Have you ever heard of Europa-Park? I think there is a good chance you have never heard of it or have only vaguely heard of it. I had heard of Europa Park, but actually didn't really know it at all. I had no idea what to expect and I am still amazed after visiting both, Europa-Park and Rulantica.
Europa-Park is Germanys largest and Europe’s second largest theme park. It’s located in the Black Forest in the South of Germany, close to the borders of France and Switzerland.
The best thing about visiting Europa-Park is that they have a second park, waterpark Rulantica. So it’s double the fun!
Traveltomtom was invited to experience Europa-Park, Rulantica and their Camp Resort. Team member and writer Ashley travelled to Rust in the Black Forest in Germany with her niece and nephew to fully experience the amusement park.
Let us tell you all about this family amusement park in the Black Forest!
Location
Their location is actually really good and very attractive. They’re located in the Black Forest in the South of Germany. It’s situated within the small and quiet town of Rust. Only a few kilometers as the crow flies from the French border and the famous French Alsace region.
Both the Black Forest and the Alsace are popular holiday destinations and perfect to combine with a visit to Europa-Park. Being located in the border triangle Germany, Switzerland and France is a fantastic location and makes Europa-Park very easy to reach from various destinations.
For many tourists from Northern Europe, Europa-Park is located exactly on the route to the sunny south. Many people often break their long journey into several stages, so a stop at Europa-Park is definitely recommended and a great start to the holiday if you ask us.
Coming from the South of the Netherlands, Europa-Park for us is roughly 460 kilometers. We spent the night in Strasbourg on the way there and back. We thought Strasbourg is absolutely the perfect place to break down the long journey. It’s a wonderful destination on it’s own and more important, it’s just a 40 minute drive from Europa-Park.
In recent years the park has been busy making it more accessible by train and with great success. The high-speed trains TGV and ICE offer services to the station Ringsheim / Europa-Park. From here you can then take a shuttle bus to the resort. Travel comfortably and sustainably to Europa-Park!
Intro to the Mack Family
Europa-Park’s story started more than 240 years ago. A member of the Mack family started a business that was specialized in building wooden stagecoaches back in 1780. Things went really well and the business started to grow and expand. From the 1920’s they started developing attractions for annual fairs. Just a year later they build the first wooden roller coaster for an amusement park.
That’s the moment when the family business started building multiple types of attractions and rides and very quickly grew. Nowadays they have customers all over the world! 95% of their production nowadays goes abroad.Manufacturer Mack Rides is now the fifth largest roller coaster builder in the world. They have more than 180 roller coasters worldwide.
Above is the Blue Fire Megacoaster.
In 1972 the idea came to mind to create their own amusement park. The park had to become their own living showroom of the products they made as a family business. Finally on July 12th 1975 Europa-Park opened its doors to the public for the first time. 250.000 people visited Europa-Park in that first year. Last year, in 2023, Europa-Park welcomed over 6 million visitors!
And that’s not all! Entrepreneurship is in the blood of the Mack Family. They are inventive and always looking for new ideas and concepts.
We’d like to highlight a few of their business and innovative concepts, just to show you that the Mack family is way more than just the owners of Germany’s largest amusement park.
Their company Yullbe for example is focused on everything related to VR. With Yullbe they create innovative VR experiences. Have you ever heard of coastiality for example? It’s VR on roller coasters. Invented and developed by the Mack family and shown for the first time in Europa Park, of course.
Or what about Eatrenalin, another crazy business idea that combines eating and adrenaline in a multisensory fine dining experience. I haven’t experienced this myself, but I’m super curious!
Europa-Park
Europa-Park is Germany’s largest and Europe’s second largest theme park. I must admit, for being Europe’s second largest theme park, I’m actually really surprised I had hardly heard of it before.
Especially now after actually visiting the park, I really think all of Europe should get to know Europa-Park.
