zoom erlebniswelt

We went to the zoo on a colds, miserable day and worried that this might spoil our day. It really, really didn't. I have been to a lot of zoos and tierparks and this right up there as one of the best, if not THE best. The animals are great, of course, but the way the park is laid out and the general atmosphere is great. You can get so close to the animals and you dont feel like they are caged or trapped like in some other zoos. Watch out for the polar bears underwater - so, so cool. I loved it, as did my wife and my parents who when they come to visit Germany again will want to come back to the zoo.

After our second visit to this Zoo I thought it deserved a review on trip advisor.We had another fantastic visit here today, the first weekend of the winter season with the added advantage of a reduced fee. Myself and family (wife and two children, 3&4 years old). Positives:- Lots and lots of varies play parks for the kids- The animals (of course) especially the sea lions, hippo and Kodiak bears- 3 different zones to visit, lots of open space even when full- Nice pit stops for food and lots of benches- Very clean and tidy, the facilities and equipment are well maintainedNegatives:- Can't really think of many, but we were surprised to learn that our kids could not take their bicycles into the park. However we hired a 'bollerwagen' which came in useful as the kids would have struggled to walk the whole way around.

The Zoom Erlebniswelt (Gelsenkirchen Zoo) is possibly the best Zoo we have been to in our travels. The interaction and the closeness to the animals is spectacular as well as the interactive rides that they supplied was worth more than the 12 euro to enter the gate of the Zoo. If you are in Gelsenkirchen, you should pay the Zoo a visit. We also went just after the big storms that hit Germany, even with a couple of the enclosures closed, it still rated as the best Zoo that we have ever been to, well done to the staff at Gelsenkirchen Zoo.

Let´s be honest. There are not much really great attractions in Gelsenkirchen. But this zoo is absolutely awesome. I went to a lot of zoo´s and this one is my absolut favorite. The animals have space and the areas are open without cages. the different parts are very pretty and the 3 zones are really great. if you want to see everything get at least 5-6 hours for your visit.If you´re living near by, buy the annual ticket. If you go 3-4 times you got your money out of it. You get a card and don´t have to wait at the ticket lines.

Fantastic place to go with kids ,and not kids .Amazingly presented areas ,clean ,organized .Playground area for kids ,petting zoo at the entrance .Plentty of animals to see .My advice is to carry your bottel of water ,they have little shops around to sell water and drinks ,but all was hot ,no ice, and the big drinking glass was very small ,all water had bubbles .enjoy it!

Was a good day out, nicely set out able to see the animals in near natural habitat. Children loved it.Needs to be smoke free being a children's attraction

This was one of the nicer zoos I've had the pleasure of visiting. Although it is small (in comparison to those back in Canada), I did enjoy the layout, design and atmosphere. The zoo is broken into three sections "Alaska, Africa and Asia". The atmosphere makes the zoo feel as if you're walking through the wilderness. The paths and decor are all tailored to the original habitat of the animals. The liesurely walk was perfect for all ages, but especially for kids aged between 4-12. There's a playground and main "attraction" in each section, for instance there's a free boat ride in Africa and a 4D glacier ride in Alaska. Kids need to be at least 120cm tall to take the Alaskan ride. There's also pinic areas scattered throughout the park and of course you'll find a restaurant or three. The admission price is €17.50 per adult, children (aged 4-12) is €11.50 AND they even charge €5 for a dog! Parking is €3.50 however if it's too busy then the Aldi/Lidl parking lot down the street charges €4.00. If you decide to bring your dog, they have water dishes set-up throughout the park. Have fun!

Zoom Erlebniswelt is really worth a visit. This kinda zoo has separate areas such as Alaska or Asia which are especially disigned for the animals. In my opinion it is interesting for couples families or different groups.

Was really interested the enclosures were outstanding and the animals seemed to be happy rather than other zoos i have been to. really good enjoyed and we got to eat our lunch, about 12 ft from giraffe which my daughter loved.

We have visited Zoom twice, two years ago and last week. Although late winter is not the best season for the zoos, we truly enjoyed it. It is a very good Zoo indeed. It is very well laid out: it is divided to Asia, Africa and Alaska grounds, each one has excellent children praygrounds - both indoors and outdoors. Good navigation, map has useful info about feeding time for different animals (we were able to see feeding the sea lions - just wonderful!). Little kids could be transported around in the rental funny wooden carts. All animals look very well taken care of and entire place is so friendly and informative. Just loved it)))

