These are great days for theme parks, at home and abroad. Universal Studios has announced plans to transform Bedfordshire, England, into a 700-acre movie fan’s utopia. The original Legoland is now easier to reach with new flights from London Gatwick to Billund, Denmark. And Efteling in the Netherlands is opening its first fully-fledged hotel within the theme park this summer. In many others, you’ll notice more creativity and technical wizardry, more commitment to sustainability and healthier food options, and an overwhelming focus on quality over quantity. More whizz-bang-pop, basically.
But there’s one European theme park — a colossus in roller coaster terms — that most Brits haven’t even heard of. Europa-Park is located in Rust, Germany, almost at the triangulation point between Freiburg im Breisgau, Strasbourg and Basel, and, this year, it’s celebrating its 50th birthday. Come for the anniversary on 12 July, and the gates will be open for 24 hours.
Read more: We swapped Disneyland Paris for a cheaper Dutch theme park – and my kids preferred it
Theme park newbies might scoff at the thought of going anywhere else apart from Europe’s most-visited theme park — that’s Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, for the uninitiated — but enter into the spirit of post-Brexit travel and there’s something for every mood in the Baden-Württemberg borderlands.
If you don’t fancy the Grimm Brothers’ vibe of the fairy tale Germany area (which includes a flying theatre), there’s France to explore with a Moulin Rouge-themed can-can coaster. Switzerland boasts a bobsled run, while in Iceland, there is a Norse saga wooden coaster. And there are 16 other areas of attractions to explore. Portugal has a water ride that winds through a Conquistador-era temple before climbing above a panorama of noodling rides and then plunging off a heart-stopping 30m drop. Croatia, the park’s newest area, which opened last year, has Voltron Nevera, a steel jumble of inversions and corkscrews that takes as its premise Nikola Tesla’s hair-raising electricity experiments. A mussed-up hairdo is guaranteed.
Read more: Inside the Disneyland Paris hotel, complete with £9,000 a night Frozen suite
You’ll quickly learn the Germans are crazy about theme parks, so it’s quite a shock to zoom into what feels like the ether on Silver Star, the park’s tallest, longest and fastest coaster at 79 miles per hour. Afterwards, you’ll want to calm down on Italy’s easy-going pedal monorail or get a pint in Ireland (only German beers, but that’s a bonus). Perhaps, it’s also because of its manageable visitor numbers — six million compared to almost double that at Disneyland Paris — that Europa-Park is so gratifying.
If the theme park’s opening on 12 July 1975 brought a shot in the arm to a part of Germany bypassed by visitors, this anniversary year feels like a victory lap. Among the big news from the park’s owners, the Mack family, is this summer’s release of Grand Prix of Europe, the first feature-length film starring the park’s two furry mascots, Edda and Ed Euromous. The Warner Bros.-backed animation features the likes of Hayley Atwell, Gemma Arterton, Lenny Henry and Rob Beckett, but the immediate tie-up inside the park is the new interactive 3D dark ride in the Gameplay Theatre.
Read more: The best theme parks in the UK
Other draws for the rest of this year are a calendar of new shows (the standout is the horsemanship of The Legend of Zorro in the Spanish amphitheatre), a new party piece parade and the creation of a sculpture avenue in the town of Rust. All of this somehow acts as a tribute — and portal — to the past half century.
Read more: What it’s like to visit Disneyland with an autistic child
Accommodation-wise, meanwhile, new rooms are on offer at the Wild West-themed Silver Lake City, with dozens of period-detail cabins and caravan pitches, a gold rush-type bar and mini golf. This being Germany, a brewery will also arrive in 2026.
Inevitably, given that there are themed lands dedicated to most of Europe — Liechtenstein has a themed balloon ride, Luxembourg has a restaurant where food arrives on looping rails, and Monaco will debut as the newest themed land in 2026 — you’ll be wondering about the UK’s place in things. The bad news is it’s clumsily packaged as England (sorry, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), but here there is plenty of low-hanging fruit for younger kids.
After riding the spinning Hackney black cabs, it’s an easy transition onto the top deck of a pendulum-swinging London double-decker. Among other things, there’s a replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, and with a carousel of shows playing throughout the park, it’s the ideal place for a breather between the freneticism of dangling upside down or racing with a VR headset on.
As the coaster riding ends most evenings around 6pm, most people begin to leave, but the smart move if you’re not staying overnight is to grab dinner at one of the themed restaurants in one of the six surrounding themed hotels. Highlights a short walk away are inside the medieval Spanish tower Castillo Alcazar and the pizzeria overlooking Hotel Colosseo’s piazza. With tiered seating, faux arches and fountains, it’s a hokey version of Rome, but one delightfully free of the same summer crowds.
In short, it’s a rollercoaster of a ride and well worth a trip. As it was for its first visitors 50 years ago.
Mike MacEacheran travelled as a guest of Visit Germany (germany.travel) and Europa-Park (europapark.de/en).
How to get there
Fly to Basel with Ryanair from Stansted, easyJet from Luton and Gatwick or British Airways from Heathrow. From Basel, take a train to Freiburg Hauptbahnhof, then another to Ringsheim/Europa-Park.
Alternatively, fly to Zurich from London Gatwick or Luton with easyJet or London Heathrow with British Airways or Swiss Air and then take a train direct to Ringsheim.
Tickets for Europa-Park cost from £44 for adults and £37 for children aged 4-11 (€52/44).
Where to stay
Stay at Castillo Alcazar on-site, which includes breakfast and park entry. Children under 4 stay free.
Stay at El Adaluz hotel on-site, which includes breakfast and park entry. Children under 4 stay free.
Read more: The best kids’ club resorts in Europe
