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Plans for visit Berlin

Discussion in 'Germany' started by twilighter, 29 Aug 2018.

  1. twilighter

    twilighter Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Hi Zoochaters,
    I am planing to visit Berlin zoo on 02.10 and Tierpark on 03.10. Since I'll have only one day for each zoo, I am afraid, will miss some of the highlights. I will be in Berlin on 04th, but will be busy almost whole day, so I do not belive I will make it to the zoo. I have read interesting and comprehensive reviews here and in Zoofreunde, and have a basic plan of my trip.Since my hotel is next to the zoo I will begin from there and I will try to start my visits at 9 o'clock.

    I will be very greatfull, if you give me advices and tips about my visits and guide me trough the vast collections. I will emphasize mainly on mammals, but do not want to miss stellar bird or fish species. Since both zoos repair big part of their carnivores sections I will have more time for other animals.Hoofstock is must see, but I can swap popular species like Elephants or Camelids for Marco Polo sheep or Anoa.

    I am curious are the malgashy carnivores in the Zoo and clouded leopard in the Park still visible ?
    Can I rely on Zootierliste lists ?
    Where is Southern Pudu located ?
    Shall I use train in the Tierpark ? Is it stops on a diffrent locations and wich ?
    What is the best and fastest transport from Shonefeld to Berlin zoo
    and from Berlin zoo to Tierpark Berlin ?

    I was also searching for actual guide books and comprehensive maps , but could not find nothing newer than 2005 online.Do you khow where I can find something more up to date?

    Any advices and personal opinions will be very much appreciated !
    Thank you :)
     
  2. Shorts

    Shorts Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    The train in the Tierpark is useful and, if I recall correctly, stops at a handful of places -I can't remember them all but it does stop near the mountain section.

    Fastest transport from Schonefeld to Berlin Zoo depends on the time of day. Outside of rush hour it might be a taxi (but expensive if there's only one of you), otherwise the trains/underground are regular, quick and cheap.

    From Berlin Zoo to Berlin Tierpark will involve first going to Alexanderplatz (can't recall if you can get there direct from "Zoo Station") and then on to Tierpark on the underground. Given there's underground (U-bahn) stations close to the Zoo and pretty much outside the Tierpark I wouldn't consider any other way of getting there.

    Finally, I'm not sure if you're aware but you can visit the Aquarium at the Zoo separately, depending on your plans you could do that for a couple of hours on an otherwise non-zoo day.

    Enjoy your trip (zoos & all), Berlin's a great city to visit.
     
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  3. twilighter

    twilighter Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Respect for the fast answers @Shorts !
    The aquarium option on the 3rd day is definitely a possibility for me! I didn't know about it :)
     
  4. Rayane

    Rayane Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    IIRC the pudus are where most of the deers are in the Zoo. You shouldn't have a hard time finding them.
    Zootierliste was accurate enough for me, and I'm looking for both birds and mammals.
    I went there in April and the carnivore house was closed for renovation. The ring-tailed vontsira, the rusty-spotted cat and the sand cats where still visible from outside. Not sure if they're done with the renovations.

    For the train in Tierpark, it depends. I am a fast walker and did each zoo in one day. Was with a slow person but if it was just me I would have had time to go around much more. I enjoyed the walk in the Tierpark, I'd suggest walking. It all depends on your physical condition imo.

    Even though you like mammals, I'd suggest taking the time to appreciate Welt der Vogel and the pheasandry in Berlin zoo, and the pheasandry in Tierpark.

    I may be able to recommend places to eat in Berlin as well if you want me to.
     
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  5. lintworm

    lintworm Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    To plan any journey by public transport, use the website of Deutsche Bahn, which also knows all the Metros and buses of Berlin: www.bahn.de

    Zootierliste is pretty much spot on for birds and mammals as both Zoo and Tierpark Berlin publish the collection in their annual report:
    https://www.aquarium-berlin.de/file...ernehmen/Geschaeftsbericht_AG_2017_080518.pdf

    For fish and reptiles it might be slightly outdated. You are unlikely to see something that is not listed, but not everything listed will be present.

    There are maps on the zoo website, but they are not very detailed when looking for specific species. If you understand German, www.openstreetmap has very good maps of both the Zoo and Tierpark, just zoom in ;)

    In terms of carnivores, the Narrow-striped mongoose and Clouded leopard will be off-show, in June it was still possible to see the Ring-tailed vontsira, but I don't know if that is still the case.

    Have fun and if you don't try to photograph too many different species you could see everything in a day, but it will feel somewhat rushed. Just take good shoes and buy enough Streusseltaler (Streusselschnecke) at a bakery to keep the blood sugar levels nice and high.
     
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  6. twilighter

    twilighter Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Thank you for good advices @Rayane !
    I will definitely walk through the Tierpark , but needed to know all the options in case running out of time.

    Opportunity to see the small cats and the ring-tailed vontsira is a great news. I hope I will be lucky enough tho. Thanks for the Pudu.

    I am sure the Aviaries in Berlin are not to miss. The big zoos I have been are London zoo, Barcelona, Budapest, Copenhagen and Kristiansand and I am sure Berlin has more attractive birds.

    I will very much appreciate tips for the restaurants in the Zoo area :)
     
  7. twilighter

    twilighter Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    Thank you for the invaluable tips and links @lintworm !
    I don't know what to say -
    I understand enough german to appreciate this map a lot.
    The shoes are ready and I will have only rucksack, to not spend check in, check out time.
    The clouded leopard off-show is a sad news, but it is a reason to plan 2019 visit. I have seen Boky boky in London, but clouded leopard is a still elusive predator for me.
     
  8. FunkyGibbon

    FunkyGibbon Well-Known Member

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    You won't have to miss any highlights; as lintworm says it's possible to see everything in one day each, but for sure if you know what your priorities are you'll see all of those, barring no-shows and off-shows of course.
     
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  9. Fallax

    Fallax Well-Known Member 5+ year member

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    People warned me I wouldn't see everything but when I went to Berlin I left both zoos before closure and I got there at opening time. The zoo is easily doable in a day but you may have sore legs after Tierpark and I actually forgot about somethings and I am still bitter about missing the peccaries because the illustration on the map looked more like wild boar and I couldn't be bothered. I also intentionally missed the sun bear exhibit for my families sake.
     
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  10. twilighter

    twilighter Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    @FunkyGibbon and @PaleoMatt
    Thank you for the replies.
    I am not afraid to walk whole day. I am more afraid to be chaotic :) But I feel more confident now.
    Thanks everyone for the knowledge you are sharing!
     
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  11. twilighter

    twilighter Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    I want to thank everyone for the advices for my trip to Berlin. I had a great time both in the Zoo and the Tierpark. I have manage to see and observe 99 % of planed species, which I am very happy with, but I could not achive that without good agenda and precise map. I have missed the Dingo, Palawan Leopard Cat, Ehidna and Thamin in Tierpark and Rusty-spotted cat, Sand Cat and Kirk's Dik Dik in Berlin Zoo.I am looking forward to 2019, when the renovations in both carnivore sections will finish, so I can re-visit the both collections .