Things to do with a toddler: Discover wildlife at NUP Güstrow

It’s quite unlikely that you will spend your summer holidays in Mecklenburg Western Pomerania, the region I grew up in when I lived in Germany, but if you do, make sure that you plan a day at Güstrow’s Natur- und Umweltpark or NUP, if you are local.

We spent an afternoon there when we went to Germany a couple of weeks ago and we had a lovely time. At first I thought that Amy would get bored quite quickly, maybe I was still traumatised from our last trip to the zoo, but she really enjoyed herself. She was pointing at all the animals and waved them goodbye when we made our way to the next enclosure. It was just too cute. Her favourites were the bears Fred and Frode, who live in the largest and most beautiful brown bear plant of Germany and she got so excited when one of the bears started growling.

She couldn’t take the wildcats and wolves in perfectly because we walked across a long wooden bridge that leads directly through the forest they live in and she couldn’t look over the fencing, but there were plenty of other animals for her to discover. There were eagles and owls, colourful pheasants and a big area with sheep and goats that older children can enter to feed the animals. We looked at them from outside the fence though as they were pretty loud and a little to keen to check, if we had any food in our pockets. The Fallow Deers were a little more peaceful, so we spent quite a while looking at them and their impressive antlers. We even found Bambi!

Children will really enjoy the park as there is so much for them to do. There’s an adventure-playground, donkeys and ponies they can ride and a coating plant with bunnies, guinea pigs and an aqua tunnel that gives an insight into the underwater world of the river Nebel. Picnic tables around the park make it a great place for a family day out.

Adults pay 8,50 €, children 4,00 € or you could buy a family ticket for 21,00 € that entitles 2 adults and up to 3 children for entry to the 200 ha big park. We will definitely be back next time. There is so much more to discover!