Artis Royal Zoo In Amsterdam

Since I moved to Amsterdam, I’ve been recommended to visit Holland’s biggest Planetarium and Zoo called the Artis Royal Zoo. For many Amsterdam visitors and inhabitants the Artis Royal Zoo is more than just a Zoo. It’s more like a very remarkable spot where nature, culture, knowledge and pleasure come together.

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The map of Zoo you can get for €2 at the entrance gate.

Although I felt a bit disappointed with the place, I still want to recommend it as a weekend getaway for families with kids.

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Birds!

Why disappointed? After playing with tigers in Thailand or feeding elephants in Sri Lanka, seeing Artis Royal Zoo animals species (there are approximately 750 of them), such as zebras, giraffes, elephants and chimpanzees was not that exciting. Nevertheless, I spent a nice afternoon there accompanied by my partner.

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Trying to find Nemo.

About Artis Royal Zoo

The name of the Zoo, Natura Artis Magistra, stands for a Latin phrase “Nature is the teacher of art and science”. Located in the city center of Amsterdam, it is the oldest zoo in the Netherlands.

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Show of the day!

It contains an aquarium, a planetarium as well as arboretum and a fairly large art collection and over 27 monumental buildings, most of which are used as enclosures for the animals, making Artis a unique cultural heritage of the 19th century.

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So cute!

Apart from the animals, visitors can visit Artis Library on the history of zoology and botany. With an impressive number of 20,000 books collected, it is a true knowledge source for kids and adults. The library is part of the special collections of the University of Amsterdam, where I did my Master’s Degree in New Media and Digital culture 2014-2015.

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Spiders.

Location

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Plantage Kerklaan 38-40, 1018 CZ Amsterdam

Opening hours

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No, wait! I found Nemo. The grumpy one.

Monday – Sunday 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM 

See also  Moving To Amsterdam: Dutch Healthcare

Tickets price

0 – 2 years – free entrance  | Youth (3 – 9 year) – €16,50 | Normal (10+) – €19,95

Do you feel like adding the Artis Royal Zoo to your Amsterdam bucket list?

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Agness Walewinder
Agness Walewinder
Travel freak, vagabond, photography passionate, blogger, life enthusiast, backpacker, adventure hunter and endless energy couchsurfer living by the rule "Pack lite, travel far and live long!"
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15 thoughts on “Artis Royal Zoo In Amsterdam”

  1. Avatar of Shikha (whywasteannualleave)

    Shame you found it a little disappointing but I know what you mean, when you have had wildlife experiences out in countries like Asia or Africa, it can be difficult to still be impressed by zoo experiences but like you say, it can still be a fun experience for families and children etc.

  2. Avatar of Anna @ shenANNAgans

    I have heard of this zoo, but I really don’t get into zoo’s, so never get around to visiting them when I travel. Looks pretty cool tho, except for the spiders, holy moly…. almost threw my laptop. Give a girl some warning. Gahhhh, shudder, cannot handle spiders.

  3. Avatar of Vanessa @ The Travelling Colognian

    I can totally understand that you were disappointed with Artis Royal Zoo, Agness, after having encountered tigers and Thailand and elephants in Sri Lanka. It makes such a difference to see animals in “wild” than in a zoo. But despite my own visits to the Giant Panda Breeding Sanctuary in Chengdu and the Sepilok Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in Borneo plus having seen elephants and several other exotic animals in the wild, I still like to visit the zoo and aquarium in Cologne, at least sometimes. I’ll definitely put Artis Royal Zoo on the list of places to visit when coming to Amsterdam. Thank you so much for this post and for the recommendation. :)

  4. Avatar of Wanderer Wannabe

    I’ve never been in the artis zoo, I do like the zoo in my city, but I never saw the zoos as a place to go if I’m on a trip. Even if it could be interesting, I don’t know, next time that I’ll go to Amsterdam I’ll think about it.:)

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