Looking for an alternative to Disneyland Paris? We visited Europa Park in Germany whilst visiting the Black Forest region and had an epic couple of days exploring Europe’s premier theme park!
Europa Park
Europa Park is the biggest theme park in Germany and the third most visited in Europe (after Disneyland Paris and Efteling). It has been voted ‘best theme park in the world’ for eight years running by US magazine Amusement Today. And the stats really back up that title with eighteen themed areas and over 100 rides. Covering over 95 hectares the park includes six hotels, a camping site, a teepee village, a cinema and a conference centre. Plus, next door your have Rulantica, and epic waterpark that opened in 2019.
A Day of Adventure
We purchased single days passes which were €69 for adults and €59 for adults. We choose to save some money and stay off resort, in an Booking.com property in the nearby town of Rust. This location was super convenient, just a 10 minute drive to the park.
The theme park car parks were an easy walk to the main entrance and car parking cost €10 a day which was pre-bookable. We visited in the last week of August, and have found that this is a great time to visit some of Europe’s bigger attractions because a lot of European schools have already started their Autumn terms. As we discovered on a previous trip to Legoland in Billund, Denmark we had the place to ourselves!
Europe Park is spread across seventeen European themed areas and three fantasy lands. As you enter the main street you are transported into a different world! We started our journey in ‘Ireland’ – and yes, there were a lot of clichés – but it great fun! Greece, with it’s white-walled houses and cobbled streets was very realistic. We loved ‘England’ complete with a traditional pub and London bus. Italy (or Venice) was also like stepping into the city itself, complete with canals but less tourists!
Although Europa Park is big it is easy to navigate and travel around because of both a mono-rail system and overground train. We made good use of these to save little legs from getting too tired and to quickly move around the different lands.
There is a great selection of rides for all ages. The number of rides with the tallest height requirements are minimal and many rides can be enjoyed by smaller children, with an adult accompanying them. This is brilliant when you have kids of a mixture of ages. No one feels left out!
Our ride highlights included:
Fjord-Rafting in Scandinavia
Water rollercoaster Poseidon in Greece
Pegasus in Greece
Atlantica SuperSplash in Portugal
Pirates in Batavia
We had lunch in ‘Spain’ and enjoyed the set special for around €20 a head. The doughnuts from a ‘traditional’ bakery in England were also delicious!
Europe Park is a fantastic day out. Because of a lack of crowds and minimal queues we rode on every ride that we were able too. The refreshment options were excellent and the prices sensible. The ticket price is very good value for money and we highly recommend!