A zoo inside a Moorish palace
The Wilhelma is not a zoo that happens to have some plants. It is a zoological and botanical garden in equal measure, which in practice means you move between animal houses and greenhouses without ever leaving the same grounds. The numbers behind the claim: more than 11,500 animals from about 1,200 species, alongside roughly 7,000 plant species.
The setting is the unusual part. King Wilhelm I of Württemberg had the site built in the 19th century as a private garden complex in the Moorish revival style, all horseshoe arches, filigree ironwork and pavilions. Nothing else in Germany looks like it. Walking through a formal Moorish courtyard on the way to a great ape house is a genuinely strange and pleasant experience.
Where it is and how much time to allow
The address is Wilhelma 13, 70376 Stuttgart, in Bad Cannstatt, the district across the Neckar river that is actually older than Stuttgart itself. The grounds sit next to Rosenstein Park, so a visit combines naturally with Schloss Rosenstein, the neoclassical palace in that park that now houses the natural history collection with its whale skeleton hall.
Budget half a day. This is a large site and the botanical half is easy to underestimate; people who plan two hours regularly end up staying four. Families should count on longer still.
Opening times and admission are set by the Wilhelma itself and vary by season, so check the official site before you go rather than relying on a figure quoted elsewhere.
