Europa Park is not only the largest amusement park in Germany, it is also the largest amusement park in the world. It is the third most visited amusement park in Europe. Europa-Park has 15 different themed areas. The name Europa-Park says everything about the park, because the theme areas include 13 European countries. Each area represents its own country. The park is visited by more than 5 million people every year. The Europa-Park is located about 600 kilometers from the Netherlands. That is quite a drive, but you should expect a car journey of 6 hours. Fortunately, you can spend the night near Europa-Park and the park even has its own hotels, a campsite, a guest house and a tipi village. More about that later. The amusement park has more than 100 attractions.
History
The Europa-Park was founded in 1975 in the town of Rust in the Black Forest. The theme areas have been built since 1982, of which Italy was the first theme area. New attractions are added every year and improvements are constantly being sought. All this makes the park an incredible success for young and old.
Largest park
The Europa-Park has a much larger piece of land than Disneyland Paris, which means that Europa-Park is one of the largest parks in the world. The surface area of Disneyland Paris is 566,000 square meters and that of Europa-Park 850,000 square meters.
Roller coasters
Roller coaster enthusiasts can indulge themselves in Europa-Park. You will find no fewer than 11 roller coasters here.
Wodan Timbur Coaster
This spectacular wooden roller coaster opened in 2012. This roller coaster is 40 meters high and has a track length of 1,050 meters. The top speed is 100 kilometers per hour. It took 50 carpenters more than 9 months to assemble this roller coaster and more than 20,000 beams and 1.6 million nails were used.
Silver Star
This roller coaster is one of the second highest roller coasters in Europe. This roller coaster was sponsored by Mercedes and this is not only reflected in the roller coaster, but also in the queue. The roller coaster is 73 meters high and 1,620 meters long. This roller coaster is also called a hypercoaster because it is higher than 200 feet. The top speed of this roller coaster is 127 kilometers per hour.
Blue Fire
On this roller coaster you will be launched to a higher speed after a few seconds. The roller coaster also goes through the dark for a while, this is called a dark ride. In the seats of the roller coaster you have quite a bit of freedom, which gives you the feeling that you are flying in all directions. The seats also contain a heart rate monitor. The roller coaster is 1,056 meters long with a top speed of 100 kilometers per hour. In addition, the Blue Fire also makes 4 inversions.
Euro-Mir
The Euro-Mir is a rotating roller coaster and you do not go up via a lift, but in a kind of elevator. The theme of the roller coaster is space travel and this track can be found in the Russia section of the park. The track length is 984 meters and the top speed is 80 kilometers per hour.
Alpenexpress Enzian
This roller coaster was built in 1984 and was the first roller coaster at Europa-Park. The roller coaster is a train that goes through mountain landscape, you also pass through a crystal cave. The track has sharp turns and different accelerations. The top speed is 45 kilometers per hour and the track length is 250 meters.
Atlantica SuperSplash
This is a water roller coaster and it was built in 2005. The track is 30 meters high and has a top speed of 80 kilometers per hour. Many people think this is not a roller coaster, but a whitewater course.
Eurosat
The Eurosat is an indoor roller coaster built in a 45 meter high sphere. The Eurosat has a spiral elevator to reach the highest point. The top speed is 60 kilometers per hour.
Matterhorn Blitz
This is a wild mouse roller coaster built in 1999. The track has all kinds of sharp turns. The top speed is 55 kilometers per hour.
Pegasus
The Pegasus is a steel roller coaster built in 2006. The track length is 430 meters and the top speed is 56 kilometers per hour.
Schweizer Bobbahn
This is a bobsleigh roller coaster that was built in 1985. It is the second roller coaster that was built in Europa-Park.
Poseidon
As the name suggests, this roller coaster can be found in the Greek part and has existed since the year 2000. It is a water roller coaster. The first part is a normal roller coaster, but at the end the track turns into a water roller coaster that ends in the large lake.
Overnight stay in Europa-Park
In Europa-Park you can spend the night in one of the four themed hotels or in the Circus Rolando guesthouse, if you prefer camping you can spend the night at Camp Resort. At this campsite you can spend the night in tepees, covered wagons, log cabins, a caravan or a camper. The overnight accommodation options can also be booked separately from the park. So you can also use them if you are not going to Europa-Park.
Hotel Bell Rock
The new hotel Hotel Bell Rock has been open since the 2012 season. This is a superior four-star hotel and has 225 rooms, 35 themed suites, a swimming pool, fitness, spa and various restaurants. The entire hotel is decorated in English style.
Hotel Colosseo
This hotel has an Italian theme and is built in Roman style. This hotel is also a superior four-star hotel and has both regular rooms and suites. In addition to a cafe and several restaurants, the hotel also has a swimming pool and sauna.
Hotel Santa Isabel
This is a four-star superior hotel in Portuguese style. The hotel has the air of a Portuguese monastery. The hotel has an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, a conference room, a foyer, beautiful hotel rooms and extensive spa options.
Hotel Castillo Alcazar
This hotel resembles a castle from the Middle Ages. All this can be found throughout the hotel, down to the last detail. The hotel has a swimming pool, suites, bar, restaurant and sauna.
Hotel El Andaluz
This hotel is built in Spanish style. The hotel has four stars and has a beautiful patio and a large swimming pool.
Circus Rolando guesthouse
This is also a hotel, but a cheaper alternative. The hotel exudes a circus, as the name suggests.
Halloween
In October there is often a Halloween event in Europa Park. The entire park is transformed into a Halloween atmosphere and you will find no fewer than 160,000 pumpkins and a very large pumpkin. There are also more than 100,000 fall plants, 3,000 bales of straw, 6,000 corn plants and of course lots of Halloween decorations. As soon as it gets dark, the scary creatures appear.
The Halloween event in Europa Park gets bigger and more spectacular every year. You can clearly see that Halloween is becoming an increasingly popular holiday. On October 31 there is a big Halloween party in Europa-Park; SWR3 Halloween Party.
Winter wonderland
Since 2000, Europa-Park has also had a winter opening, called Winter Wonderland. The park is usually open in December and January and has a complete winter atmosphere. In addition to the normal attractions, you will also find a Christmas market, ice rink, snow slope and a Ferris wheel of 55 meters high. There are also various winter shows, such as an ice show and a winter circus. In the Spanish part you will also find an ice cream bar for a nice warm-up. In winter, the park has millions of lights, about 2,500 pine trees and several campfires. There is also plenty to do for children. They can ride a snowmobile, take skiing lessons or slide down a snow slope.