Efteling
One Of Europe'S Oldest And Most Visited Theme Parks, Built Around A Fairytale Forest From 1952, Open Almost All Year · Kaatsheuvel, North Brabant
Efteling is the Netherlands' great theme park, in the woods at Kaatsheuvel in North Brabant, and one of the oldest and most visited in Europe. It began in 1952 as a Fairytale Forest designed with the illustrator Anton Pieck, where Sleeping Beauty breathes in her bed, Snow White's dwarfs sing and the litter-eating Holle Bolle Gijs thanks you for your rubbish, and that forest is still its heart. Around it grew a full park of dark rides and coasters in the same storybook style: the Droomvlucht dream ride, the Symbolica palace, the Baron 1898 dive coaster, the Python loops, the wooden Joris en de Draak racing coaster and the rising Pagoda. People come because it is theatrical rather than branded - no film characters, just Dutch and European fairy tales, dense planting and detail - and because it works for toddlers, teenagers and grandparents on the same day. It is open almost all year, including a lit winter season. The honest caveat: Dutch school holidays and weekends bring long queues and busy paths, tickets are date-bound and not cheap, and there is no train station at the gate.
Europalaan 1, Kaatsheuvel, North Brabant, between Tilburg and 's-Hertogenbosch, Kaatsheuvel, North Brabant, Netherlands
Open almost every day of the year, usually from about 10:00 to 18:00, later on summer evenings and during the winter season (roughly mid November to the end of January), when some rides close and the park is lit after dark - confirm the calendar for your date. Tickets are date-bound and cheaper online in advance; busy days can sell out. No train station: take a direct bus from 's-Hertogenbosch or Tilburg station (about 25-40 minutes, check 9292) or drive via the A261/A59 to the paid car park. Book hotel, bungalow and restaurant slots ahead in holidays.