The park consists of several themed areas, of which 17 themed areas in the style of European countries. These countries have been recreated here down do the smallest details. In fact, literally everything tells you that you have entered a new country.
The recognizable architectural style from that country, the atmosphere from that country and even more importantly the recognizable dishes that come specifically from that country.
It’s all there and really makes you feel you walked into Greece, France, Ireland, The Netherlands, France, Switzerland or one of the many other countries.
90% of all attractions in Europa-Park are from Mack Rides. New products from Mack Rides are always the first to be placed in Europa-Park. As a result, park visitors are always the first to get to see and try these new innovations. We’ll tell you more later on, but a new type of roller coaster opened in the new Croatian themed area in 2024. It’s a so called Stryker Coaster and its named Voltron Nevera powered by Rimac.
I visited the park with my niece and nephew, who are aged 8 and 10. Perfect ages for a couple days at a theme park. My experiences with theme parks is that they often offer too few attractions for the little ones. And to be honest, most parks also often offer just one or two really cool adrenaline rides.
At Europa-Park that is completely different. The range of attractions there is so diverse and there is a lot for all ages. For example the Irish themed area is fully equipped for the little ones.
With an eight and a ten year old it was all about rollercoasters for us. Also on the rollercoasters the choice is very diverse and large. Europa-Park offers 14 roller coasters, insane! Our favorites were of course the new Voltron Nevera and the Blue Fire Mega coaster.
Europa-Park is a park par excellence that is suitable for young and old. There is plenty to do for everyone and a day full of fun is guaranteed.
There are more than 100 attractions and shows spread over the European themed areas. No other amusement park has such a wide selection. Roller coaster enthusiasts will definitely get their money's worth. There are no fewer than 14 of them. For visitors who want to take it slower, there is 23-hours of show on the program every day. One day for Europa-Park won’t be enough to experience it all.
As if all of the above weren’t enough reasons to visit Europa-Park already, we nearly forgot to mention that they have been awarded for ‘Best Theme Park in the World’ for 8 years in a row!!
Rulantica
As if Europa Park wasn't enough, they have also built a mega water park adjacent to the park. It’s an indoor and outdoor waterpark and the indoor is open all year round. Rulantica offers over 30 slides, truly a fun water paradise. The same applies to Rulantica as to Europa Park, it is ideal for both young and old. There is a large area for the little ones to play and have fun. But they also offer at least 10 fun and some extreme slides for the older kids and adults.
Rulantica has a lot of changing rooms and lockers. I have never seen so many to be honest. Which is absolutely a really good thing. They also have several hairdryer stations where you can dry your hair. Very clever!
What I like about Rulantica is the fact that they give you a bracelet at the entrance. This bracelet is the key to your locker. But it also is your way to pay for everything during your stay at Rulantica. You can spend up to €150 EUR per bracelet for adults. It’s super easy as you don’t have to keep going back and forth to your locker to get your money if you want a drink or some food.
Rulantica offers some of the coolest slides I have ever seen. What to think of Vikingløp for example. This is Europe’s largest speed slide. Once you have climbed the stairs, there are 8 racing slides to be conquered by competitive sliders. So much fun!
And for the real dare devils they also have two of these so called drop slides. Rulantica even has two of these slides, the Dugdrob and the Vildfål. The bottom will literally drop out from underneath you.
The good thing about Rulantica is that they are open until 10PM. So even after you finished your day at Europa-Park you can just move on to Rulantica to extend your day. We visited Rulantica roughly from mid-day and planned to leave early for an early night. But in the end, all these amazing slides just kept us there and we walked out at 10PM.
Hotels & Camp Resort
It is a recurring theme, but Europa-Park also offers something for everyone and every budget in its range of accommodations. Whether you are looking for the luxury of a hotel or want to enjoy a nice and cozy camping experience, everything is possible here.
In the immediate vicinity of Europa-Park and Rulantica, the Europa-Park hotels, the Camp Resort and the Europa-Park campsite welcome you. There are a total of six four-star hotels within the Europa-Park Resort. They all have their own recognizable theme.
