The wonders of the animal kingdom are on full display at the University of Zurich in their Zoological & Paleontological Museum. And the most amazing thing about this huge museum is that it is free to the public.
This Zurich museum houses a total of over 1500 real stuffed animals with Swiss native animals being the focus on the ground floor when you enter, and more international animals are to be found in the basement below.
Children will be astounded at how up close and personal you can get with all these animals. Some of the animals are seriously life-sized and dominate their displays like the giraffe, hammerhead shark, and minke whale, as well as brown and polar bears.
They will also enjoy seeing animals from faraway continents like Africa, Australia, South America and from the oceans of the world too.
There are also smaller things to explore in the Zoological museum under the magnifying glass and other more interactive exhibits.
The only downside of the Zoological Museum in Zurich is that the exhibition texts are only in German. However, if you have the Google Translate App (iPhone, Android) on your phone, you can always translate on the fly as you go!
There are some other highlights of the Zoological museum I want to point out below, as well as mentioning that there are regular workshops, a children’s corner and movies for you to enjoy as well.
Table of Contents
Animal Sounds
At various points throughout the museum are some places where you can trigger various animal sounds, especially the birds. There are over 300 such animal recordings that you can try as you wander around the museum.
Want To Save This For Later?
We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!
Giant Fossils & Bones
There are also various dinosaur bones and large animal skeletons arranged in their true form to see. And given how large some of them are, they are quite intimidating from below!
The Masterpieces
At the back of the ground floor is a unique red copper room with a unique collection of 50 fossils. They are presented as works of art and are quite jaw-dropping to behold. I have seen fossils before, but some of these were so pristine and clear that it is hard to believe someone did not carve them by hand.
This collection of fossils is actually on loan from the Sauriermuseum Aathal. However, they are generally considered to be a permanent part of the paleontological & zoological exhibition at the University of Zurich.
General Information
| Address | The University of Zurich, Karl Schmid-Strasse 4, Zurich |
| Phone | +41 44 634 38 38 |
| Opening Hours | Tuesday – Sunday, 10 am – 5 pm |
| Price of entry | Free |
| Accessibility | Wheelchair & pram accessible (wide & flat throughout with a lift between floors) |
Getting There
The Zoological Museum of Zurich is generally quite easy to reach as it is right next to the ETH main building, which is walkable from Central and easily reached via public transport.
Public transport: Polybahn Bergstation, trams 6,9,10 to ETH Zentrum/Universitätsspital, Trams 5,6 to Platte, Trams 5, 9 to Kantonsschule
Parking: It is not easy to park near the university but you will find limited parking a Parking USZ Süd.
