Burgers Zoo

Burgers Zoo built its reputation on ecodisplays: large covered halls in which a whole climate is recreated and you walk through it rather than past it. Bush is a tropical rainforest under glass, humid and dim, with birds loose overhead and paths crossing the canopy floor. Desert is a dry canyon landscape. Ocean is a coral reef aquarium ending in a long tunnel, and Mangrove adds a tidal forest with its own tides. Outside them, a safari section holds savanna animals in open paddocks and Rimba covers Southeast Asian species. The scale means a full day and several kilometres of walking, and because so much of it is under cover the place works in the weather this country actually has.

What you actually see

• Bush - a covered tropical rainforest hall with free-flying birds and a path through the undergrowth.
• Ocean - a large coral reef aquarium with a walk-through tunnel and open surface tanks.
• Desert - a covered dry landscape of rock and cactus with its own reptiles and birds.
• Safari - open savanna paddocks viewed from raised walkways, the outdoor half of the day.

When to go

Open year-round, and the covered halls make it a rare wet-weather option. Dutch school holidays and sunny weekends bring long queues at the gate and congestion inside the halls. A weekday outside holidays is far more comfortable. Arrive at opening if you want the rainforest hall before it fills with school groups.

Honest expectations

Tickets and parking together are steep for a family. The tropical halls are hot and humid and become unpleasant when crowded, especially in summer. The site is large and the walking is real, with limited shortcuts once you commit to a route. Animals in the big enclosures often stay out of sight, and the ocean hall is dark, noisy and slow-moving when busy.

Nearby

The Hoge Veluwe and the Veluwezoom heath are both a short drive from the zoo, with Arnhem in between.