Pairi Daiza represents a world full of wonders in Belgium and is the best zoo in Europe by far! My birthday present was a visit to this paradise that is Pairi Daiza and I couldn’t be happier about it!
The zoological park is not your average zoo, the architecture and setting is so life-like, that you won’t even feel like you’re walking in a zoo (if you would be walking there alone that is). There are so many exceptional animals from the five continents, animals that you can’t see in other zoos especially not all fit together.
Let me share my great experience and some practical tips and tricks that will make you enjoy your visit there even more!
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So Many Wonderful Animals – 8 Magnificent Worlds
Where do I begin? Maybe it’s best to share the animals that stood out most to me and if you didn’t read about your favorite, you should definitely check out their website. I will take you with me on my journey through the 8 worlds in Pairi Daiza!
The Middle Kingdom
Let’s start the journey through Pairi Daiza in The Middle Kingdom. Here you can find animals who live in Asia. Go to your left when you enter the park and take a look at the giant panda! It could be sleeping as pandas sleep a lot. For the panda lovers out here, there are more pandas to come and lots of panda shops! There are giant pandas as well as red pandas! Both are such beautiful animals.
The Southern Cape
Next up during our visit was Australia, mate. In this part of Pairi Daiza, some animals come from Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, and New Guinea. The Pelican was posing like a professional so I had to get a picture of him! Unfortunately, I can not share any pictures I took that day because Pairi Daiza won’t allow it… 🙁
Cambron-by-the-Sea
We passed through Cambron-by-the-Sea and spent a little time with the animals over there. Penguins all the way, even walking where we were walking on the same trail, was such fun! The seals are also lovely to watch swim in the water, very relaxing.
Lunchtime
After walking with the penguins, we got a little hungry so we looked for a place to eat. We wanted to eat at Izba because it had great reviews on TripAdvisor but that restaurant was closed. So we went to a place near the train station in the park. It was a place where you could sit on picnic benches and eat a salad or sandwich. We wanted to keep it as cheap as possible but for four people, we still paid 40 euros for a sandwich and a soda each.
During lunchtime, we fed the ducks, birds, and geese that walked around the picnic tables. There was a goose with a crooked beak that I felt really sorry for so he got a little extra love and food :).
Cambron-Abbey – The Steam Train Ride
After lunch, we decided to take the train ride around the park. You have to pay extra to get a ride but it is really worth it! The beautiful views you get and all the animals that you can see from different angles than you would go on foot are great! There is also an audio tape playing with some information about the things you see in French and Dutch. Fun and informative!
You can take amazing pictures while sitting on the train if you have a good camera. The ride is 2 km long and it makes you feel like you’re riding through Jurassic Park in my opinion.
After the train ride, we took a look at all the animals in the area of Cambron-Abbey. There were a lot of birds over there! I didn’t take many pictures of birds because it’s often difficult to take nice pics of them through their cages.
The Land of Origins
When we finished the train ride, we wanted to go back to where we left earlier to eat and continue the exploration of Pairi Daiza.
The animals from The Land of Origins were next and they all come from Africa.
We were so lucky to catch the lions during their feeding time! Big pieces of meat were thrown into their accommodation and we saw some little fights for the best piece of meat.
For the lemurs, we came back during their feeding time later in the afternoon and it was well worth it! They are such athletes jumping from one cord to another to get some food and eat somewhere in peace. If you are lucky, a lemur might even come to sit on your shoulder ;).
I loved seeing the hippos do their thing in the pool! Maybe it was because it was such a hot day and even looking at water worked refreshing. At every animal accommodation, you can always find some more information about them if you are curious and want to learn something about your favorites! If you want to be reading a lot, you might want to spend more than one day in the park.
The Kingdom of Ganesha
The animals from The Kingdom of Ganesha were next and they come from Indonesia. There should also be an otter somewhere in that area but I didn’t find it while I was visiting! Love those cute little animals. If you find them, let me know!
The Land of the Cold
I’m not much of a cold-temperature lover, but these animals are! I really enjoyed watching the polar bears and raccoons in their habitats. I think it’s very nice with the animals who love water that you can also see them from beneath swimming through their pools. The polar bear threw his meat into the water to dive after it! Fun to watch!
The Last Frontier
Last but not least, The Last Frontier! My feet and knees were hurting very much at this point, we walked around 10 km by now so that’s okay. But I still wanted to see the animals in this piece of land! Unfortunately, the battery of my camera died when we came to the fallow deer. These deer were also walking around people and I had my picture taken with one of them!
We took a little break to push through until the end at the Stellar Sea Lions. There are chairs inside the building where you can see them swim underwater and enjoy some quiet.
Practical Tips and Tricks
If you are convinced of visiting Paira Daiza after reading my experience, let me give you some tips for a nice visit.
Preparation
Prepare your trip in advance! Book your tickets online and maybe take a look at their website to see which animals you can see, what activities there are, and where you can eat so you don’t have to do this when you are there. When you are well-prepared, you will probably be more relaxed on the day of your Pairi Daiza visit.
Also, check out how to get there! You can get there by train or by car. If you drive there, follow the signs on the road near the end to show respect towards the park neighbors instead of GPS.
Try to visit the park during less popular times if you want fewer people everywhere. I went on a Friday in September and it was okay. The weather was amazing, maybe a bit too hot, sometimes it felt like we were in Africa for real. When you go during the weekends or holiday periods, the park will be more crowded and for me, this would be less enjoyable.
If you don’t like to rush things and want to spend 30 minutes watching every animal it might be better to book two days with an overnight stay or even more! You can book up to 3 nights!
Wear shoes that are made for walking and maybe even bring some bandages. It is a very big zoo, we easily walked 10 km and did not even see every animal there is to see.
You can bring your lunch with you if you want to save some money because food and drinks are a bit expensive.
Some activities have designated time frames. Check these out on the website before you arrive to not miss any you want to see.
During your visit
Follow a plan or freestyle it but then you might miss a lot of animals. Make sure to take a map at the entrance of the park so you can see where everything is.
It can also come in handy for people who suck at map reading to download the Pairi Daiza app. I only used it at the end because my dad was reading the map. The app can be really helpful for navigation and searching specific animals, activities, or restaurants.
There are plenty of toilets out there so no need to worry about finding one, as well as places to eat or drink. They don’t give you straws in your drinks so you can bring your own or buy reusable ones from them there.
Take your time to enjoy the beautiful surroundings and soak in the magic of where you are. When you are taking a lot of pictures, you might forget to enjoy the moment and watch the animals do their thing.
Enjoy your day at Pairi Daiza!
I would recommend a trip to this zoo to everyone! I really loved it and I would do it again. Unfortunately, I don’t live nearby, otherwise, I would get a subscription for sure.
If you love watching animals, learning new things about them, and spending some time in beautiful environments, this trip is for you!
Enjoy your visit and let me know what you think of this amazing park :).