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European parks and getting there!

Kelly11235

Kelly11235

TS Member
First post here! So I’ve recently got back from my first trip to Europa park and loved it. Before this my main visits to theme parks have been in the UK and USA but now I’d love to do as many European parks as possible!

My only issue is that I don’t want to drive abroad - I know people will say it’s easy but I just don’t fancy it or trust myself and I’m a single parent so nobody else to drive instead!! So my question is which parks are easy to get to from airports?!

As far as I can see Phantasialand and energylandia aren’t too far and could be done by taxi or train. Are there any others that I could get to easily without a car and if we only went for a weekend aren’t too far from the airport? All trips would be just me and my daughter (13). Thanks in advance.
 
Welcome to TowersStreet @Kelly11235! I've just moved your thread to our trip planning area.

There are a few parks you can get to in Europe without having to drive. Off the top of my head and/or from my own experience I would say PortAventura, Gardaland, Phantasialand, Disneyland Paris, Liseberg or even Parque Warner/Parque de Atracciones de Madrid.

DLP you would probably look at getting the Eurostar (I've not done this). But for the others, you would fly to whatever the nearby airport is and then either get a taxi, train or bus to your accommodation/the park.
 
Cheers Rob.

Brilliant thanks so much for the info. I have been to DLP several times but think I’m done with that for now as the rides don’t really excite me anymore!

I will look at the others you mentioned. I’ve looked at portaventura a few times and keep shying away from it for some reason - would you recommend?
 
PortAventura is a lovely park and well worth a visit, especially if you have never been before. A trip there can also be easily planned and pretty good value for money with the hotel packages. It's far from Europa-Park, and there are flaws such as some average food offerings, not so nice cattle pen queue lines and not enough top quality rides. But it is well worth a visit.
 
Efteling is viable by public transport too. Though I'd recommend Amsterdam Airport purely because there's rail links already there.

Liseberg, Grona Lund and Tivoli Gardens are all inner city parks. Liseberg can pretty much get a bus direct from the airport to it as well.

Hansa Park and Heide Park are also fairly accessible from Hamburg.
 
Phantasialand is quite easy, fly to Cologne, train to central Cologne, train to Bruhl and then shuttle bus to the park.

We did one night at a PL hotel and two nights in Cologne as there is plenty to see in the city too (Cathedral, Chocolate museum, galleries, sculpture park etc). But you could do two park days if you like.
Easy to do as a long weekend, flying in Friday and coming back Monday. Only need hand luggage.
 
I’ve not done them yet myself but both Walibi Holland and Walibi Belgium look to be very easy to get to from the centre of Amsterdam and Brussels respectively via a short train and bus journey.

I’m actually visiting Walibi Holland in about six weeks time so if anybody has any tips for the journey via public transport to the park from Amsterdam Schipol it would great to hear them.
 
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This year I stayed in Hamburg and visited both Heide Park and Hansa Park using only trains. Hamburg is accessible from Hamburg Airport and is fairly central for both of those parks, with around 90 minutes travel time to each.

Hamburg is also worth a visit in its own right.
 
Liseberg is one of the easiest to get to, it’s very much a case of fly there and then a quick bus transfer which drops you straight out side the park. Also with it being a city there are loads of places to stay and things to do if you don’t just want to visit theme parks.

The same can be said with Tivoli, we flew and then got the train to the city. Again it’s a lovely city to explore so you don’t just have to do the theme park, a train journey away is also Baken, which isn’t amazing, but if you are in the area!
 
Thameslink Rail said:
You're making me wish British parks were easier to get to on public transport, particularly Alton Towers.
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Thanks for all the info so far, definitley got some researching to do.

I wish this too! It’s around a 3 hour drive each way for me so by the time I factor in hotels etc I feel like I might as well go to Europe! Especially as the airport is only 15 minutes from me. If it was easier to get the train to Alton towers I would…
 
The big parks I've done in order of ease...

1. Liseberg
2. Port Aventura
3. Phantasialand
4. Energylandia
5. Europa Park
6. Hansa Park
7. Heide Park
8. Walibi Holland
9. Efteling

All of them are a doddle, some are just a touch more long winded.

Much prefer public transport when visiting European parks as you can check out the local towns and cities and have a few drinks.
 
RicketyCricket said:
The big parks I've done in order of ease...

1. Liseberg
2. Port Aventura
3. Phantasialand
4. Energylandia
5. Europa Park
6. Hansa Park
7. Heide Park
8. Walibi Holland
9. Efteling

All of them are a doddle, some are just a touch more long winded.

