Kolmården Zoo and Safari Park

Kolmården is one of Sweden's most popular attractions, a large zoo and wildlife park set in forested hills northeast of Norrköping. The animal collection is extensive — African savanna, primate habitats, a dolphin show, and a nature reserve section where you travel by cable car over the park — and the setting among tall pines gives it a very different feel from urban zoos. Wolves, bears, and lynx occupy large natural enclosures in the forest section.

The park is genuinely large and worth a full day; arrive when it opens and plan your route in advance. There is a safari section where you drive or take a bus through enclosures with giraffes and rhinos. The cable car over the entire park gives the best overview of the layout. Kolmården is about 35 km from Norrköping by car or bus, and there are regular services from the city.

things to do sight
A story
Kolmården opened in 1965 and was one of the first drive-through safari parks in Europe. The original concept — African savanna animals roaming freely through a Swedish forest — struck many people as absurd. It turned out to work remarkably well; the zoo has expanded steadily over 60 years and is now one of Scandinavia's largest and most respected animal parks, with a strong conservation focus.