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Trip Planning 2023/24: Information, advice and questions!

We've been looking at April or May from Manchester to Stuttgart and considering a Holiday Park, Tripsdrill and Europa Park tour. The flights for the month are currently working out approximately £40 return. Stuttgart is roughly 2 hours away and the flights are in the middle of the day not at the end.
 
I'm stopping in a guest house in rust for the first time. Is there any recommendations for off-resort food please? I've seen a few pizza places and the kebab place on google maps but Trip Advisor only lists a couple of restaurants off the park.

We're could be arriving pretty late on the Saturday so not certain of time of arrival. Worst case scenario, we have a kitchen and we're not far from the Lidl or the Edeka, but I'd prefer not have to cook unless I have to :)

Thanks
 
Robert Jones said:
I'm stopping in a guest house in rust for the first time. Is there any recommendations for off-resort food please? I've seen a few pizza places and the kebab place on google maps but Trip Advisor only lists a couple of restaurants off the park.

We're could be arriving pretty late on the Saturday so not certain of time of arrival. Worst case scenario, we have a kitchen and we're not far from the Lidl or the Edeka, but I'd prefer not have to cook unless I have to :)

Thanks
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If you want food that's away from the resort hotels:

Apres Park Pizzeria (Pizzeria with EP posters around the place)
Gasthaus zum Ochsen (traditional German pub restaurant)
Gasthaus Adler (traditional German pub/restaurant)
Silver Lake Saloon (located at Camp Resort)
Cantina Amigo (located at Camp Resort)

There is a Burger King & McDonald's in Herbolzheim, just a couple of miles away from the park - if you are desperate. Also, there are a couple of kebab shops in Rust too - but unsure on hours.
 
Thanks @AstroDan, thats perfect!

I thought I'd double check I wasn't overlooking some hidden gems in the area. We will probably checkout the Ochsen or the Adler.

We'll be booking into the Silver Lake Saloon later in the week, the camp and hotels are already full on the Saturday :eek:
 
The hotels probably aren't full yet. If you were to book through Expedia or DER Tour - you'd probably find rooms. EP sell most of their rooms via third parties.

:)
 
Unfortunately I think it might be full as it's the week between Pentecost for Germany/France and the UK May bank holiday :(

I book through a work partner for all trips and it compares booking/expedia/hotels.com/etc and we get it heavily subsidised. There was nothing at EP and only 2 guest houses available. Although I have my suspicions about these sites as they pop up that someone has just bought a room in the same hotel EVERY time you load the page.

I did notice some of the EP rooms have free cancellation up until April, so hopefully some people have bagged the rooms in advance but don't fully intend on actually going in May.

Again thanks for the advice. It's greatly appreciated :)
 
The Euro Kebap shop is good! Whilst I would rather eat on resort or in a more formal establishment, the pizzas are genuinely delicious. :)
 
Is that the unmistakably yellow one that you couldn't miss in the dark?

Thanks, We will probably go for German food that AstroDan suggested first. This will likely be our back up as I Imagine it has longer opening hours.
 
Robert Jones said:
Is that the unmistakably yellow one that you couldn't miss in the dark?
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Indeed!

We were late arriving in Rust and were advised by the apartment owner that most restaurants would have stopped serving food (this was around 10pm, so perhaps something to bear in mind?) apart from Euro Kebap. I was pleasantly surprised with how nice the food was!

Either that or the apartment owner has shares in Euro Kebap.
 
Awesome! 10pm gives us enough buffer to get typically lost en route :D

Haha, I wouldn't be surprised. I'm certain Rust has a Hot Fuzz, "for the greater good" vibe to it. It would explain why they don't have a Stefan und Sußie Roperz protesting the park :p

Thanks for the tips!
 
Hi again,

So I’m planning to return to Europa agsin September time and just had a few queries.

1/ I’m planning on going via Basel Airport. Is it better to use a hire car, shuttle (not sure how that works) or public transport. The trip is scheduled for 4.5 days.

