Zoo Leipzig

Zoo Leipzig sits on 26 hectares just north of the city centre, a short tram ride from the Hauptbahnhof along Pfaffendorfer Strasse, and it rewards a full day rather than a rushed afternoon. Founded in 1878, it has the bones of a grand Victorian institution but has been extensively reimagined, and the difference between its older corners and its flagship modern enclosures is stark enough to notice.

The two exhibits that set it apart from most European zoos are Pongoland and Gondwanaland. Pongoland is a serious scientific facility — home to one of the world's largest great ape research programmes, run jointly with the Max Planck Institute — where you can watch chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orang-utans working through cognitive tasks in naturalistic enclosures designed for genuine behavioural complexity, not just display.

It feels meaningfully different from a standard primate house. Gondwanaland, the enormous tropical hall opened in 2011, recreates a Cretaceous-era rainforest under glass: free-flying birds, giant fruit bats, pygmy hippos and Komodo dragons share a humid, convincingly layered landscape. Allow at least an hour inside alone, though the heat and noise can overwhelm small children by early afternoon.

The African savannah section houses a strong lion pride in a well-designed landscape, and lion feeding times — usually mid-morning — draw predictable crowds, so arrive early or accept the scrum. The zoo is largely pushchair-friendly on its main paths, though some older sections are uneven underfoot.

Summers get busy from late morning; arriving at opening (9 a.m.) gives you Gondwanaland largely to yourself and the best light for photographs in the ape enclosures.