Hello ZooChat Once again I turn to the members of this great site for travel advice! In the middle of July (18th to 23rd) I will be staying in Belgium more specifically in Brussels. I have four full days which I plan to spend visiting zoos. I will be revisiting Antwerp Zoo and Plankendael but have a few questions as to how to spend the other days: Is Aquatopia in Antwerp worth seeing if I have a few extra hours there? I really want to go to Pairi Daiza. Is that possible with train/bus from Brussels? Are there any other zoos that can be reached with public transportation from Brussels? I would really appreciate some advice here as I want to be as prepared as possible. Last time I was in Belgium I hit a serious language barrier when ordering train tickets... Thanks!
I've only done Antwerp, Planckendael and Aquatopia in Belgium so can't help elsewhere, but with regards to this: Aquatopia is alright. It's nothing spectacular, and I wouldn't cut short your visit to the zoo to visit it, but if you have extra time after the zoo I'd certainly take a look. It's a minute's walk from the zoo entrance (on the opposite corner of the square) and probably will only take an hour or so.
Yes Pairi Daiza is quite easy to reach by train from Brussels and it is something I do quite often. You need to take the train to Cambron-Casteau (you do have to change trains in Aat) and from there are signs guiding you to the park. It will take you 10 minutes walking. You should ask at the station for a b-rail ticket to Pairi Daiza and then the total costs from Brussels will be 25,60 for both train and entrance to the park.
@Maguari: I was actually thinking about doing 1,5 days at Antwerp Zoo and then take the other half day at Aquatopia. I am really struggling to find zoos in Belgium that are reachable and worth seeing (besides those I already mentioned). My experience from last time tells me that I can easily spend more than one day in Antwerp Zoo. @DDcorvus: Many thanks for that! I am very pleased that I will be able to see Pairi Daiza. Thanks for the travel advice, I am sure that will come in very handy. Now, can anybody tell me anything about the Serpentarium Blankenberge?
Half a day's probably more than it needs - if you're splitting a day I'd start with Aquatopia and then fill up the rest of the day with zoo-y goodness!
That was the plan! In my experience aquaria are also more fun in the morning while zoos peak in early morning and late afternoon. This looks like it will be a good zoo year for me! On Saturday I am leaving for Stuttgart Zoo, Heidelberg Zoo, Karlsruhe Zoo, Vienna Zoo (my nr. 100) and Haus des Meeres (Vienna). Then Belgium a week later and probably a few more Danish zoos sometime in august (Ree Park, Scandinavian Wild Animal Park and Givskud Zoo are always enjoyable).
Serpetarium is nice, their reptile collection is very descent. Only you would not be able to spend your whole day there as it is quite close. You could consider taking the train to Blijdorp Rotterdam (2 hours by train then 10 min walking). Or try to visit Gaiapark in Kerkrade (also Netherlads) about 2,5 hours by train. In Brussels itself there is the aquarium http://www.aquariologie.be/ (which is very small) and there is the natural history museum which is quite nice On show at the Museum . Olmense Zoo is also worth visiting but it is hard to reach by public transport.
Does anyone have any information about the large cracid collection in Belgium? Species, where it is, is it possible to visit. Also is there a website because I can't find anything. Thanks.
Thank you everybody for your helpful advice for my Belgium trip (especially DDcorvus). I went last week and had a great time. Antwerpen Zoo and Planckendael were even more enjoyable than I remember them. The weather was a bit grey and nippy but that just meant that I had the whole zoo to myself on many occasions.
You're welcome toby. I would have proposed to join you to one of the zoos if I would have been in country. Which zoos did you visit next to these two? And what did you think of Pairi Daiza.
