At the Zoo
Full disclaimer: I don’t know how I feel about zoos. I’m always afraid of unknowingly perpetuating animal abuse with my visit. Yet part of me prefers to believe that most animals (in German zoos, in any case) are living somewhat comfortable lives compared to their mates in the wild, as we humans insist on destroying nature and killing off species.
Despite that uplifting note, I must say I have always been curious about the Munich zoo. I kept postponing the visit, thinking we should maybe wait until S is old enough to actually enjoy it (when in all honesty the visit was much more about my own curiosity). Last weekend we finally decided to take the leap, encouraged by our zoo-enthusiast friend Reema and by other people’s comments about how cool it is.
Our first stop was, naturally, at Cafe Mühle by the entrance. Imagine my joy as I found out that not only do they serve Emilo coffee (my absolute favorite), they also have all sorts of options to customize your drink - from caffeine-free to lactose-free. And don’t forget the soy milk!
I hope you appreciate the importance of good coffee on your visit (any visit) as much as I do. Anyways, on to the animals!
We opted to visit the zoo in the opposite direction of the route suggested on the map, since we wanted to prioritize visiting some animals (e.g. polar bears) over others (e.g. raccoons). We just knew we would start picking up the pace towards the end of our visit and necessarily neglect a few fellas. It’s inevitable - S would get tired and/or my pregnant body would start aching, so we needed to be strategic.
Great practical things about the zoo:
Many great quality snack huts scattered around the zoo and plenty of sitting areas for tired, hungry parents.
Plenty of bathrooms, too - and changing tables in most of the women’s WCs. Can’t speak for the men’s bathrooms, though.
Not so practical things:
Surprisingly for Germany, some of the animal '“houses” are only accessible by stairs, which can make the visit particularly difficult for people with strollers or on wheelchairs.
Same goes for the weight of the doors of some of the houses. I get it for the “jungle” (you don’t want birds flying away after all), but for the tortoises? I kept thinking I would’ve had a particularly hard time if I were by myself with the stroller and the bump, and how dependent I would’ve been on other people’s goodwill to help me out climbing stairs/opening doors.
All in all, it was a great way to spend a Sunday morning, and we actually plan on getting the annual pass once S is indeed old enough to enjoy it (and the baby girl is not that tiny anymore). As predicted, towards the end of our 2:30h visit we were all pretty beat, so I’m happy we got to say hi to the rhinos and penguins first. Maybe next time we’ll give the raccoons a second chance, though.
Check it out: Tierpark Hellabrunn
All in all, the Munich zoo is pretty awesome and we couldn’t have picked a better day to visit it. It was a comfortably chilly fall day, which somehow encouraged most animals to be out and about.
We got there at 9:30 am on a Sunday, which I definitely recommend if you, like me, would like to avoid lines at all costs. By the time we left around noon, the lines had built up considerably. The ticket costs 15 euros/adult (or 98 euros for the family annual pass!), which is reasonable considering the size of the zoo.
If you order it to go, you’ll need to pay a Pfand for a “recup” (an initiative across coffee shops in Munich and elsewhere in Germany, where you bring your own cup and get a discount on your drink). Since I’d been wanting my own recup for a moment, this worked out perfectly for me. But you can also opt to return yours and get your Pfand back.
Other remarks:
Just surprising: Dogs are allowed in. Some pups were fine with their visit, while others were a bit too excited at the sight of elephants. Made me wonder if they stress out the animals in any way.
The gift shop kind of sucks. Womp womp.
