The stars of European amusement parks

Amusement parks are places where everyone can feel like a child again. Huge rollercoasters, trains, Ferris wheels, gondolas - in short, everything related to pleasure. Not only children have great fun in an amusement park, and no one should feel stupid if they want to go there as a participant in the madness and not as a serious adult.

Back to childhood

The undisputed leader of amusement parks on the old continent is Disneyland near Paris, advertised as a place every child dreams of. Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park are the most visited amusement parks in Europe and among the most visited parks in the world. They offer guests several lands where you can meet the heroes of childhood fairy tales - including: Fantasyland with Sleeping Beauty's castle and Adventureland with motifs from Pirates of the Caribbean and Robinson Crusoe. Both parks, together with the surrounding hotels and Disney Village, form a gigantic recreation and recreation complex. Fairies, princesses, a happily smiling Mickey Mouse or Winnie the Pooh with a jug of honey - we will meet everyone here. It may be too sweet for some, but after all, it is a world of fairy tales and magic.

Spells, elves and talking trees

When it comes to magic, it is impossible to miss a place full of magic - Efteling in the Dutch city of Kaatsheuvel. Every visitor feels as if he or she has been transported to Wonderland. There is, of course, plenty of entertainment typical of an amusement park. There are several rollercoasters, including the famous Vogel Rok, which you ride in complete darkness. On 72 hectares, tourists will also find the Bobbaan bobsleigh track, the Spookslot Spirit House, the rushing Piranha River, as well as a land straight from the Arabian Nights called Fata Morgana - a palace that can be visited in multi-person boats. Children can enjoy the Fairy Tale Forest, where Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf walk, there is also the Evil Queen's mirror and a talking gingerbread house. One of the greatest attractions of the Forest is the Talking Tree, which answers questions. You can admire the entire park from a bird's eye view, just enter the Pagoda, which slowly rises up while making a gentle rotation.

It is also worth seeing Sprookjesbos - a palace decorated with flowers, in which there is a land of fairies, elves and dwarves, as well as planets suspended in space with castles straight from "The Little Prince". Another attraction is Aquanura , the largest fountain system in Europe, which was created in 2012 on the occasion of the park's 60th anniversary. Light, water and fire shows are synchronized with atmospheric music and delight everyone watching. Ticket prices to the park start from €32, but if you buy more expensive ones, you will get a discount on purchases in the souvenir shop, free coffee or tea with a muffin, and the opportunity to enter the park half an hour earlier.

The tallest rollercoaster in Europe – Shambalaha

What if someone wants to conquer - like a mountain peak - the highest rollercoaster in Europe? Until recently, the German Silver Star was the leader, but in 2012 it was surpassed by the Spanish Shambalaha by 5 meters. The current number 1 is 78 m high and can be found in Port Aventura , located near the cities of Salou and Tarragona, several dozen kilometers from Barcelona. Admission to the park costs €44 for adults and €33.50 for children and seniors, and apart from the rollercoaster itself, the park has over 100 other attractions. Guests can expect, among others: Europe's largest roller coaster Dragon Khan, the Stampila wooden roller coaster and the Hurakan Condor launch tower. Visitors to the park can also watch Chinese acrobatics and tribal dances straight from Polynesia. Port Aventura Park is open daily from March to November and over Christmas and New Year. At other times it is open only on weekends.

Near the park you can find expensive hotels and slightly cheaper campsites, but what should you do if you want to see this wonderful place? About 3 km away there is Camping Resort Sangulí Salou, where accommodation rates are fixed (€7 for an adult and €5 for a child aged 4-12), while for a parking space in early August we will pay from €59 to even €67 €, and in September - from €15 to €18.

The largest amusement park in Germany

The aforementioned Silver Star is a 73-meter rollercoaster located in Europa-Park , the largest amusement park in Germany and the third largest in terms of visitor numbers in Europe. It is located in Rust near Strassburg, covers 85 hectares and offers tourists 16 thematic lands (including the Enchanted Forest, Children's World and Adventure Land), 11 rollercoasters and a number of other attractions for children and adults. Here you can fly on Leonardo da Vinci's flying machine, board a steamship, visit a space station or go to Siberia.

Europa-Park is a huge recreation and recreation center. There are 4 hotels on its premises, as well as a tipi village and a campsite. In summer, an entry ticket for adults costs approximately PLN 150, for children and seniors approximately PLN 135. However, in winter it is cheaper - a ticket for a child is about PLN 110, and for an adult about PLN 125.

There are several large amusement parks in Germany, and the closest one to Poland is Heide-Park . It is located between Hannover and Hamburg and its offer is aimed mainly at families with children. But there is also something for adults - there is a diving queue waiting for them, i.e. the so-called Krake, which cannot be used by people with high blood pressure and heart problems. Another equally extreme attraction is Scream, the world's largest falling elevator, hurtling down from a height of 70 meters. Children have a smaller version that falls from a height of 12 meters - it can be ridden by 3-year-olds.

European lands of fun

This is only a fraction of the European amusement parks worth visiting. You can talk about them for a long time and still not exhaust the topic. Each of them deserves a separate story, but there will be time for that.