Zoo Tour Planning - which are your favourites?

Daysleeper40

Daysleeper40

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Hi All,

My other half and I are looking at planning a week long zoo tour in september and are having trouble deciding where to go. We have done a few in past - done the Kent area, Norfolk / Suffolk and Cheshire - and we are now thinking either another UK tour or possibly one further afield in Germany or the Netherlands.

So my question is - where are your favourites zoo's and if you had a spare week to put together a zoo tour, where would you go?

Fi
 
I like Chester. Been there a few times even though I live near Cambridge.
 
Chester Zoo gets a big thumbs up from me too

My favourite aquarium is in Düsseldorf :)
 
I heard about the talk photography forum from zoochat.com. There are a number of galleries on there that are segregated by geographical area then individual zoos so you get a good idea about whats is there. Most of the photographs show the enclosures rather than close up animal shots as that is what appeals most to that particular forum.

Zoos are my primary focus with photography a secondary interest. My favourite UK zoos are Chester, Whipsnade and Colchester. I enjoy Paradise wildlife park and Shepreth but neither have the greatest photo opportunites.
 
Berlin, that gives you two to visit (plus a huge aquarium). Some of the architecture in Tierpark Berlin (the zoo of East Berlin) is impressive. Many of the enclosures are moated rather than fenced.

Great transport connections (rail and air) to the rest of Europe if you're making a tout of it. Fly into Berlin and you can get to everywhere else by train. It could be a useful starting point for communist era zoos behind the former Iron Curtain if you want something a bit different.
 
Come down to the south west - marwell , longleat, paignton/toquay coastal , otter centre near lasunceston, dartmoor, exmoor, combe martin, Bristol, possibly touch on cotswold wildlife park on your way home -sorted

(there are also a couple of aquariums if that pulls your plonker - one in southampton and one in newquay)
 
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Cotswolds wildlie park is great for photographs. They use depp ditches etc giving better views than some of the more traditional zoos. They have some lovely red pandas too that you can get quite close too. Well within 70-200 range!
 
Whipsnade, Colchester and if your traveling then def Dartmoor - not the largest but a superb rescue story behind it, fantastic photo / viewing areas without fence or glass.

.DAVID.
 
Another vote for Chester Zoo.

Knowsley Safari Park - Make sure your windows are clean to be able to shoot within the lion enclosure - the keepers don't like you winding your windows in there :shrug:. The rest of the place you can wind the window down and be extremely lazy and shoot from the comfort of the car :lol:
 
South Lakes is quite good for photography, quite a few animals are not caged so it is easier to get shots of them.
 
Whipsnade is excellent for photography, one of the best imo :thumbs:

Plus it has the added advantage that you can take your car round with you for the day :)
 
Wow - thanks for all the suggestions, I wasn't sure there would be much interest to be honest! Obviously lots of fellow zoo lovers here :thumbs:

I am a member of zoo-chat and the maps on there are very helpful when planning a trip. Probably easier to say where we have been on our tours before:

Cheshire - West Mids SP, Blue Planet Aquarium & 2 days at Chester.

Suffolk / Norfolk - Whipsnade (en route), Paradise Wildlife Park, Colchester, Africa Alive, Thrigby Hall, Sea Life Centre Grt Yarmouth, Banham Zoo & Linton Zoo.

Kent - Rare Species Conservation Centre, Wingham Wildlife, Howletts, Wildwood & Port Lympne

I would say our "local" zoo's are Marwell, Whipsnade & Cotswolds as they are all within an hour(ish) and we have visited a lot. Whipsnade and Colchester are our favourites but we would like to visit some new places really. Have also had great days at the smaller collections like Thrigby and Wingham so not al about the big collections.

Definately now thinking about the south west as Paignton looks pretty good and we have never been to Dartmoor either. Any thoughts on the smaller collections round this area?

Also quite keen on Berlin - the two big zoos there seem to get great reviews.

There is also Edinburgh - we have been on a city break there before and I loved it... but now they have Giant Panda's obviously...

Decisions, decisions!
 
