Diergaarde Blijdorp

Rotterdam's zoo moved to its present site in 1940, laid out by the architect Sybold van Ravesteyn in a distinctive curving modernist manner with decorative ironwork, and the entrance building, the Rivierahal and several enclosures are protected monuments in their own right - unusual for zoo architecture. The site is divided by a railway cutting into an Asian and an African half, connected by a tunnel. Blijdorp is known for breeding programmes in red pandas, Asian elephants and okapi, and for the Oceanium, a walk-through marine building opened in 2001 following a route from Canadian coast through kelp forest to a Caribbean reef, with a tunnel under the shark tank. The zoo has moved away from small enclosures over decades and rebuilt most of them; some older structures remain and are visibly of their period, which the zoo acknowledges.

What you actually see

• Listed zoo architecture - Van Ravesteyn's 1940 buildings protected as monuments.
• A walk-through Oceanium - Canadian coast to Caribbean reef with a shark tunnel.
• Breeding programmes - red panda, Asian elephant and okapi among them.
• A site split by a railway - Asian and African halves joined by a tunnel.

When to go

April to October. A day.

Honest expectations

Very busy in school holidays and at weekends. Some older enclosures remain and look their age. It is a zoo, with the welfare questions that raises. Parking is limited; the metro is better.

Nearby

Rotterdam's centre is south; the Depot Boijmans is in Museumpark.