So as a sequel to my planned Cologne/Frankfurt/Stuttgart long weekend early next year, I am mulling over a possible Germany tour either late next year or the year after....currently on the proposed itinerary would be: Walsrode Berlin Zoo Berlin Tierpark Leipzig Magdeburg Can anyone recommend any other zoos not to miss? I'm thinking of potentially doing a trip to Welt der Gifte to see @Batto's work for myself and also possibly, if I can manage to get all the way back down south, a brief hop over the border to Zurich. All of this is veeeery tentative at the moment, it all depends on my amount of income this time next year so yeah thanks in advance!
Germany is bigger than you might think and getting down to Zurich basically costs a whole day of traveling and given the zoos that are now on your list, it seems common sense to just focus on the northern part of Germany. The south including Austria and Switzerland has a whole range of other zoos worth visiting including Basel, Stuttgart, Augsburg, Nurnberg, Munchen and Innsbruck. You might want to spend two days each in both the Berlin Zoo and Tierpark. Overall you have picked the 5 major zoos in that part of Germany that are must-see for zoochatters. You could think of adding the following depending on time and transport: - Hagenbeck, Hamburg, one of the historically most important zoos of Europe, its current state is somewhat of a debate among zoochatters though , but it has lost some of its glory... - Zoo Rostock, in the north is an interesting zoos with the Darwineum a museum on evolution combined with some interesting animals from echidna to gorilla. - Vogelpark Marlow, close to Rostock, this is the number 2 birdpark in Germany, focusing not only on birds, but it has also a good range of primates. - Tierpark Schoenbeck, this small collection close to Magdeburg has a very good collection of rodents and can be combined with Magdeburg in one day. - Close to Berlin there are also the Wildkatzenzentrum Felidae, a private zoo with a choice collection of cats and other carnivores and the ACTP, Parrot breeding centre. Both are private facilities with limited opening hours/visiting options, but well worth trying to visit when in the area. - Depending on whether you like overthemed erlebnis zoos, Hannover is also an interesting option Further afield there are zoos like Rheine, Vogelpark Niendorf, Cottbus and Dresden which also might be interesting, but then you will need a lot more time
Never been to Germany but I am making a trip to the Berlin zoos in February. All I can say is... go to Duisburg as you may never get another chance to see a boto!
I am tempted to try and convince my family to hop the border to Zurich after we do Stuttgart in March....but I have a feeling that won't be an option given we only have three days and three zoos already on the docket another time perhaps, I will likely try and do Switzerland as its own holiday. I was contemplating Hannover as I would likely fly into Hannover to train it to Walsrode. Rostock will also likely happen if I end up in Greifswald for Batto's zoo. Marlow, though I have heard great things, likely won't make the cut. Schoenbeck might however, and if I have to spend two days in both Berlin Zoo and Berlin Tierpark then I may as well turn that into a separate trip and do Wildkatzenzentrum and ACTP if possible as well Thanks for the advice! At this point the zoo itinerary would then end up being: Hannover Walsrode Hagenbeck Rostock Welt der Gifte Berlin Zoo (2x days) Wildkatzenzentrum Felidae Berlin Tierpark (2x days) ACTP Leipzig Magdeburg/Schoenbeck This would lead to a two week long trip, something that does sound very tempting but would likely have to be cut down due to funds/time. Still, a nice thing to contemplate
Duly noted, but I'm pretty sure Baby (that is his name) is pretty sick of seeing my face multiple times over the past few years...
It would be my great pleasure to show you around. And I'm now a bit miffed about lintworm nonchalantly omitting the WdG...
Well, he already mentioned it was a possibility and you are very capable of keeping the WdG presence up yourself here
I haven't visited Marlow, but in terms of sheer number of oddities I would argue Vogelpark Niendorf might well merit the second place There is a thread which might help you plan your trip here I can't exactly allow @Batto to be the only person engaging in a little self-promotion in this thread! Cross all of your fingers and toes that he hangs on another two months..... as of today I have booked a train to Duisburg for early February in the hope of getting there on time part of a larger (and two-stage) Last Chance To See trip.
I really want to see Baby before he dies so I may try and visit in autumn next year but I do not want to be too late.
It's great! (And I think "Please let Baby survive until my Duisburg visit" is a ZooChat rite of passage.)
Still chipping away at a potential itinerary - I’m looking at 11 days currently, and may well have to cut it further. In an ideal world I would do all the zoos I list above, but I would need a lot of money to do all of it, something that as a student I currently do not have. Might start a kickstarter haha My current (theoretical) itinerary is looking like: Day 1 - fly into Hannover, Hannover [overnight in Hannover] Day 2 - Hannover to Walsrode, Walsrode, Walsrode to Hamburg [overnight in Hamburg] Day 3 - Hagenbeck, Hamburg to Berlin [stay in Berlin START] Day 4 - Berlin Zoo Day 5 - Berlin to Leipzig, Leipzig, Leipzig to Berlin Day 6 - Berlin to Rostock, Rostock, Rostock to Berlin Day 7 - Berlin Tierpark Day 8 - Berlin to Greifswald, Welt der Gifte, Greifswald to Berlin Day 9 - Berlin to Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Magdeburg to Berlin Day 10 - Berlin Tierpark [stay in Berlin FINISH] Day 11 - fly out of Berlin
I have no idea about anything, but I'm wondering if you have been to any of these zoos before? Why would you only give yourself one day at Walsrode?!? And one day at Berlin Zoo?
Sadly, money. Berlin Zoo is a 90 acre (ish) zoo, and I’ve done zoos of that size that I’ve never visited before in a day, so I could do the same with Berlin. Likewise, Walsrode is only 60 acres which can also easily be done in a day. The only reason Berlin Tierpark is two days is its sheer size (400 acres = a lot of walking and a lot of stuff to see ) I may well end up scrapping Rostock and Hagenbeck and replacing them with extra days in both, but for now I don’t see the need....happy to be told I’m wrong though!
I don't think you should base it on acreage. (Again, I have no idea about German zoos at all so no need to actually pay attention to this at all!). But Jurong Bird Park is 49 acres, and that's (for a lot of people) a two-day zoo for a first visit. I would definitely give myself at least two days for Walsrode. Pretty sure a constant refrain on Zoochat is the difficulty of doing Berlin Zoo in one day.
Get to Rostock if you can; the Darwineum is incredible. To cut a day, though, I'd recommend visiting WdG in the evening after Rostock. It's only an hour by train between them. If you're intent on two days in the northeast (and it's a lovely part of the world), it would make sense to stay over rather than commute from Berlin. Then you'd have time for Stralsund Aquarium and/or Tierpark Greifswald. @Batto is better placed to advise on that, though. I think one day is (just!) enough for either Berlin, although alternative opinions are available. At a reasonable pace, you can at least see both collections in that time.
I've never been to Berlin but I have been told that if you visit when the aquarium closes at 9pm then it's feasible to do the aquarium on an evening then spend the next (full) day in the zoo. I also know of one person who skipped the zoo whilst doing the aquarium as I suggested then going to the Tierpark the following day.
