Are there any easy European theme parks to do in a day from the UK?

[Matt N]

Hi guys. As my coaster count increases and my independence also increases, I have increasingly started to think about options for my first solo foreign trip. Now I’m not saying that this is necessarily something that I’m going to do any time soon, but I’ve just been spitballing a bit about some ideas of what I could potentially do as my first solo foreign trip. And an idea that I did have is to make my first foreign trip alone a “halfway house”, if you like, in that I could make a day trip to the foreign park from the UK and have my accommodation on both sides be in the UK (possibly even not requiring accommodation depending on the trip and/or location of foreign connection). With this in mind, I was curious to know; are there any easy European theme parks to do in a day from the UK? Has anyone ever done any European parks in a day trip from the UK?

My initial thought was Plopsaland de Panne. I’ve always heard that it’s “only half an hour from Calais”, so I thought of a mini trip idea in my head where I stayed in Folkestone for 2 nights and did a day trip to Plopsaland on the full day, knocking off Dreamland Margate and Adventure Island (two key UK parks I’m missing) while I was in the area. My idea was:

• Day 1: Drive from Gloucestershire to Dreamland Margate. Drive from Dreamland Margate to hotel in Folkestone.
• Day 2: Take EuroTunnel from Folkestone to Calais. Drive from Calais to Plopsaland de Panne. Drive back to Folkestone.
• Day 3: Drive from Folkestone to Adventure Island. Drive from Adventure Island back home to Gloucestershire.

However, I spoke to my parents about the idea, and they thought that it sounded very bold for me to plan to drive in France when I would probably have not long passed my driving test. I also nearly had a heart attack when looking at both the EuroTunnel prices and the requirements to drive a British car in France… and as I say, the whole plan crumbles if I don’t pass my driving test.

So my question is; are there any easy European theme parks to do in a day from the UK? Has anyone ever day-tripped a European park from the UK before?

 

[Thameslink Rail]

Emerald Park is easy to do from the UK, just an hour drive from the border near Newry down the M1.

 

[Shaggy_Dog_]

Liseberg in Gothenburg and Prater at Vienna are both city centre parks that are super easy to get to in about 30 minutes by public transport direct from the airports and both could theoretically be done as day trips if your flights worked out. I’ve done both as an overnight solo traveler trip and they are the easiest ones to start with if your local airport happens to fly to those cities. But to be honest it would be nicer to take your time a little and do them as an overnight trip with a stay in a local hotel and do a little sightseeing in the cities rather than rushing to do it as a single day trip.

Legoland Billind is also incredibly easy to get to for a quick trip, and if you can get to Cologne airport then Phantasialand is extremely simple by public transport as well. I think that perhaps doing a solo trip like these ones by flight and simple public transport could perhaps be less daunting than doing an overseas solo trip driving if you haven’t driven overseas before. The idea is doing a cross channel day trip might work in theory but in practical terms it would be a long day if you wanted to fully enjoy a park and not such a great idea to be driving when tired. Plan it so you can relax and enjoy the experience.

 

[Tim]

I second Legoland Billund as by far the easiest option, as I've been discovering this year. As the Lego group built the airport opposite the park they've setup flights to arrive and depart in the morning and late in the evening. It's more convenient than many parks public transport links (looking at you AT's bus service)!
In 3 days its completely possible to visit Windsor, Billund, then Windsor again. You even have multiple flights to multiple UK airports arriving and departing at the same time.

Fun side note, back when the Windsor Park first opened the Lego group used to have a private jet on standby that could fly between their airport and one of Windsors local airfields. It wasn't unusual for teams from either park (not just top level management) to fly out to the other park in the morning and be back before the end of the working day.

...
However, I spoke to my parents about the idea, and they thought that it sounded very bold for me to plan to drive in France when I would probably have not long passed my driving test. I also nearly had a heart attack when looking at both the EuroTunnel prices and the requirements to drive a British car in France… and as I say, the whole plan crumbles if I don’t pass my driving test.

Reading this (and a few of you previous posts) reminds me a lot of my own family. I love them dearly but for years they made me really nervous to attempt 'out there' things like taking cross country road trips. Until I actually did them, and discovered it opened up so many opportunities.

the requirements for France also aren't bad once you actually look into them. You can easily buy a kit that contains all the additional items you need and just keep it in the car, as half of them short debatabley be requirements over here to.

Having said that they do have a point that you should probably pass your test first and get some practice in driving to UK parks before attempting anything oversees.
And comparing my trip on the EuroTunnel in 2019 and 2022 I can confirm prices have more than doubled!

 

[Burbs]

I wouldn’t rule out staying overnight somewhere abroad. For instance, you could get a Eurostar to Paris, do some combination of DLP/WDS/Jardin d’Acclimatation/Parc Asterix and stay in a central Paris chain hotel. They are no different to staying in a hotel in the UK and you can guarantee that staff will speak English. To be honest, it’s only private apartments/B&Bs/guesthouses abroad where you sometimes have an issue. For example a common one is that there might be a digi-code you’re given to access the building which doesn’t actually work and you have no option but to call the owner up and try to navigate the inevitable language barrier… always good fun!

If you can afford it, staying over abroad will be FAR less stressful than trying to manage 2 flights, airport faff, additional travel and ticking everything off in a major theme park in one day!

 

[NuttySquirrel]

I do think a public-transport accessible park is your best option for a first solo trip abroad. Although I do actually think driving in Europe can be less stressful than driving in the UK (especially the M6!), it's not something I would recommend to a new driver. There is just so much more to think about than usual - driving on the right, reading unfamiliar signs, strange junction layouts, doing roundabouts "backwards", French drivers doing strange things etc. I'm also not sure how easy it is to add European cover for a new driver to your breakdown/insurance, could be really expensive. Once you've done a few solo trips around the UK and passed the initiation test of getting lost in Staines on the way to Thorpe Park then I might recommend a channel hop.

I don't think you need to restrict yourself to a day trip either, travelling in Western Europe can be very easy, with a plethora of reliable chain hotels and bilingual staff. You could pretty much take your pick of any park within a public transport ride of an international airport.

It's great that your parents care so much about you to feel anxious on your behalf but it sounds unwarranted. By this time of year in my second year of uni my parents had packed up and sold our family home to move to Italy, sending me back to my student house with a couple of orange boxes full of what remained of my stuff. They just expected me to suck it up and get on with it, and I guess I did. The following year I was living by myself in a flat in southern France, travelling by myself between Bristol, Marseille and Milan on a regular basis. Sometimes we just have to push our boundaries a bit!