A more affordable option is the Camp Resort and the campsite. The Camp Resort offers glamping accommodation.
Adventurers spend the night at the Camp Resort in tipi tents, log cabin rooms and covered wagons. With the family you’ll surely enjoy the campfire areas and the authentic Silver Lake Saloon.
During our stay we had a log cabin room with some bunk beds and some lockers. Pretty basic but really all you need when you’re out in the park all day long.
Gastronomy
When you think of amusement parks you often think of fast food. In most parks, fast food is the only thing you can get basically. Well, that’s another thing Europa-Park does slightly different! For example, Europa-Park has the largest number of restaurants in one location in Germany.
The quality of the food is very important here. Of course you can get fast food if that’s what you’re after. But there is so much more here.
There are 17 countries you can visit, every country offers their own typical dishes. How about tapas in Spain, raclette in Switzerland and the iconic poffertjes in the Netherlands.
The diverse range of food in the park is far from everything. Did you know that the Europa-Park resort actually has a 2 Michelin star restaurant? Neither did I and I was pretty surprised when I heard about it. Ammolite, the Lighthouse Restaurant near the Bell Rock Hotel is this Michelin star restaurant. If you want to eat here, make sure to book well in advance.
New in Europa-Park in 2024
The Mack family, owner of the Europa-Park Resort, invested more than 100 million euros this year. We like to zoom in to some of the most striking innovations of 2024.
In the Summer of 2023 there has been a huge fire in the Austrian themed area. This area has been closed for nearly a year, but re-opened just in May 2024. Making some favorite rides as the Alpine Express roller coaster and the Tirol Log Flume accessible again.
But the most spectacular news of 2024 is the opening of the new Croatian themed area and within this area the brand new, super-fast roller coaster Voltron Nevera.
At the Croatian themed area you will learn more about the inventions and secrets of Nikola Tesla; a genius who was born in 1856 in what is now Croatia.
Next to the Voltron Nevera there are some other highlights worth visiting in Croatia. In the new ice cream parlor 'Sunce i Lavanda' you can enjoy more than 20 ice cream flavors, as well as classic ice cream sundaes and unusual ice cream burgers.
Above is a sneak peak into the waiting area at the Voltron Nevera.
But, 2024 at Europa-Park is all about Voltron Nevera. I’m sure you have heard about it, and if you didn’t, you better start searching for some on-ride movies, it’s truly spectacular!
This rollercoaster has the steepest launch in the world (105 degrees). But that’s not all, it has 7 inversions and three more launches during the ride. An intense and unforgettable experience!
It's truly next level storytelling as well while you wait in line for the Voltron Nevera. I won’t tell too much to keep it all a surprise for all of you visiting Europa-Park.
I was blown away by Voltron Nevera after my first ride. I was speechless and literally had to recover from all the impressions and experiences. But once I realized how awesome this roller coaster is, I simply couldn’t wait to get back in. By far the craziest and coolest roller coaster I have ever been in.
Our ultimate Summer 2024 tip!
We visited Europa-Park in Spring, had wonderful weather and had the most amazing time there. We consider Europa-Park our ultimate Euro Summer 2024 tip. The fact is that Europa-Park is still a great unknown for many people, especially in Europe. After visiting both parks, we just find that really strange. Mainly because they actually have so much more to offer than some other well-known amusement parks in Europe.
Traveltomtom’s ultimate Euro Summer tip for 2024 is definitely Europa-Park and Rulantica. And if you do visit, make sure you ride their newest roller coaster Voltron Nevera. Have fun!
A massive thank you is in order here for Europa-Park for inviting us and organizing our visit down to the last detail.
This blog was written by travel writer and Traveltomtom team member Ashley. She was invited to visit and explore Europa-Park on behalf of Traveltomtom, and wrote this blog about her experiences.
Enjoy your trip to the Europa-Park in The Black Forest in Germany.