I will just post a few thought about my trip Day 1 - Planckendael Rain in the morning and grey but dry weather during the day. Perfect weather for a zoo-trip as it kept most of the crowds away (plus it was Monday) and gave me lots of peace and quiet to enjoy the large open-range zoo outside Mechelen. It was a bit nippy in the weather so a few species kept mostly to their indoor exhibits (bonobos, golden-headed lion tamarin, white-faced tamarins, etc.) but most animals were out and about and the before mentioned species could also be seen indoors. I had visited Planckendael in 2006 but it was even better that I remembered. My "old favourites" were the Bonobo exhibit, the Oceania exhibit, the European exhibits and the Asia theme. When I visited in 2006 the Asian Tropical House was brand new and hardly vegetated at all. It looked MUCH better this time with dense vegetation and active birds. The giraffe and cheetah exhibits were new for me and both really well done. Nothing extraordinary but well executed. I was also very impressed with the signage throughout the park which was generally really good (and in three languages even). Through a combination of luck and perseverance I managed to see all of the "difficult" species and that I really wanted to see that day and saw some very active Eurasian badgers, common wombats and short-beaked echidnas. Day 2 - Pairi Daiza Went to the formerly known Parc Paradisio on the second day and found it far out into the countryside with no real difficulties. Had pretty good weather the first half of the day but rain for the last few hours. I was very impressed with their bird collection and the "old" part of the zoo. The Oasis Tropical House and adjoining aviaries and birdhouses were a positive experience even though I am not bird expert. Positives in the park included the Mersus Emergo ship with the terraria and very nice exhibitions about conservation as well as the outdoor elephant, hippo and siamang enclosures. Also the walk-through exhibit for squirrel monkeys and the huge aviaries for birds of prey were a joy to see. However, the place I enjoyed most were in fact the huge Chinese Garden with many species of crane and stork as well as red pandas, Chinese muntjac and kiangs. Unfortunately for me a large part of the park was closed for construction during my visit. The whole Nosy Komba island (lemurs), the shoebill aviary and savannah were all levelled to the ground. Does anybody know what they are building there? I was actually a bit disappointed about the newer developments in the park. Both the Australia and Kingdom of Ganesh exhibits seemed to have lots of many pumped into very little. The Australia exhibit was very large but had quite few exhibits in it compared to the size. The Kingdom of Ganesh was even worse. It has huge slaps of mock rock shaped to the biggest fake temple ruin I have ever seen. While it was impressive I feel that the money could have been spent better. The only exhibits there were a pretty good exhibit for crested black macaques and mediocre to substandard exhibits for water buffalo, Indian porcupines, small-clawed otters, armadillos (?) and meerkats (???). All in all Pairi Daiza as a positive experience but not as good as I had hoped. I will probably visit sometime again but it is unlikely that I will go out of my way to do so. Day 3 and 5 - Antwerpen Zoo Fine weather and very few people in Antwerpen Zoo on day three. Antwerpen Zoo was even better that I remembered. As in Planckendael the zoo had some of the best signage I have ever seen (again in three languages). New exhibits for me included the extension areas with exhibits for okapis, dik-diks, babirusas and wallabies as well the the breeding centre for Congo peafowl. Unfortunately, the new lion exhibit wasn't quite ready yet but it was complete enough for me to get and idea of how it will be with lions, meerkats and mongooses in there. I was completely fascinated by the two eastern gorillas where I could have stayed for hours (which I almost did). I spent to days in Antwerpen Zoo so I had plenty of time to see the whole zoo several times. Enjoyable exhibit were the ones for spectacled bears/coatis, okapis, Congo peafowl, Hippotopia, Vriesland (unfortunately without otters now) and the outdoor exhibit for Asian elephants (a bit small but well designed). Antwerpen Zoo is a beautiful old city zoo and highly recommendable. Day 4 - Museums Spent the day visiting a few museums in Brussels. Went first to the Natural History Museum and then the Military History Museum. Both were enjoyable but not something I would recommend unless someone has a REALLY specific interest. Regretted that I had not gone to Blanckenberge instead. Day 5 - Aquatopia On my last day I went to Antwerpen again this time starting out in Aquatopia located right next to the zoo. I had not expected much but was pleasantly surprised. I only spent 1,5 hours at the aquarium but that was enough (unless you are really interested in fish). Aquatopia had a very Sea Life-ish quality too it (unfortunately) but some nice tanks with Mangrove species as well as the shark tank with black-tipped reef, nurse and zebra sharks. After Aquatopia I could check zoo nr. 103 of on my list After Aquatopia I hurried over the Antwerpen Zoo and stayed there for the rest of the day as well as ended up giving lectures on gorillas for English tourists. All in all a pretty good trip!
I didn't want to start a new thread asking for Belgian travel advice, so I hope Toddy won't mind my bumping of his old thread. Could any of the Belgian Zoochatters tell me whether Olmense Zoo is any good? I was pondering combining it with a trip to Paira Daiza. Is it worth it, or should I concentrate on the bigger place? The species list looks quite reasonable.... Thanks in advance....
Far from my favourite zoo in Belgium. Pairi Daiza is very nice. Please note that Olmen is difficult to reach by public transport. Instead of Olmen I would propose you to visit Rotterdam instead a bit further but by Public transport as fast.
Thank you for this. I'm actually passing through Belgium en route to Holland - although, sadly, not to Rotterdam this time. If I am driving - and I will be - is Olmense worth a detour, do you think?
