I’ve already posted about seeing the pandas and sleeping in the resort at Pairi Daiza in 2022, but time for the rest of the park pictures! We spent 1 night and 2 full days here and I think we really made the most of it (despite primarily being there for the pandas), although another day would have been perfect to revisit some of our favourite animals. At the time of our visit, the new entrance was still being constructed – this is now open and there have been some changes in the past 1.5 years so some things may look a little different and there may be different animals in some areas now. I have also posted previously about my first visit to Pairi Daiza back in 2017 – seriously, where did the time go?!
Cambron L’Abbaye
The Cambron L’Abbaye area of the park is where the main entrance opens out into. This area has some glasshouses with more exotic/tropical animals, which we didn’t really get to see too much of as there seemed to be some sort of event happening in this area and it was quite busy. Then there are the farmyard/petting-zoo type animals here which I really liked seeing, it seemed like a lot of visitors skipped over these animals as it was very quiet but I loved seeing the sheep and guinea pigs! As of recently, there is also a renovated farm house that you can stay in as part of the Pairi Daiza Resort, so I think that might be my top choice for my next visit! At the edge of the area was also a mixed exhibit with tapirs, capybaras and an anteater – sadly didn’t see the capybaras (it has been too long since I’ve seen any, I love these animals), but I did spot the anteater, which is a species definitely creeping up my favourites list.
Middle Kingdom
The next area is the Middle Kingdom, which is of course where I spent most time as this is the home of the pandas! The theming in this area is beautiful, the Chinese and Asian inspired architecture looks stunning and really you have no idea that you are in Europe anymore. We really liked the ornate pathways around the water areas and the look of the different ‘islands’ for the different animals. This area has a lot of different animals, we didn’t really spend much time seeing the various primates here, but really enjoyed watching the Asian black bears who were neighbours to Tian Bao (and have since moved slightly to accommodate a new space for Bao Di and Bao Mei), along with the red pandas and the snow leopard.
Cambron-Sur-Mer
The Cambron Sur Mer area is one of the smaller areas in the park but is very pretty with the sea-front vibes on the lake – I just love the lighthouse! This area has a large playground for kids, plus a lovely cafe that I had ice cream at on my first visit. There are only a couple of animals here. Sadly we didn’t see the South African fur seals, but we did catch sight of the harbor seals in the water, just couldn’t catch a good picture of it. And lastly there are the adorable flock of African penguins which were just super cute – their enclosure has a walkthrough path, so you can walk alongside the lake and the penguins. From this area you can also embark on the steam train journey around the park, which was such a highlight – it costs a little extra (I think €6 for an adult), but it was completely worth it.
Austral Cape
The Austral Cape area is also a small space in the park – but this had my favourite (besides the pandas) animal in the park, the wombat! This was the first time I’ve ever seen a wombat, despite looking for them in the zoos I’ve been to which have them, this was such a special moment and it was complete chance that we were at the right place at the right time. The indoor viewing is very small and dark (they are mainly nocturnal animals), and we happened to be there and looking for the wombat when one of the keepers arrived to feed it! He encouraged the wombat out from its burrow with some corn and the interaction between keeper and wombat was super special. There is also a wallaby and kangaroo walkthrough area, which the train also passes through. Another special moment was going to the koala house and seeing Dameeli who was born at Edinburgh Zoo and moved to Pairi Daiza in 2022 – he was still on his own on our visit in October 2023, hopefully he maybe has a friend now?!
Land Of The Origins
The Land Of The Origins is one of the bigger areas in the park with some of the ‘big ticket’ animals here in an African-inspired safari type area. This area also gets a great view on the steam train journey, allowing you a different view of the habitats. There are lions, rhinos, gorillas, hippos, giraffes and lemurs to name a few – this is definitely an area we could have done with more time in to see everything. One of our favourite parts was the lemur walkthrough, here we found one particular lemur enjoying a break sitting on a bench next to another visitor, quite happy with his spot! The giraffes were also a highlight with a young one there when we visited.
Kingdom Of Ganesha
The Kingdom of Ganesha is another large area at the back of the park that you can see from across the lake with its beautiful terrain and architecture. While the main attraction is unarguably the elephants, this area is also home to big cats (although I’m not sure the leopard is there anymore, I don’t see it listed online) with the white tigers a firm favourite, orangutans, otters, porcupines and more. Of the primates, orangutans are definitely at the top of my list, so I loved seeing the groups that they have here, including a very young one which was adorable (sadly no decent pictures though). The steam train also goes around the back of this area, which gives a perfect viewpoint for the elephants.
Land Of The Cold
Besides the pandas, the animals in the Land Of The Cold were the ones I took most pictures of – this is one of the newer areas in the park, so I got the feeling that there was a lot of new animals here with attention on drawing the visitors over to this part of the park. Of course there are the polar bears which you can sleep in a hotel with windows into the enclosure, but you can also do the same with walruses, penguins and tigers – all very special experiences. This was also the first time I had seen walruses and they were very impressive! There are wolves and bison in this area too, but I was also a big fan of the smaller animals – the racoons and skunks were super cute and I loved watching them. Racoons aren’t something I’ve seen a lot of in zoos, the first time was at Beauval in March 2022, so it was good to see them again so soon, and I really liked this wild wooded habitat they had here.
The Last Frontier
And the final area is The Last Frontier which is themed on American species and there is a really nice mix here. I loved seeing the sea lions as it’s been a while, but the brown bears were also amazing and there were so many of them – having a hotel room looking out onto the bears must be so cool! And there are black bears as well in this area, I do wonder if this is a park with the most bear species?! I should look into that^ This was also only the second time I had seen pumas, so it was great to see them again. When we stayed this was the area where ‘Les Tipis’, the hotel guest entrance, entered into, so this was the first part of the park that we explored – it was really nice, for us at least, to see something completely new. While we had been before in 2017, that was quite a whistle-stop one day tour with most of the time at the pandas, and I had been at the start of 2020 for an event so there wasn’t any time for exploring. This is an area which is definitely on the slower pace for bear watching!
Getting to Pairi Daiza
There are plenty of options for travelling to Pairi Daiza. It’s closest major city is Brussels, with the airports and the excellent rail links there are lots of ways to get there. You can then either rent a car to Pairi Daiza, or there is a train station only a 10-15 minute walk from the park – this is what we did and it was very easy. We happened to be there on a day with train strikes, however in that situation it just meant reduced number of trains running so we were still able to get there fine, and only less than an hour after we would have liked had the trains been full service. We had to make a connection on the way (which was easy, no platform switch and only 20 minute wait), but I believe in the Summer months there are direct trains from Brussels to the Pairi Daiza stop (Cambron-Casteau). It was then a very pleasant sign-posted walk through the Belgian countryside. On our way to the park there was also a school group travelling there, so it was easy to follow them and not get lost, and on the way back there were also several other visitors leaving at the 5PM mark and heading to the station.