One of Swedens most wellknown Zoo’s is Kolmården, situated at the shore of Bråviken since 1965, with a dolphinarium which opened as early as in 1969. We have been there several times during the years, but recently we went there again to check what has changed.
They claim to be the biggest wildlife park in Scandinavia and I actually hope that it’s not the truth, because I found it to be smaller than I remembered. Of course the last time I went there I was really young and now when I’m old (lol) everything seem smaller to me…
Description of the wildlife park features:
- Around 750 wild attractions
- The world’s first Safari Wildlife Park gondola
- Marine World including the dolphin show Life
- Tiger World with Siberian tigers
- Gorilla Island
- Childrens Farm
- Aquarium (outside the entrance)
The main reason for us going there again was the new dolphin show called Life, which took them 1.5 year to get ready, filled with facts about dolphins and with a message about the life at the earth and the environment, matched with music from ET, Superman, Lejonkungen och Titanic.
I recommend going there when it’s not so very hot summer weather since then the animals are getting too lazy and hide in the shadows to keep comfortable. In the end of July there was a little elephant male born for the first time at Kolmården, so if you go there now you get to see the little one.
The one thing that impressed us the most was the rather new Safari Cable Gondolas with digital guiding in different languages which went around all the park (2640 m) making the best view to see animals up close from above. The only way we did see the lions and the bears, so that was great. You also get really close to the Giraffes since they are so tall!
Kolmården Zoo have had several serious incidents with wolf attacks and even one of the caretakers of the wolfs killed in 2012, so they stopped letting visitors in to the wolfs. Earlier it was possible to buy a wolf visit as a birthday gift. I was even considering it myself once since I got a giftcard that was valid for it.
You do have the opportunity to book a closer meeting with the dolphins instead, but of course that is a more expensive alternative and you are not actually allowed to swim with them, just to have close contact.
If you are going there with kids, I recommend taking a day extra and either stay over the night at the nearby Vildmarkshotellet (Wildlife Hotel) for your own comfort or choose the more adventure way for the kids: the Safari Camp with it’s African style inside Kolmården, bringing your own sleeping bag. That way you get closer to the wildlife – if you are there under the right time during the summer.
If you want another budget alternative; why not stay at another camping area…? You can find campings around Kolmården at the Swedish Camping Map.
How to get there:
if going by car you have about 1,5 hour driving to do from Stockholm, you can follow signs from the E4. Or you can take bus or train, the InterCity train stops at Kolmården station. How to book the best train tickets, have a look at our Ultimate Train Travel Guide.
If flying directly nearby, you have the Stockholm Skavsta Airport or Norrköping Airport which offer good connections to Kolmården.
Be sure to check the opening hours, because it’s shifting depending on the time you go there. The Zoo is mostly open in the summer time or early autumn.
TIPS! Save the entrance ticket to Kolmården since it gives you 30% off at any of the other Parks and Resorts in Sweden – comes in handy if you as an example want to go to the Gröna Lund Tivoli or Aquaria in Stockholm.
You can see more of Lifecruiser Kolmården photos at Flickr.
©Lifecruiser Love Wildlife Parks