Daysleeper40 said:
Definately now thinking about the south west as Paignton looks pretty good and we have never been to Dartmoor either. Any thoughts on the smaller collections round this area?!
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monkey world near wareham in dorset is okay - the best opportunities being the lemurs (dont expect the samne angles of shot as the tv program, and come prepared to shoot through glass http://www.monkeyworld.org/home.php

Exmoor is worth a visit - its not the biggest either but its got some nice exhibits where its easy(ish) to get good shots http://www.exmoorzoo.co.uk/

Also the tamar ottor and wildlife park near launceston is good (fairly limited in number of exhibits but excellent opportunities on owls, otters, and deer ) http://www.tamarotters.co.uk/

if that isnt enough otters for you there is also the buckfast butterflies and otters sanctuary http://www.ottersandbutterflies.co.uk/

If you are penetrating as far as conwall its also worth checking out the looe monkey sanctuary - photo ops arent the best but its well worth checking out http://www.monkeysanctuary.org/

Combe martin wildlife park is also fairly limited but I like its big meerrcat enclosure where you get very natural behaviour due to the number of buzzards going over http://www.wildlifedinosaurpark.co.uk/

and if you are going to paignton , toquay coastal zoo /living coasts is also well worth a look http://www.livingcoasts.org.uk/animals

and while in that area the shaldon wildlife trust is also worth a quick visit if you like marmosets, lemurs etc ( I wouldnt travel down just for this , but if you've come out of paignton or dartmoor with a few hours to kill its not bad) http://shaldonwildlifetrust.org.uk/about.asp

on your way back east bristol zoo is worth checking out http://www.bristolzoo.org.uk/animals

My advice is to allow a whole day for paignton , and most of a day for bristol. Dartmoor you can walk round in a couple of hours or spend days on end at one enclosure (depending on how understanding your partner is) , most of the others listed here are a half day at most
HTH
 
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big soft moose said:
monkey world near wareham in dorset is okay - the best opportunities being the lemurs (dont expect the samne angles of shot as the tv program, and come prepared to shoot through glass http://www.monkeyworld.org/home.php

Exmoor is worth a visit - its not the biggest either but its got some nice exhibits where its easy(ish) to get good shots http://www.exmoorzoo.co.uk/

Also the tamar ottor and wildlife park near launceston is good (fairly limited in number of exhibits but excellent opportunities on owls, otters, and deer ) http://www.tamarotters.co.uk/

if that isnt enough otters for you there is also the buckfast butterflies and otters sanctuary http://www.ottersandbutterflies.co.uk/

If you are penetrating as far as conwall its also worth checking out the looe monkey sanctuary - photo ops arent the best but its well worth checking out http://www.monkeysanctuary.org/

Combe martin wildlife park is also fairly limited but I like its big meerrcat enclosure where you get very natural behaviour due to the number of buzzards going over http://www.wildlifedinosaurpark.co.uk/

and if you are going to paignton , toquay coastal zoo /living coasts is also well worth a look http://www.livingcoasts.org.uk/animals

and while in that area the shaldon wildlife trust is also worth a quick visit if you like marmosets, lemurs etc ( I wouldnt travel down just for this , but if you've come out of paignton or dartmoor with a few hours to kill its not bad) http://shaldonwildlifetrust.org.uk/about.asp

on your way back east bristol zoo is worth checking out http://www.bristolzoo.org.uk/animals

My advice is to allow a whole day for paignton , and most of a day for bristol. Dartmoor you can walk round in a couple of hours or spend days on end at one enclosure (depending on how understanding your partner is) , most of the others listed here are a half day at most
HTH
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Thanks Pete - that's really helpful. We've been to Monkey World a few times and Bristol once before but I would definately be up for a return visit to both. We've also enjoyed doing two or three smaller collections in one day before so I think the likes of Shaldon and Buckfest are a go too.

I've not heard of Tamar or the Looe Monkey Sanctury - off to have a look at those links now :thumbs:
 
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We've been to Twycross Zoo in Leicestershire - http://www.twycrosszoo.org/home.aspx - a couple of times and enjoyed it. Quite a nice family feel to it. About 50 acres out in the countryside. I believe they do conservation work with apes, chimpanzees, gorillas. Not saying it's the biggest or the best, but one to bear in mind.
 
Another +1 for Berlin. The two Zoos there are fantastic and the City itself is fantastic. I've not been to the Aquarium, yet - but believe it has very good reviews also - if that's of interest to you.
Also as mentioned, plenty of rail links - to the Netherlands and various other major European countries/cities too.
 
