We love the Zurich zoo, but sometimes it’s nice to see something different and have a little adventure. Even in rainy weather, we had a fun time at the Basel zoo. We particularly liked their aquarium, which is much larger than at the Zurich zoo, with many more types of sea creatures. I would go again just to visit the aquarium. The rest of the zoo was pretty standard. We appreciated their affordable family price, for about the price of two adults, all of their children get free entrance. Overall, it’s not amazing, but a pretty good zoo with an above average aquarium.
| Location: | Basel, Northwest Switzerland |
| Address: | , Switzerland |
| Car: | ~1hr from Zurich |
| Train: | ~1hr from Zurich to Basel main station then 600 m walk to zoo |
| Open: | |
| Tickets (2020): | Adult CHF 21, Child CHF 10, under 6 free Family ticket CHF 43 for 2 parents and all children |
| More info: |
Getting There
Basel Zoo is easily accessible by car or public transportation.
By car: drive to l, following signs to the zoo once you enter Basel. There is a parking garage adjacent to the zoo.
By public transport: take a train to Basel, then about a 8 min walk (600m) to the zoo entrance. I recommend taking public transport as it adds a bit to the adventure. It’s convenient as the main train station is very close to the Basel train station (about 700m) or you can take a tram (10 and 17) directly to the zoo entrance. SBB.ch has a combo offer for travel and zoo entrance.
Impressions
Here is the main entrance to Basel Zoo.
A look inside the aquarium. This was our favorite part of the zoo. However, the penguin exhibit wasn’t as nice as Zurich and quite dirty.
We liked these sea worms or whatever they are.
The jellyfish were fascinating, another thing we don’t have at the Zurich zoo.
The gorilla/monkey house was a little cramped and sad, but about the same as in Zurich.
This fun climbing structure is directly across from the monkeys, so after observing the monkeys, you can play just like them. More fun in drier weather.
The lion exhibit was super cool because it had these large plate glass windows lining the enclosure. At Zurich, it’s hard to see the lions behind all the plants. The lions would sometime come right up to the glass and it would seem they would jump right on us.
Some of the animals we were excited to see because we don’t have them in Zurich: giraffe, prairie dog, snow leopard.
My kids enjoyed the short sea lion show, which is something we don’t have in Zurich.
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