Editor in chief at IamExpat Media
Spring is here, good weather is just around the corner, and it’s time to get outside to soak up the fresh air and sunshine. If you’re searching around for an outdoor activity suitable for the whole family, have you considered visiting one of Germany’s beautiful butterfly parks? Here’s a roundup of our favourite eight of these exotic locations - full of tropical blossoms, fascinating plants, creepy crawlies and - of course - winged beauties!
Experience the jungle year-round at this one-of-a-kind experience at Biosphäre Potsdam, Brandenburg, in a tropical landscape packed with more than 20.000 plants, exotic animals, a treetop trail, and even an hourly thunderstorm! In the butterfly house, you can wander among the free-flying insects in multiple colours, and learn about the different stages of butterfly life.
The butterfly house in ElbauenPark in Magdeburg, Saxony-Anhalt, is kept at a balmy 28 degrees celcius and lets you get up close and personal with around 200 different species of butterflies from all across the world, as well as fish, birds, reptiles and other insects. Once you’re done with creepy crawlies, the enormous park is fit for a fabulous family day out, complete with beautiful manicured gardens, playgrounds, a petting zoo, and a maze. There’s even a barbecue area for grilling your own food.
Image credit: Andreas Lander / © NKE GmbH
Dive into a tropical world with hundreds of flying butterflies and other creatures at the Alaris Schmetterlingspark in Buchholz. Alaris also has three other butterfly parks in Uslar (Lower Saxony), Wittenberg (Saxony-Anhalt), and Sassnitz (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern). Join a tour to learn about the stages of a butterfly’s development and, with a bit of luck, you’ll be there to see a beautiful specimen hatch!
Located in Bavaria, this paradise of flying gems offers a warm, humid climate to tropical guests such as the atlas moth, comet moth, passion fruit moth and many more. At Allgäuer Schmetterling Erlebniswelt, wander through the tropical plants to observe the beautiful butterflies flying, feeding and mating. If you stand super still, one might even land on you!
Video: YouTube / Live4
The second-largest butterfly house in Germany, Schmetterlingshaus is certainly something special. Located on Mainau - a beautiful island in Lake Constance, Baden-Württemberg, known as “flower island” for its fragrant gardens that bloom all year round - the butterfly house attracts millions of visitors a year. The exotic landscape inside the greenhouses is packed with 120 different free-flying tropical butterflies, some of them with wingspans of up to 30 centimetres, as well as other flora and fauna.
The Garden of Butterflies, near Aumühle in Schleswig-Holstein, is a 450-square-metre glasshouse, kept at a pleasant 26 degrees and packed with over 1.000 butterflies. Alongside the magical jungle inside the greenhouse, there is a spacious outdoor area with well-laid-out gardens and a cafe for refreshments.
Take a journey into a tropical paradise, filled with palm and banana trees, trickling waterfalls and colourful flashes from exotic butterflies all across the world! As well as a room of free-flying butterflies, the Garten der Schmetterlinge at Sayn Castle promises a caterpillar house full of tiny butterfly eggs, hungry caterpillars, and cocoons about to transform.
There’s also an insectarium full of tarantulas, snakes, and other exotic pets - if you dare to enter! Outside, there are some glorious gardens and places to picnic, with wonderful views of the castle.
The largest butterfly house in North Rhine-Westphalia, the Schmetterlingshaus at Maximilianpark in Hamm contains up to 80 different butterfly species from South and Central America, Africa, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, which fly freely through the 450 square-metre space, some of them larger than the palm of your hand!