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Skyscraper's first ever non-UK park trip report- Europa Park 5th-9th May 2025!

Soprano187 said:
Can anyone link a similarly detailed report?
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@Matt N's excellent report from 2022 is super detailed and well worth a read!


Matt N’s Europa Park Initiation 26th-30th April 2022

26th April 2022 (Travel) Hi guys. Today was a very exciting day; the start of my first ever trip to Europa Park! This might possibly be my most significant theme park trip in some time, and it’s quite a significant change in tune compared to the bulk of my recent trips, with a number of new...
towersstreet.com towersstreet.com
 
Poisson said:
Is this detailed enough?

The Road To Rust (Is Paved With Questionable Parks)

Following the shock announcement that The Misery Trip 2021 has won an award for Best Other Theme Park Topic, I figured now I have a PC and time I should chronicle my first trip to Europa Park and my hunt for my 100th cred in 2021 and 200th cred overall which happened on a very sensible trip in...
towersstreet.com towersstreet.com
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Really enjoyed reading your report! Made me want to dig in to some EP cocktails for a change this year, too!
 
Excellent TR and reviews, @Skyscraper. I've never been, but would love to ride Silver Star, Wodan, Blue Fire and Pirates of Batavia. I also really liked how you covered things like Elf Ride, Puppet Boat Ride and Josefina's Magical Imperial Journey. It's the scenic rides like those that really make a park for me.
 
East Coast Mariner said:
I also really liked how you covered things like Elf Ride, Puppet Boat Ride and Josefina's Magical Imperial Journey. It's the scenic rides like those that really make a park for me.
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Thanks mate! I completely agree, so glad I made sure that my group and I did those. They're certainly not to be missed!

(And, I have the Elf Ride to thank for one of the funniest memories of the trip 😂)
 
Poisson said:
Not sure Koch Lodge, El Circo or Bar Colosseo are really. They are barred from Eatrenalin. How old they are would probably make it easier to advise?
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10 and 14.. We won't be going near Eatrenalin. Just wondering after a bite to eat where Iin the hotels families can sit, play Uno/cards and let the parents have a stiff drink 😂
Well be in Bell Rock
 
Manchester1894 said:
10 and 14.. We won't be going near Eatrenalin. Just wondering after a bite to eat where Iin the hotels families can sit, play Uno/cards and let the parents have a stiff drink 😂
Well be in Bell Rock
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Bar Commedia in Colosseo is family friendly, and nice too. Just bear in mind that it operates with waited table service. Also you'll be near the Coliseum amphitheatre, so I highly recommend going up there at some point. The evening fountain show is nice too.
 
Skyscraper said:
Bar Commedia in Colosseo is family friendly, and nice too. Just bear in mind that it operates with waited table service. Also you'll be near the Coliseum amphitheatre, so I highly recommend going up there at some point. The evening fountain show is nice too.
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That sounds right up our street thank you. The Colesserio area looks great from the evening photos I've seen
 
Part 4: The rest of day 5- Basel and flight home

I know this is very late (sorry!), but here we are!

We left the Resort and began the hour drive back to Basel airport, which was uneventful. Arriving at the airport, we dropped the car off, then we got ready to get the bus into Basel centre. Only four of us would be going, though; one decided to stay at the airport. They took our cases as well, so we wouldn't have to lug them around Basel.

After spending some time deciding which tickets we needed, we purchased them and waited for the bus to arrive. I can't remember if I'd been on such a big bendy bus before, but it was cool.

Arriving opposite Basel railway station, we alighted and got ready to explore. We walked a few minutes to the Cathedral, stopping to look at the Eurovision posters along the way (one of our group was sad that we were there just a day before the Eurovision events started). When we got there, we saw it was closed due to a wedding taking place, so we decided to get some lunch and come back later.

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The Eurovision posters

We found a local Starbucks for lunch, and I had a cream cheese bagel. It was really nice, and it's a shame that it's not sold in the UK. After lunch, we went back to the Cathedral and were able to go inside. It was really beautiful! Near the cathedral, there was a Eurovision display, so we had a look around that as well before moving on.

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Basel Cathedral

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And the Eurovision display

Close to the cathedral, there was an area that looked out onto the Rhine River, offering some wonderful views across the city. Seeing this, we decided to take a walk down to the riverbank. Once there, the decision was made to cross the river and cross back via another bridge further down.

Basel-6.jpg

A view of the Cathedral from across the river, you can see the area where we were stood earlier

As we were walking along next to the river, however, we saw one of the ferries coming into the dock. There are four of these situated at certain points between the two bridges that we were walking between ourselves, and they are connected to a cable that spans the width of the river. They are pushed along by the current, requiring no outside energy source! We discovered that the fare was only 2 euros per person, so we decided to hop on.

I'm so glad we did, for a reason that I'll mention at the end of this report.

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The ferry we took. You can see the cables to the right of the image, plus the access stairs.

