Last year I decided I wanted to see some mainland European collections, but a cushy job came up so I put the trip off. That work finished a couple of weeks ago and I've used the time since to revisit some places from Devon to The Highlands. A friend has offered me a few nights at her parents place near Alicante, so I am considering a ferry to Santander and visiting via Cabarceno and Madrid, then driving back to England via Zoo Parc de Beauval and a couple of German and Dutch zoos. I haven't worked out the costs yet, but am sure I will have to rethink it But, if I decide it's worth it, what stops should I make with the following simple criteria in mind; photographer friendly, good mammal collections (some not found in UK if possible), young bears and cats! Wow! I didn't think the ferry to Santander was that expensive!
Nothing? Oh well. I am thinking of going via Calais to the following: Cerza La Palmyre Cabcerno Madrid Barcelona Sigeon Beauval and maybe a Paris, or somewhere else en route to Calais.
You could try PARC ANIMALIER DES PYRÉNÉES or Zoo d'Asson on route. I'm not keen on Madrid. Sigeon and Beauval I very much enjoyed. La Palmyre has a lot of animals, the enclosures are ok but nothing special.
I'll look into those two, thanks, as one would provide a break on the southbound drive. I fancy seeing Madrid itself, as well as the zoo and it provides a break between Parque de Cabarceno and Alicante. La Palmyre is just something I plucked from a "places to visit list", so if it's nothing special, I could drop that.
La Palmyre focuses on large mammals if that's what you want. D'Asson is small but attractive, lots of gibbons and lemurs. Parc Animalier has a beautiful setting in the Pyrenees. It focuses on alpine animals but also has a French Guiana section. If you're camping there is an amazing campsite right next to the zoo (best showers ever) though it gets busy in summer.
I'm doing my trip the opposite way to what I initially planned as it it looks a bit unsettled to the west Pyrenees and am stopping a night in Montpelier before Barcelona. I only realised that Sigeon is partially drive through safari, which I never really enjoy much, so am wondering if Montpelier Zoo is any good; their website is a bit rubbish and makes me think it's aimed more at kids?
Sigeon is very different from a UK safari park, you won't find white rhino grazing on a manicured lawn in front of a stately home. Here the reserves are chunks of arid scrub that reminded me of the Tsavo national parks in Kenya. Wild flamingoes flying over are not uncommon. The walk around section is a zoo in its own right, I would certainly recommend a visit.
thanks again @Ned My poor old car doesn't have air conditioning, so no matter what the view is, it can get uncomfortable having the windows closed in this weather I might still go Sigeon though as it does look pretty good.
If you really want to visit some Dutch collections I would say Burgers - Arnhem, Blijdorp - Rotterdam and Beekse Bergen - Hilvarenbeek ( next to Tilburg ) would be good choises for someone with your intrest ( all photograph-friendly and all with a ( very ) good mammal-collection ! ).
Thanks vogelcommado There's someone on Flickr that I follow who has posted loads of great photos from zoos across Netherlands and across it's borders. I think I may head over at the end of the tourist season.
Also in our "own" galleries there are loads of photos from Dutch zoos, maybe you can have a look there !
A quick review so far: CERZA - loved it! Beauval - really enjoyed it! Sigeon - after a dull start, then a predictably tortuous queue around the bear enclosure around midday, I was finally rewarded with some solitary sessions with the cubs while everyone else seemed to be feeding themselves. Barcelona - hmmmm. Not a particularly enjoyable visit, whether it was down to the overcast, rainy weather, or just hearing too many Brits, lol! Having looked again at what Benidorm and Elche have to offer, I'm considering revisiting Bioparc Valencia instead tomorrow, before joining my friend near Alicante. My feet however are screaming for a rest.
That's no good, where is the detail? Seriously though, what were your thoughts and opinions? And what has inspired such deviation from your original itinerary?
I'll give a more detailed review on my return home, although it wont be as complete as others provide here The unsettled weather over the west end of the Pyrenees put me off going there first, as I really hope to have a bright day at Cabarceno and one of the French parks Ned suggested perhaps; It's looking better for next week. Saying that, It's already scorchio in Valencia this morning and I am thinking it might be too hot for a zoo trip. I loved the Bioparc earlier this year, but will be heading to Rio Elche before meeting a friend in a nearby town (who is not a zoo fan). I'm expecting to find a lot of sleepy heads at the park.
Madrid today and I have only just realised (I might have seen the news before) that they have a 7 month old Panda, so I'm a little excited about that! The weather still looks unsettled for Cabarceno and the west run of France this week, so I'm still not sure which places to go, but am considering the Vallee de Singes.
That applies to any zoo for me these days, especially for this trip Saying that, it can be too hot, as it was today. Places like Madrid and their concrete enclosures really have me feeling sorry for the likes of Bears. The Panda cub, who is 12 months and not seven moths old of course, was great to watch in the morning, but he spent the majority of the day sleeping. The weather looks unsettled, so I might even head straight home after Cabarceno on Tuesday.
Has anyone been to Pessac/Bordeaux? I'll be stopping over there Tuesday night, so might pop in on Wednesday. They don't appear to have a lot though, but the Jaguars' underwater view might be interesting.
Yes - and there's an article about it in the new edition of Zoo Grapevine, due out any day now. It's a distinctly average place, and pretty small too. There has been talk of its moving for a while now, which has stalled its development - although that threat. / opportunity has passed now. The jaguar exhibit - which I have not seen, but which might be excellent - is the fruit of that. Elsewhere, there are some quite nice exhibits for fairly unexciting species, a half-decent African savannah thing, and some really poor old-school cages. It's run by the same people who run the infinitely better La Flèche zoo. I would say there are many bettter possibilities in France, to be honest - but I would also recommend a visit, as I would recommend a visit to nearly any zoo, and if you do go you will have an interesting couple of hours there.
