Hanover offers some spectacular gardens, a preeminent zoo and beautiful nature parks that are sure to delight those in need of some serenity and natural beauty.
Hannover Adventure Zoo
At the Hannover Adventure Zoo, you will find over 2,600 animals, including the ever-popular elephant, ferocious rhinos, bright pink flamingos, large birds of prey and the adorable sea lion.
The zoo is divided into different habitats: the Sambezi (African savanna), Gorilla Mountain and the Jungle Palace. Each of these areas is a beautiful, recreated environment where you can see these creatures living as if they were still in the wild.
Herrenhausen Gardens
This Hanover nature park is also the city’s biggest attraction. We can thank Sophia, the Princess Palatine of the Rhine in 1692 to 1714 for Hanover’s national treasure, the Herrenhausen Gardens.
These are actually made up of several smaller gardens: the Great Garden, Berggarten, Welfengarten and Georgengarten. The Great Garden is a masterpiece of Baroque sensibilities with its hedges and statues arranged in geometrical patterns. The Georgengarten and the Welfengarten are English gardens, while the Berggarten was originally a vegetable garden.
Today these landscapes are immensely popular with Hanover citizens as well as tourists who travel from all around the globe to view this famous park.
Wisentgehege Springe
This Hanover nature park offers a very unique treat. Here at Wisentgehege Springe, you can observe over 100 species of wild animal including bison, otters, wolves and brown bears.
Tiergarten
Another popular Hanover nature park is the Tiergarten. This is a forest that was “created” in 1674 by Duke Johan Friedrich as a hunting reserve for deer and other animals. He never lived to see its first hunt, and nowadays this is a refuge for wild animals.
Come here to see fallow deer, bats and a variety of birds, or simply to enjoy the silence and beauty of the ancient trees. In the winter, you can even feed acorns to some of the animals here.
