Zoos in Germany

The tripto catalogue lists 21 zoos and wildlife parks – all family-friendly, many with large tropical halls for rainy days.

Leipzig Zoo is one of the best-known zoos in Europe, with the Gondwanaland tropical hall and its boat ride, Pongoland and the Feuerland water world. Hagenbeck Zoo in Hamburg was the first zoo in the world with bar-less panoramas and has an Arctic Ocean area and a tropical aquarium. Berlin Zoo is Germany's oldest zoo, with more than 18,000 animals, pandas and the Elephant Gate. The Wilhelma in Stuttgart combines a zoo and botanical garden with around 11,000 animals and Moorish-style buildings. Munich's Hellabrunn Zoo was the world's first geo-zoo, and Cologne Zoo, the third oldest in the country, has an elephant park and a cable car connection by the Rhine.

Most zoos in the catalogue are in North Rhine-Westphalia (four), followed by Berlin, Hesse, Saxony and Lower Saxony with two each.

In practice: allow four to six hours for a large zoo, and a full day for Leipzig or Hagenbeck. Day tickets usually cost €23–29 for adults; online is often much cheaper – at Berlin Zoo from €16 instead of €25 at the gate, at Cologne Zoo from €22.50 instead of €29.50. Children under 4 or 6 usually go free, and family tickets are worthwhile.