Much prefer public transport when visiting European parks as you can check out the local towns and cities and have a few drinks.
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Thanks for this. I hadn’t heard of heide park or hansa park before today so will look at these.

Will definitely be using public transport next time in Europe - made the mistake of using a taxi to and from europa park and it cost more than the flights 🤦🏼‍♀️
 
Kelly11235 said:
Will definitely be using public transport next time in Europe - made the mistake of using a taxi to and from europa park and it cost more than the flights 🤦🏼‍♀️
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It is some distance and often requires multiple train connections. We did it in April from Baden-Baden airport, and when everything is running on time, you can be at the park in less than 2 hours. It also only cost us about €12 each.
 
I'm in the process of planning Sweden via train. Grona Lund and Liseberg look great for access.

For somewhere a bit different, Parque de Atracciones de Madrid is next to a Metro station and is 2 Metros taking 45 mins from the airport

In regards to driving abroad? If you ever change your mind and give it a try, it is much less daunting than it seems but I'd recommend hiring a car as LHD is easier in LHD countries.
 
Burbs said:
It is some distance and often requires multiple train connections. We did it in April from Baden-Baden airport, and when everything is running on time, you can be at the park in less than 2 hours. It also only cost us about €12 each.
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We flew into Basel and I think the train is easy enough from there? I actually won the stay at europa park with £400 as part of the prize to cover transport but next time it will be train or bus not taxi 😁
Poisson said:
I'm in the process of planning Sweden via train. Grona Lund and Liseberg look great for access.

For somewhere a bit different, Parque de Atracciones de Madrid is next to a Metro station and is 2 Metros taking 45 mins from the airport

In regards to driving abroad? If you ever change your mind and give it a try, it is much less daunting than it seems but I'd recommend hiring a car as LHD is easier in LHD countries.
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I really wish I could because it would make travelling so much easier but I just don’t have the confidence. I struggle with my left and right on the uk roads as it is!!
 
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For a quick single park trip there are a couple of coach companies that do Asterix in a day. Not used them myself as I'm fine with driving, but it's probably quite a good value way to visit.
 
Only living 12 miles away from Bristol airport, I didn't realise how hard it is to travel to some of these parks from it without driving on the other side. Mainly because I prefer to drive on the other side via hire car than on the UK side. I've travelled to Luton and Gatwick to get closer on the other end, but I prefer to get the Airport Flyer or get a mate to give me a lift this side and hire a car on the other end. Flights from Bristol to Girona for PA, Basel for EP, Milan for GL or Dusseldorf for PL are ten a penny.

I flew into Amsterdam from Bristol for Efteling and PL the other week which is one of the most common flights from there and there's a frequent train and short bus ride from Amsterdam into Efteling (the train station is in the airport). I also drove to Ashford to get Eurostar to DLP a couple of years ago. Chose Ashford because it was by far the cheapest station at the time to travel to Disney from so drove up there and stayed in a Premier Inn the night before. Eurostar can be costly but it also gives you train links to many other destinations on the other side by train.
 
Matt.GC said:
Only living 12 miles away from Bristol airport, I didn't realise how hard it is to travel to some of these parks from it without driving on the other side. Mainly because I prefer to drive on the other side via hire car than on the UK side. I've travelled to Luton and Gatwick to get closer on the other end, but I prefer to get the Airport Flyer or get a mate to give me a lift this side and hire a car on the other end. Flights from Bristol to Girona for PA, Basel for EP, Milan for GL or Dusseldorf for PL are ten a penny.

I flew into Amsterdam from Bristol for Efteling and PL the other week which is one of the most common flights from there and there's a frequent train and short bus ride from Amsterdam into Efteling (the train station is in the airport). I also drove to Ashford to get Eurostar to DLP a couple of years ago. Chose Ashford because it was by far the cheapest station at the time to travel to Disney from so drove up there and stayed in a Premier Inn the night before. Eurostar can be costly but it also gives you train links to many other destinations on the other side by train.
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Thanks Matt, you must be pretty close to me then, I’m only a few miles from Bristol airport!
I’ve done Eurostar before from London but Ashfield is probably easier and cheaper as you say.

I was looking at Reus airport for portaventura as you can fly from Bristol but I’ll look at Girona too. My next trip is Orlando in august, direct from Bristol airport so that’s a nice easy one! Only doing universal parks this time though.
 
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