Europa Park is located in Rust, Germany. The park stretches across 95 hectares and features 20 beautifully themed areas representing different European countries. It offers over 100 attractions, including gentle rides for little ones and thrilling roller coasters for teenagers and adults. The park also features family-friendly shows, playgrounds, and cozy spots to relax, making it easy for families to spend a whole day creating unforgettable memories. Europa-Park truly has something for everyone. We spent two full days at the park, which enabled us to try all the rides we prioritized and to repeat some of our favorites multiple times.
History: Mack Family
The heart of Europa-Park is the Mack family. Their story began over 140 years ago with a passion for fun and innovation. Through their company, Mack Rides, the family designs and manufactures roller coasters and amusement rides for parks worldwide. This is reflected in the creative and innovative roller coasters throughout the park. Everyone in our family, from the youngest to the oldest, found many exciting coasters to try. Our top reason for visiting Europa Park was to ride the many roller coasters available.
Our Top Tips
This large park can seem daunting when you first arrive, so here are our tips to help you navigate and enjoy your time at the park. Have fun and soak in the magic.
- Plan ahead. It’s a large park, and it helped us to prioritize the rides we absolutely had to try.
- Download the app. Check ride wait times, sign up for virtual queues, and get directions to the next ride.
- Bring a battery charger. Between taking family photos and using the app, you will need to charge your phone on the go.
- Use the park transportation. There is a train and two monorail systems to help get around the large park. This gives the kids’ legs a rest and provides beautiful views of the park.
- Bring snacks and water. There are food options in the park, but they can be expensive. We enjoyed a mix of snacks we brought and trying food in the park (cookies, churros, etc.).
- Bring ponchos. There are a few water rides, and if you do not want to be soaked all day, bring ponchos or a change of clothes.
- Stay in Rust. We stayed at an Airbnb within a five-minute walk to the park, which was super handy. There are also the beautifully themed Europa-Park resorts, but these can be more expensive.
Purchasing Tickets
Tickets can be purchased online or at the park. I bought our tickets online in advance after reading that tickets can sell out. We visited on the Thursday and Friday before Easter weekend, so there was a possibility it would be full. The tickets I purchased online were tied to my Europa Park account, so when I signed onto the app, my tickets were there ready to scan.
Wait Times and Virtual Queue
One of the things that surprised us most about Europa Park was the wait times for attractions. Even for the top rides like roller coasters, the average wait was only about 30 minutes, and at most, less than an hour. For popular attractions, you can queue virtually using the app to skip the lines. Seven attractions—including Voltron Nevera, Wodan Timburcoaster, Blue Fire Megacoaster, Euro-Mir, Water Rollercoaster Poseidon, Pirates in Batavia, and Voletarium—offer virtual queues. Check regularly on the app, because some slots open on top attractions like Voltron throughout the day. For many of the smaller kids’ rides, wait times were under 10 minutes, and most of the time we walked right onto the ride. We visited on the Thursday and Friday before Easter, so wait times may be longer on weekends. Still, we were very impressed and were able to ride our favorites multiple times.
Our Family Favorites
Here is a list of our favorite roller coasters and dark rides at the park. There are also many water rides that we did not try because it was so cold during our visit. Now we have a reason to return to try those rides.
Our Family Favorite Roller Coasters:
- Voltron Nevera
- Wodan Timburcoaster
- Blue Fire Megacoaster
- Arthur
- Alpine Express
- Pegasus
Family Favorite Dark Rides:
- Pirates in Batavia
- Madame Freudenreich Curiosities
- Snorri Touren
Shows and Playgrounds
During our visit, we focused on riding roller coasters, so we did not prioritize the shows. After the park closed, we happened upon a show in Italy which we really enjoyed. The singing was great, and one of the artists hula-hooped with about 20 hoops—it was pretty cool. There are also several playgrounds. My daughter enjoyed the “Little Lamb’s Land” playground, while my son tested out the large “Limerick Castle” with its super large slides. Be careful with these large slides as they have quite a steep drop. We did not stay at the playgrounds for long as we wanted to try all the other attractions.
Food and Snacks
Europa-Park offers a diverse culinary experience with restaurants and snacks in every themed area, featuring dishes from across Europe. Guests can enjoy Greek specialties at Taverna Mykonos, pizza at Pizzeria Venezia, and fish and chips at The Three Piglets. In addition to self-service restaurants, there are sit-down service restaurants like FoodLoop, where guests order their food and drinks via touchscreen, and meals arrive at the table racing along rollercoaster rails. We wanted to try this restaurant, but the line to enter was always very long. The food options were also not the most appealing. We did enjoy a nice sit-down lunch at Rock Café in the Germany section, close to the EP Express (monorail) and the park entrance. The burgers were tasty, and the restaurant had a fun Hard Rock Café-style theme. As for snacks, we loved the churros in Italy and the cookies in England.
Character Meet and Greets
My daughter lit up when she saw a lady and gentleman dressed like princes and princesses walking around the park. They kindly stopped and took pictures with the kids. Even though they did not recognize the particular princess from a movie, the kids still delighted in meeting them. They also stopped and took pictures with Eurofant the elephant and Bockli the Swiss goat. We also ran into a lady walking about seven large geese through the park, which made us all giggle. These surprise appearances added to the magic of the day.
Visiting Europa-Park was an unforgettable experience that truly offers something magical for every member of the family—making it a must-visit destination for your next European adventure.