Generally speaking I like themed areas in zoom to an extent and this place is deffinately WAY over the top. Everything in each of the worlds (Asia, Africa and Alaska) is themed, from the plants and paths to the buildings and exhibits... But you know what? It REALLY works... they have done a fantastic job.The work has been done professionally with a lot of care, which means that it all looks authentic. In some places things are over done and end up looking very artificial.this is not a huge site so eventhough you take your time along the set paths it is actually not that long a walk so I can't imagine this place being a problem for people who are in wheel chairs or cannot walk very well.One of the nicest areas is the Asian area hot house which houses the Orangutans... look out for the huge flying foxes in here, they are truely spectacular! If you have kids this area is also great for you because they have an indoor play area next to the hot house. Their ape enclosures are actually some of the best i have seen, which is especially true for the Orangutans, but also the Chimps.If you're looking for somewhere to eat go to the African area. We managed to get a perfect seat on the balcony of the restaurant seating area... What could be better than eating lunch while watching Zebra and Rhinos just meters away from you in a huge open, green, lush enclosure!There are not many animals here which are particularly unusual to see, but with the themed areas this zoo is more about the whol experience and it doesn't matter watching animals you have sene time and time before... Because the themed enclosures and visitor areas add a new and exciting way to how you see them. Although I msut say this was the first time I had seen a Kodia Bear (something I have wanted to see for many years), and he (?) was absolutely magnificent!

We had spent the morning at Dortmund Zoo and had originally thought it might take us longer to get round there than it did... Luckily we picked up a leaflet for Zoom in our hotel and decided to go on from Dortmund Zoo to take a look... We were not disappointed!When we arrived and took a look at the map I noticed that it is split in to 3 "worlds" (Asia, Africa & Alaska) which is something I don't really like too much in a zoo... I prefer to see variety spread throughout. But they really made it work very well, and it seemed like it spread the people out better, and even though it was fairly busy it was far from crowded.Out of all the areas the Asian area was certainly the most spectacular with a beautiful tropical house and one of the best (if not THE best) Orangutan enclosures I have seen in Europe.The whole park is very well themed and the people here obviously have a great eye for detail... A lot of credit is due here, and it is nice to see that the animals needs haven't been compromised for the sake of the themeing which is very refreshing to see.We ate at a small restaurant in the African zone which was amazing... Eating chips and currywurst (although I must say it was far from the best curry wurst I had in my 2 weeks in Germany), while watching the Rhinos less than 20 meters from you! If it had been a lot warmer it might even have felt like we were actually on an African game reserve.A lot of zoos in Germany have Bears (especially brown bears and polar bears - both of which are also at Zoom), but it was very nice to see a Kodiak Bear, an animal I had not seen before... Although this was my stand out animal of the visit I must say that there was not an enclosure or animal which I could say looked bad... They do a great job here and care for their animals VERY well!

Great Zoo at a fair price, if you don't have to buy snacks at every stand. Loads of animals, playgrounds and extras like a feeding schedule.

wow, this is an amazing zoo, the 3 main sections are Africa, Asia and Alaska. there is a good collections of animals and birds, like Lions, Owls, hyenas, rhinos and of course monkeys and chimps to name but a few. i went in the summer and it was boiling hot but we went on a weekday so it was not busy at all. you really do need the whole day to see everything, we got there at 2pm and left without seeing the Alaska area properly, luckily we went back there last sunday with family and saw it!the African queen boat ride is great, it feels like you are on a safari in africa because you get so close the the primates and other animals.the Alaskan ice adventure is good too if you like to be shook around lol!they give you a free picture of yourself on a key ring! go for it! food was ok i had a typical bratwurst and it was very cheap, coming from London the entry price was cheap too and i was very surprised!I love this zoo and i will go again!!

We visited the zoo while staying in the city of Essen, Germany. It was a short train ride away from Essen. The tram we took after a brief ride on the main train stopped very near the zoo, or Zoom as this is called. It was deceptively larger than we expected. The zoo is divied into 3 main sections, Asia, Africa and Alaska and has animals based on these areas. I cannot emphasize enough what a great open concept zoo this is. The Giraffe observation area is the best I have ever seen. We had gone to the Koln zoo also and there is no comparison. We actually watched the giraffes run! There was plenty of space for them and you are up in what sort of looked like Noah's ark, observing from higher up. A baby giraffe had recently been born when we were there. There were lots of other babies that day too, California sea lions, meerkats (2 days old!) and young camel to name a few. I got a few great shots of a polar bear who kept doing back flips toward the observation windows. Another great thing about this place for those of you with small kids is each "land" had a wonderful playground area. I mean really, really nice. Asia had a great walking platform that puts you up high. The only thing that was a little disappointing was the restaurant we ate at in the Asia area. We were going to grab something fast in the indoor play area, but it was too slow. Then the restaurant was painfully slow as well. We were dying of thirst at this point. Oh and for those of you new to German travel, be sure to ask for the non fizzy water. You have to specify. The food was good, but very, very expensive for what it was. Even cups of water with straws were expensive. Not sure if you can take your own picnic in. We noticed it was a dog friendly place, but there is a fee to bring your dog in. There were water bowls around for the dogs. Nice gift shop at the front of the park. Would highly recommend this zoo, just be sure you allow lots of time for the large spaces....Oh, the bathrooms were wonderful, clean and spacious, which anyone who travels through Europe will agree is a plus!!