that may be because Leipzig was very busy).

Thanks, it certainly seems like a much better zoo than perhaps I'd given it credit for!

In Plzeň don’t forget about Akva Tera. It is branch of zoo in city center. Reptiles, fishes and invertebrates in old building (with some rarities behind the scenes).

If you decided to visit Walsrode than very good wildpark is Wisentgehege Springe (less than 100 km from Walsrode). It is even possible to spend the night in a cottage among wolves, but is really expensive.

Thanks, Akva Tera might be a good thing to do on the second Plzen day if I do end up going. Thanks for the wildpark recommendation as well, looks like a nice place (with expensive cottages!)

 

[TeaLovingDave]

I doubt for instance that if I was in Berlin I would travel to Magdeburg unless I was there for an extremely extended holiday (there being so much to do in Berlin)

He says, when I have visited Magdeburg on both occasions I have visited Berlin

• Extra day in Leipzig to visit the wildpark.

You really won't need longer than an hour (90 minutes tops, if you spend lots of time waiting at the European Mink exhibit) to visit Wildpark Leipzig - so that is probably doable in the same day as another collection, perhaps on the day you visit Magdeburg along with Schonebeck (which is even smaller and only a short distance from Magdeburg).