If you have a fluffy, purring roommate with pointy ears and elegant whiskers, you are bound to visit a pet shop someday. Within The Hague city district Escamp we have Avonturia De Vogelkelder, the largest pet shop of the Benelux. Or actually, the largest all-in-one pet shop, veterinary clinic, mini-zoo and brasserie.

A place to be
As can be deduced from its name, founder Jan Huybers started Avonturia De Vogelkelder in 1976 with a cluster of hobby birds in the cellar of his home (in English: vogel = bird and kelder = cellar.)  Nowadays, his sons own a 8000 m² space that’s almost overwhelming… Avonturia offers many activities, like tasting 24 types of loose tea or cracking 80-million-year-old geodes. In the bird pond you find graceful small flamingos and in the mini-zoo Mappa Mundia you see dwarf monkeys, meerkats and desert foxes.

The petshop itself is divided into 6 separate worlds, namely a fish-, reptile-, rodent-, bird-, cat-, and dogworld. Being a tabby owner, I am of course mostly interest in Avonturias product range for cats. During my last visit, I spotted not only the usual pet shop stuff like food bowls and treats but also the mysterious cat drink pawsecco… In short: Avonturia is the absolute place to be for any crazy cat lady and any other type of genuine animal lover. 🙂