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Throughout our go to to Lourdes, France, we stumbled upon a hidden gem, the Parc Animalier Des Pyrénées (in English: the Animal Park of the Pyrenees).

This was certainly one of our favourite stops on our monthlong motorhome journey throughout France. We’ve visited a handful of zoos with our children, however this one was the favourite for a number of causes. If you happen to’re in France and visiting Lourdes, this can be a place you should go to with children.
The place is the Parc Animalier Des Pyrénées?
The Parc Animalier Des Pyrénées is situated only a 10-minute drive from the city of Lourdes, France. We used Lourdes as a house base for visiting each the Animal Park of the Pyrenees in addition to the Pyrenees Nationwide Park. That is a fully beautiful space that we spent a number of days exploring.
What We Beloved Concerning the Parc Animalier Des Pyrénées
Our first exhibit of the day: Otters
1. The intentional format of the zoo.
Quite a lot of zoo layouts are just like theme park layouts. You stroll by way of the doorway solely to be bombarded by ten completely different doable routes. Which path is one of the best? If we go see the giraffes first will we nonetheless make it to the ocean lion present at 11 AM?
This wasn’t a dialog on the Parc Animalier Des Pyrénées as a result of there is just one path.
Whereas this would possibly sound limiting, it was truly nice. We by no means needed to query if we had been lacking out on one other space of the zoo, we simply merely loved every exhibit alongside the best way.
2. The subtleness from the street.
If you happen to drove from Lourdes into the Nationwide Park of the Pyrenees, it might be very simple to overlook the Parc Animalier Des Pyrénées. From the street, you’ll be able to principally see a big, well-designed constructing nestled proper up towards the steep hillside. Nonetheless, when you’re inside it feels the other of small. There’s loads of room within the reveals and far more animals than we anticipated inside.
The strolling paths had been so steep!
3. Your zoo go to will double as a exercise.
Whereas this was our favourite zoo we’ve ever visited, it was additionally the steepest (by a LOT).
Put on strolling sneakers! Flip flops had been a foul concept.
By the tip of the day I tremendously regretted carrying my flip-flops. We introduced a double stroller (an excellent concept) because it allowed us to simply transport the children alongside. If we hadn’t, we might have ended up with a double exercise from carrying the youngsters.
These views had been unimaginable.
4. Essentially the most superb views from a zoo.
Since you climb so excessive, you’ve gotten an unimaginable vantage level all through a lot of your zoo go to. You’ll be capable of see out for miles when you attain the highest of the zoo earlier than winding your means again down. (We additionally cherished the views we bought from a few of our campsites in France, when you’re visiting in a motorhome!)
The bears had been an in depth encounter, to say the least.
5. The BEARS had been insane.
I’ve by no means been so near a bear in my life. EVER. It was a little bit alarming at first, however the bear exhibit was exhilarating. You rise up shut and private. Quick. I needed to do a double look to ensure there was sufficient barrier between us and them. They had been shockingly shut!
As an added bonus, when you aren’t in a rush you’ll be able to truly keep the evening with the bears (or wolves) in lodging offered by the zoo. If we hadn’t been in our RV I might have significantly thought of doing this. Opening your window to a couple bears within the morning seemed like a enjoyable journey.
How Lengthy Does it take to Go to Parc Animalier Des Pyrénées?
We spent roughly three hours strolling across the zoo and felt like we’d seen all the pieces we hoped to see. We may have simply spent extra time there, however we visited within the low season and the eating places had been closed. We needed to depart for lunch!
On the zoo entrance subsequent to the restaurant
What are the meals choices?
Once we visited, the restaurant on the entrance of the zoo was open, however the eating choices contained in the zoo weren’t. We visited in October throughout a weekday so I assume when you go on a weekend or throughout summer time you’ll have a number of choices for eating. The restaurant on the entrance of the zoo had a number of scorching meals choices or simple morning snacks, relying on the time of day you go to.
Touring to Parc Animal Park of the Pyrenees
It was a very simple 10-Quarter-hour to the Parc Animalier Des Pyrénées from our campground in Lourdes. We weaved by way of some lovely and winding mountain roads earlier than arriving.
We had been one of many first company to reach.
Parking at Parc Animalier Des Pyrenees
The parking zone at Parc Animalier Des Pyrénées was very giant. They even had motorhome parking for 2 RVs close to the again of the parking zone.
Planning a Go to to Animalier Des Pyrénées
You don’t want to purchase tickets forward of time or reserve a time to go to. We visited in late fall and it wasn’t crowded in any respect and the climate was good. Bear in mind to put on strolling sneakers, carry a stroller when you’ve got younger children, and convey water and snacks. You’ll be climbing uphill for many reveals and be grateful that you just ready!

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