Munich kids grow up close to animals: fallow deer at the Hirschgarten fence, goats and ponies on the city's youth farms, and a zoo laid out by continent along the Isar. These are the places we go when ours want to feed an animal or watch one up close. Here's what we checked, from Hellabrunn Zoo to the wild boars in the Grünwald forest.
Hellabrunn sits on the Isar river meadows and was the world's first geozoo: since 1928 its animals have lived grouped by continent, so kids can walk from the African savanna to the polar world in a few steps. More than 500 species live here, from elephants and tigers to penguins and polar bears. A new jungle world covers Asia, and there's a petting area and playgrounds along the way.
A 57-hectare park of native European wildlife along a 4 km forest and meadow trail. Fallow deer and mouflon roam free and walk right up to visitors, and many animals can be petted or fed. The trail passes brown bears, wolves, lynx, wild boar and bison.
By the picnic meadow and kiosk, a big play area has a water playground and a western fort.
SEA LIFE Munich is an indoor aquarium in the Olympiapark, next to the Olympic Tower. A walk-through underwater tunnel runs beneath the tropical ocean tank, home to blacktip reef sharks and Pünktchen, a zebra shark.
Other zones cover the Isar river, the Danube delta, jellyfish, seahorses and a discovery pool. Many tanks sit at floor level, so toddlers can see in without being lifted.
An open children's farm run by a nonprofit, where kids drop in without signing up and pitch in with the goats, chickens, runner ducks, rabbits, guinea pigs and bees.
The 5,000 m² grounds also hold playgrounds, a big pirate ship, a fire pit, a garden, and pottery, forge, wood and bike workshops. Kids don't feed the animals or enter the pens alone; staff help them get to know one.
A city farm and adventure playground on about 15,000 m², more than two soccer fields, with ponies, goats, sheep, pigs, rabbits and cats. Kids roam the grounds on their own: a treehouse, a play hill, fire pits, a woodworking shop, a garden and a pond for chilling out.
Staff run hands-on projects and seasonal parties, and regulars can sign up to help with stable and animal care.
Gut Riem is the city of Munich's organic teaching farm: a quiet farmyard ringed by meadows, pasture, fields and an orchard. Its MitmachStall barn is home to cattle, pigs, sheep, donkeys and small animals.
Kids pitch in with the daily chores, feeding the sheep and cows, bedding down the pigs and gathering greens for the rabbits. In September they pick up potatoes behind the tractor and take a sack home.
A forest education center run by the Bavarian forestry office in the Grünwald Forest. Its 2.8 km loop trail starts at the main building, passes the wild boar enclosure and has 13 stations, including a barefoot path, sounding logs, a sound labyrinth, a climate arboretum and an adventure playground.
There is also a biodiversity exhibition, an insect house, an ant trail and a yearly program of guided forest walks.
Königlicher Hirschgarten has been a deer park since 1780, and its two-hectare enclosure of fallow deer and mouflon is still the main draw: kids can feed them, following the signs on the fence.
The south end has the elephant playground, with a huge sandbox and elephant slide, plus a water playground with a water slide. There's also a climbing tower, a small skate park, sledding hills and Munich's largest beer garden.
Munich kids grow up close to animals: fallow deer at the Hirschgarten fence, goats and ponies on the city's youth farms, and a zoo laid out by continent along the Isar. These are the places we go when ours want to feed an animal or watch one up close. Here's what we checked, from Hellabrunn Zoo to the wild boars in the Grünwald forest.
Hellabrunn sits on the Isar river meadows and was the world's first geozoo: since 1928 its animals have lived grouped by continent, so kids can walk from the African savanna to the polar world in a few steps. More than 500 species live here, from elephants and tigers to penguins and polar bears. A new jungle world covers Asia, and there's a petting area and playgrounds along the way.
A 57-hectare park of native European wildlife along a 4 km forest and meadow trail. Fallow deer and mouflon roam free and walk right up to visitors, and many animals can be petted or fed. The trail passes brown bears, wolves, lynx, wild boar and bison.
By the picnic meadow and kiosk, a big play area has a water playground and a western fort.
SEA LIFE Munich is an indoor aquarium in the Olympiapark, next to the Olympic Tower. A walk-through underwater tunnel runs beneath the tropical ocean tank, home to blacktip reef sharks and Pünktchen, a zebra shark.
Other zones cover the Isar river, the Danube delta, jellyfish, seahorses and a discovery pool. Many tanks sit at floor level, so toddlers can see in without being lifted.
An open children's farm run by a nonprofit, where kids drop in without signing up and pitch in with the goats, chickens, runner ducks, rabbits, guinea pigs and bees.
The 5,000 m² grounds also hold playgrounds, a big pirate ship, a fire pit, a garden, and pottery, forge, wood and bike workshops. Kids don't feed the animals or enter the pens alone; staff help them get to know one.
A city farm and adventure playground on about 15,000 m², more than two soccer fields, with ponies, goats, sheep, pigs, rabbits and cats. Kids roam the grounds on their own: a treehouse, a play hill, fire pits, a woodworking shop, a garden and a pond for chilling out.
Staff run hands-on projects and seasonal parties, and regulars can sign up to help with stable and animal care.
Gut Riem is the city of Munich's organic teaching farm: a quiet farmyard ringed by meadows, pasture, fields and an orchard. Its MitmachStall barn is home to cattle, pigs, sheep, donkeys and small animals.
Kids pitch in with the daily chores, feeding the sheep and cows, bedding down the pigs and gathering greens for the rabbits. In September they pick up potatoes behind the tractor and take a sack home.
A forest education center run by the Bavarian forestry office in the Grünwald Forest. Its 2.8 km loop trail starts at the main building, passes the wild boar enclosure and has 13 stations, including a barefoot path, sounding logs, a sound labyrinth, a climate arboretum and an adventure playground.
There is also a biodiversity exhibition, an insect house, an ant trail and a yearly program of guided forest walks.
Königlicher Hirschgarten has been a deer park since 1780, and its two-hectare enclosure of fallow deer and mouflon is still the main draw: kids can feed them, following the signs on the fence.
The south end has the elephant playground, with a huge sandbox and elephant slide, plus a water playground with a water slide. There's also a climbing tower, a small skate park, sledding hills and Munich's largest beer garden.
