Europa-Park
Germany'S Largest Theme Park And The Most Visited In Europe After Disneyland Paris; Around Eighteen European Themed Areas, The Rulantica Indoor Water Park And Six On Site Hotels, Opened 1975 · Rust, Baden-Wurttemberg
Europa-Park sits at Rust, a village in the flat Rhine plain in Baden-Wurttemberg roughly halfway between Freiburg and Strasbourg, and has grown since 1975 from a showground for the Mack family's ride-building firm into Germany's largest theme park and the busiest in Europe after Disneyland Paris. The layout is the idea: around eighteen areas themed on European countries, from Italy, Spain and Portugal to Iceland, Greece, Russia, Austria and Croatia, each with its own architecture, planting and food, strung around a lake and linked by a monorail and two narrow-gauge railways. The rides are genuinely strong - Silver Star, Blue Fire, Wodan, Voltron Nevera, Euro-Mir and the Voletarium flying theatre - and the gardening and mature tree cover beat almost any other park in Europe. Rulantica, the indoor water park, and six themed hotels stand beside it on separate tickets. The honest caveats: it pulls crowds from France and Switzerland as well as Germany, so peak days are genuinely punishing, and the calendar has a closed stretch every winter.
Europa-Park-Strasse 2, Rust, in the Rhine plain between Freiburg and Strasbourg, Rust, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
Europa-Park runs two seasons with a gap between them. The main season covers roughly late March to early November, daily, with the longest hours in high summer. A winter season follows, roughly late November to early January, with part of the park and a number of outdoor rides shut; the park then closes for several weeks of maintenance, roughly January to late March. Confirm the exact dates for your year before you book flights, a hotel or anything else, because they move. Gates typically open mid-morning and close in the evening, later on peak summer days, and the headline coasters keep taking riders in the queue at closing time. Rulantica keeps its own daily hours all year on its own ticket. On-site hotel guests normally get early entry of about half an hour - confirm.