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Bretagnez said:
Another +1 for Berlin. The two Zoos there are fantastic and the City itself is fantastic. I've not been to the Aquarium, yet - but believe it has very good reviews also - if that's of interest to you.
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The Aquarium is very good, worth a half-day at least (and you can get a combination ticket with the Zoo next-door). Four trips adding up to over a month in Berlin over the last four years and we've still not seen everything.
 
Thank you again for all the suggestions - Berlin is a definate future trip but for our week away we are now set on Devon :)

Put a tentative plan together last night which takes in:

Monkey World
Shaldon Wildlife Trust
Living Coasts
Paignton Zoo
Dartmoor Zoo
National Marine Aquarium
Possibly Buckfast
Exmoor Zoo
Bristol Zoo
Longleat

...with a few other "maybe's" along the way dependent on how much time we spend where. That should keep us busy :thumbs:
 
Daysleeper40 said:
Thank you again for all the suggestions - Berlin is a definate future trip but for our week away we are now set on Devon :)

Put a tentative plan together last night which takes in:

Monkey World
Shaldon Wildlife Trust
Living Coasts
Paignton Zoo
Dartmoor Zoo
National Marine Aquarium
Possibly Buckfast
Exmoor Zoo
Bristol Zoo
Longleat

...with a few other "maybe's" along the way dependent on how much time we spend where. That should keep us busy :thumbs:
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It should indeed - if you have time in that busy itinery for anything other than zoos if you swing past branscombe feel free to drop in at our ranger base - if its fairly soon i can point you towards where a pair of peregrines are nesting on the cliffs

We also have a working forge and a working watermill ;)
 
How does whipsnade compare to woburn for opportunities. The last time I went to whipsnade they had dolphins LOL.
 
whipsnades a zoo , woburn is a safrai park - both are good in different ways but it isnt really comparable.
 
big soft moose said:
It should indeed - if you have time in that busy itinery for anything other than zoos if you swing past branscombe feel free to drop in at our ranger base - if its fairly soon i can point you towards where a pair of peregrines are nesting on the cliffs

We also have a working forge and a working watermill ;)
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Thanks Pete - we are not coming till September but will kep it in mind :thumbs:

joker2006 said:
How does whipsnade compare to woburn for opportunities. The last time I went to whipsnade they had dolphins LOL.
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As Pete say's they're just completely different experiences. I would take Whipsnade over Woburn every time for photography.
 
Cheers thanks for that might have to take a trip there in June when the wife and kids are away LOL
 
big soft moose said:
whipsnades a zoo , woburn is a safrai park - both are good in different ways but it isnt really comparable.
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sorry that wasnt up to my usual helpful standard - its been a long day

they are as i said completely different and difficult to compare - whipsnade has far more variety of animals and you can get great shots of a variety of species (check out chris - cobra-s shots as he goes there a lot)

Woburn is a safari park so you have the advantage of being in the enclosures with the animals, but for many of the more dangerous ones you are shooting through your car window. - I like the wolves and bears enclosure but don't rate the rest that highly.

Also in that general area its worth checking out the big cat thing at welyn , and the english school of falconry at shuttleworth.
 
No I understood your reply. My question was carp tbh and should of asked a more in depth question instead of being lazy. What I really meant was were most of the animal enclosures wire fences now so you got restricted shots. Where as in woburn you are in the car and as long as you have a good look out and don't push too many boundaries you can get a few shots with the window down. Except in the monkey enclosure of course.

Anyway you have answered my question and yes after you mentioned cobra I remember commenting inhospitable pics of cheetahs a while ago.

Many thanks

Mark
 
for enclosure free pictures you have to go a long way to beat dartmoor ( I know its not terribly local for you) they have a lot of moat fronted enclosures so you get unfettered shots
 
big soft moose said:
Also in that general area its worth checking out the big cat thing at welyn
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That's the Cat Survival Trust.

It's a small charity, and has a number of different big cats - primarily snow leopards.

It's not open to the public, you have to be a member of the charity to visit, but there are a number of Photo days organised throughout the year which include a years membership as part of the cost.

Mark Tiller is one of the people who organises photo days there.

I would thoroughly recommend a visit.
 
Joker - I think whipsnade is pretty good in terms of uncluttered shots with the exception being the tiger enclosure. The newer enclosures have good vantage points or big windows - it is much easier than marwell or Colchester if you have been to those for comparison. (although as a zoo Colchester is one of my favourites)
 
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