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And a closer view.

Note that the one we took involves ascending or descending a metal bridge and staircase on one side, which was a little unnerving.

Having crossed the river, we made a quick stop back at the Eurovision display so that one of our group could visit the shop, then it was time to make our way back to the shuttle bus and the airport.

Arriving back at Basel airport, we headed to security. My sister temporarily left us as different airlines used different security areas, so the remaining three of us went to our designated area together. When we got there, my boarding pass would not scan on the ticket gate for some reason, so we had to call a member of staff over. The other two had scanned in before me, and so had to reassure me from the other side as I got a little distressed. The staff were great, though, and eventually let me through manually.

My rucksack didn't get pulled for a check this time, but I got asked to do a finger swab. I was a bit nervous, having not done one before, but the security agent was also great and reassured me that it was a random check.

Having cleared security, we located the group member who'd not come with us, and my sister was already there. We still had a few hours until our late-night flight, so we found a nice seating area and got comfortable.

Before long, it was time to think about dinner. I went with another member of my group to have a look at the options, and we had to walk quite far before finding somewhere and something suitable. This is one of the things I didn't like about Basel Airport: The airside food options in departures aren't great at all. I eventually settled on a spaghetti bolognese from a cafe outlet, although we had to heat it ourselves in a tiny microwave. 🤦‍♂️

It wasn't that hot when I went to eat it, luckily it was vegetarian so I wasn't too worried (I'm not veggie, but it was the best thing we could find).

After we had eaten, my sister said goodbye to us and headed to her gate. We relaxed for a while longer before we decided it was time to go through airside passport control and find our gate. I had speedy boarding as I had a large cabin bag, so when boarding began, I bravely left my group and joined the queue. I boarded and found my seat, and I managed to lift my case into the overhead locker myself, which I was impressed with.

Eventually, the rest of my group joined me and took their seats. However, our flight home was considerably quieter than our outbound flight, so much so that the cabin crew started asking people if they'd like to sit in the emergency exit row as at least one was empty. Eventually, they asked my friend, so we both ended up with extra legroom. Bonus!

Just like our outbound flight, we took off slightly late but still arrived on time. It was certainly strange flying in the dark, but it was cool seeing all the lights below us.

Before long, we landed back at Manchester Airport, bringing our incredible trip to a close. The captain announced that we would be parking at a stand that had a jetbridge, as it was the last flight of the day, which was a nice change after using stairs the last three times. We gathered our belongings and exited the plane, heading straight for passport control as none of us had hold baggage. This was my first time using e-passport gates, and it was cool.

And so, we headed out of the airport to wait for our lift home from one of our group's parents. I went straight to bed, as you can imagine!

Final conclusion and dedication

Overall, this trip was just incredible, I'm so glad we all went and we had a wonderful time together!

And that brings me to a very sad event that happened just over two months after our trip. My wonderful sister Amy, who was such great support during the trip and only came with us because another friend wasn't able to, sadly passed away in July. This is why I'm so glad we went on the ferry in Basel, as we had a lovely photo taken by a member of our group. One of the saddest things about this for me is knowing that if I ever get to go to a theme park abroad again, she won't be able to come with us. :pensive:

I'm so glad I have the amazing memories of her from our time at Europa and in Basel. I would like to dedicate this part of the trip report to her memory.

Amy-and-me.jpg

The photo of us on the Basel ferry, which I will treasure forever.

Rest In Peace, Amy, gone but never forgotten.
 
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Thanks for sharing @Skyscraper, both the trip report and the nice dedication at the end. I hope you're doing as well as you can be given the circumstances, and am happy you and your sister were able to share a trip like this.
 
So sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing. I’m glad you have some wonderful memories to treasure.

Really enjoyed all your reports from this trip, I’ll be using them as a reference when we hopefully visit next year.
 
What a lovely tribute to your sister @Skyscraper. I am so glad you were able to enjoy that trip together and capture that special moment on camera.

One of the things I slightly regret from my own trips is the lack of good photos of myself and my rather camera-shy travelling companions - my husband being particularly frustrating in that he will pull stupid faces so none of my photos can be used! I've basically given up now, but it does make you think - you just never know what might be around the corner and how important it might be to capture those moments with the people you love while you can.

To end on a lighter note, I once managed to make a total mess of things at Basel airport. I had booked a flight back to London via Frankfurt, so when they asked where I was going I said 'London' and was directed towards passport control where I had my passport stamped. I then sat around waiting for a bit before thinking I should look for my gate - and couldn't find it. Turns out I'd entered the non-EU part of the airport which I was never meant to be in as my next flight was an EU-internal flight. I then had to go back to passport control, admit my mistake and have the stamp cancelled (they drew two thick black lines through it). Even now passport controllers get very confused when examining my passport because I've got an extra stamp that I should never have had! Silly squirrel...
 
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