2/ If we went for the Hire Car option, who are the best places to go for? I hear that also if you get a hire car on the Swiss side you’re in dire straits due to some legal thing.

3/ Despite original plans may now be looking at offsite (due to budget) and wondered which are the best places to stay near the park?

4/ The plan is to visit for four days. Is it better to get a club card pass or just buy a four day ticket?

Thanks.
 
Lots may not be his biggest fan. But this TPW vlog covers getting from Basel to EP via public transport pretty well.

 
If you’re hiring a car get it from the French side. There are several companies immediately after customs and most have their cars parked right outside the terminal so it’s an incredibly easy process to collect.

We normally use Avis and never had an issue. The drive is also very easy and having a car provides a little more flexibility for Lidl trips.

If you’re doing 4 days and think there’s any chance of returning within 12 months or visiting the likes of Efteling, Liseberg etc which the pass provides a free entry to, it’s worth plumping for the Clubcard.

As for hotels, Yvonne Sigg seems to be a favourite here for the combination of quality and location, but pretty much everywhere I’ve stayed in Rust has been at least okay and mostly very good. You’ll need to consider what your priority is for type of lodging, location, quality and budget. We’ve stayed in several places and they’ve all provided slightly different highlights in these categories.
 
Just on the hire car front, it's only really feasible if you are over 25, otherwise, you are often hit with horrendous "young driver" surcharges per day, meaning it often becomes a fairly expensive option. I'm looking at going in April and tried the hire car option and yeah, was coming up very expensive for 4 days hire.
 
I have used SIXT and they are great. I returned the car in the out of hours slot and everything was a breeze. They were a bit pushy on selling insurance but I had my own that I bought back in the UK for a fraction of the cost at the desk. All I've heard is avoid Goldcar as they are awful for adding charges post trip.

We did the car hire option and I stressed out completely about the French\Swiss side before arrival. If you do end up getting a car from the Swiss side just call the company and tell them you intend to drive outside of Switzerland. They will give you a car without a Swiss number plate (ie Munich registered plates) and this side steps the issue. See here https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/vehicles/cars/car-rental-abroad/index_en.htm for more details. However its a moot point as the prices everytime I have checked have been far cheaper from the French side.

I've booked here for my first of resort trip and they've been really helpful via email in accommodating our requests already. Although I can't tell you until May how good it is. Seems perfect for what we want, it's cheap and is 15 minute walk from both the hotels area and the entrance. So best of both worlds :) http://www.fewo-misita.de/
 
Thanks for the advice so far guys. So sounds like Avis or Sixt from the French side are best and most accommodation places in Rust are of a good quality.

A pass is something I may consider. Is it possible to buy on the day?
 
AstroDan said:
The hotels probably aren't full yet. If you were to book through Expedia or DER Tour - you'd probably find rooms. EP sell most of their rooms via third parties.

:)
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I realise I'm very late adding to this, but all three of my resort hotel bookings have been through Ameropa (DB's holiday arm, I believe) and were for dates where EP's own site showed no availability. While their website is in German only, Google Translate does a good job on it, and when I needed to contact them via email they sent me very prompt replies in English.
 
Just a quick question. Are the bunk beds in the resort hotels large enough for Adults?

I’ve got two friends that want to join us on our next trip but they would prefer not to share a double bed. I recommended they still share a standard room but one of them takes the bunk beds, however they are both quite tall. I’ve slept in the bunk beds before and I don’t remember them being a problem but that was almost 8 years ago.
 
Tim said:
Just a quick question. Are the bunk beds in the resort hotels large enough for Adults?

I’ve got two friends that want to join us on our next trip but they would prefer not to share a double bed. I recommended they still share a standard room but one of them takes the bunk beds, however they are both quite tall. I’ve slept in the bunk beds before and I don’t remember them being a problem but that was almost 8 years ago.
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Yes they are fine. :)
 
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