Knuthenborg Safari Park

Knuthenborg is a private estate near Maribo whose park, enclosed by a wall running for several kilometres, opened as a safari park in 1970. It is the largest of its kind in northern Europe and the format is simple: you drive your own car at walking pace along a route through big paddocks where giraffes, rhinos, zebras, antelope and camels graze, then leave it and walk the enclosures for tigers, wolves and smaller species. The estate parkland itself is old and unusual, with exotic trees planted in the nineteenth century and long avenues between them. Playgrounds and a dinosaur-themed section are included, and the whole thing takes a full day.

What you actually see

• The drive-through - giraffes, rhinos, zebras and antelope alongside your own car.
• The monkey section - a stretch of road where monkeys climb on vehicles, with a bypass for the cautious.
• Tiger and wolf enclosures - walk-through areas with raised viewing platforms.
• The old estate park - nineteenth century exotic trees and long avenues around the route.

When to go

The park opens for the warmer months and closes for much of the winter, so check dates before travelling. Late spring and early autumn combine active animals with short queues. July weekends are the busiest of the year. Rain matters more than it sounds, since half the day is spent on foot.

Honest expectations

You need a car; there is no realistic way to do the drive-through without one, and hire vehicles pick up scratches in the monkey section. Entry is expensive for a family and food inside more so. Distances are long and tiring on foot, animals drift to the far corners of the paddocks in hot weather, and the park is closed for a large part of the year.

Nearby

Maribo and its lakes are just south; the Baltic beaches of Lolland are half an hour away.