What would be a logical next step in mainland Europe after Europa Park?

[Matt N]

Hi guys. In exactly a month’s time, on 26th April, I will be on a plane flying to Baden-Baden to experience Europa Park, my first major European theme park, for the first ever time. I’m phenomenally excited (I’ve wanted to do Europa for a good 7 or 8 years now, so the fact that my first trip there is finally happening in one month’s time is absolutely hair-raising to think about!), but that got me thinking; once I’ve had my introduction to mainland Europe’s theme parks at Europa next month, what next? Once I’ve fulfilled my dream of going to Europa, what European theme park should I aspire to do next? So with that in mind, I was looking for some inspiration; what do you guys think the logical next step in European theme parking is?

For clarity, I’m very much looking long-term here; this isn’t a trip I’d be setting off on the second I get back from Europa or anything. We’re talking years away rather than months away here (well, I’d say at least 1 year away, anyway), and to be honest, I’m not sure if I’d even go with my parents dependent on how far away we’re talking.

I did have a few ideas of my own of parks I’d like to aspire towards. For instance, I’d say that Phantasialand and PortAventura are high on my European bucket list; Phantasialand looks to blend both spectacular rides and spectacular theming rather effortlessly, and PortAventura looks almost like a European Islands of Adventure (my current favourite theme park), not to mention that it has Shambhala, a huge bucket list ride of mine! However,

For clarity, I’m not purely aspiring to visit European parks from a “creds” standpoint (if I was, there would be others higher on the list than Europa, Phantasialand and PA), particularly if the next European park visit was to be made with my parents; they’ve made it very clear that our visit to Europa is not to be a rush from coaster to coaster, and from the advice I’ve been given, Europa is not a park that’s best experienced doing that, so if I was to go with them, I think anywhere overly “coaster-y” or reliant on rushing would be out of the question. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to visit some of Europe’s more “coaster-y” parks at some stage, as coasters are easily my favourite type of theme park attraction and I do love coasters, but I’m not sure they’re the highest on my European bucket list at this point in time. To start out, I think I’d like to set my sights on some more “all-round” places, so to speak; places that have great thrills, but also have other elements to them as well. That type of thing looks to be an area where mainland Europe really shines, so I’m hardly short of choices!

However, in spite of my own ideas, I am a little torn as to where I’d like to set my sights on next. So with that in mind; where do you guys think a logical next step for me to aspire towards would be after Europa? I would appreciate your input, as I know many of you are experienced European travellers at this point.

I apologise if this seems like a slightly random and pointless topic, but I was just interested to hear your thoughts.

 

[John_P]

Well if you're going with your parents Portaventura would be ideal.
It could easily be a small part of a larger holiday to Barcelona. Or your parents could have a beach holiday in Salou whilst you visit the park all you want.


Madrid as well, could tick off Parque Warner and Parque D'attriciones de Madrid (just need a long afternoon for that).

Phantasialand could be done similarly by having a great time in Cologne as you really need maybe a day and a half at the park.

A really easy one could be Liseberg as from Gothenburg Airport you can get the bus to right next to the park, and again combine visiting a lovely city with a great city park.

 

[JAperson]

I'm currently considering a trip to port aventura for my 18th birthday, which is a relatively easy trip with quite a few options depending on your proffered airport of choice in the UK. Flights to Spain are fairly cheap and staying on site at Port Aventura seems to be a really good deal for what you get included. I've done lots of research on it over the past few months. You can either fly into Reus (REU) and it's a 10 minute bus ride to the hotels or the local town of Salou or you can fly into Barcelona and hire a car, this also gives you the chance to explore Barcelona on the way in/out. If you parents fancied a beach holiday port Aventura would be great as you can enter the park at any time while staying on resort and they can go to the beach or stay by the pool. It's a good family holiday option if that's a consideration for you.

Phanstsialand is my top bucket list park anywhere in the world, however I've struck it off my potential 18th birthday trip because it's not really ideal for the rest of the family and it can be expensive to get there. The rest of the family is going to struggle for things to do while I'm on park, yeah there are things nearby but nothing really ideal, Port Aventura just suites better.

 

[Vik]

It doesn’t have to be logical at all.
Learn to drive. Get a car, get a few friends together and do a road trip and polish off most Northern European parks off. Using public transport is an option though that depends on what parks you would like to do. Phantasialand is easy via flights and train/bus, even in a day and even then traveling on to EP after if more than a few Day. Done it many a time before

The southern parks such as Parque Warner can be done with a cheap flight plus metro/bus. I did something similar in 2016 and also Italy parks and Europa Park during same trip . All using public transport and flights. Pretty easy to do.

 

[MattyH]

GIB.

 

[Matt.GC]

I'm 2 months away from a joint Efteling and Phantasialand trip. Always wanted to do both. Efteling is a bug draw down to how affordable it is, on site accomodation doesn't really cost much more that park tickets. Flights to Amsterdam from Bristol are quick, frequent and affordable also. With Phantasialand only 2 hours away by car, it didn't make sense not to do this as well with our week out there.

Only problem we've encountered is the rules around length of stays at Efteling. The keenly price their accommodation as they want you to stay but as a result they only let you stay for 4 consecutive nights during the week or 3 over weekends. That means we've had to concede and book an expensive stay at hotel Matamba at PL first night then drive to Efteling second and back to PL for the second day. Doesn't bother me too much though.

 

[Matt N]

Thank you all for the advice; I very much appreciate it!

So between here and CoasterForce (I also asked the question on there as well), PortAventura seems to be the consensus choice (although CF seemed more pro-PA than here, it must be said). And to be honest, it is one of the ones that stands out to me most, as someone who’s yet to visit a mainland European theme park. How much of that is down to Shambhala is up for debate, but it looks like a phenomenal resort, and certainly one that’s high on my to-do list!

To tell you the truth, we did briefly toy with the prospect of doing PortAventura instead of Europa as my first European theme park, but I ultimately opted for Europa because I’ve wanted to go there for so many years, and because my parents preferred the look of Europa at first glance. However, I do remember them thinking that PA was quite reasonably priced for what it offers when we priced them up, and if they like Ryanair when we go with them to Europa in April, that would give us the option of cheap and accessible direct flights, so perhaps if this is next year or whatever and I do end up going with them, then maybe they’d be up for PA?

I also noticed that travel to PortAventura is very cheap and easy from where I live. We have to drive 3 hours to London Stansted to get a direct flight to Baden-Baden airport (near Europa), whereas Reus (near PA) has direct flights going from Bristol, which is considerably closer to us. And for some reason, the flights are cheaper than Baden-Baden flights as well; I think my parents said that our Ryanair flights to and from Baden-Baden were somewhere around the £100-200 per person mark (I can’t remember the exact price), whereas most return flights between Bristol and Reus seem to be around or below the £100 per person mark, even dropping as low as £14 each way per person if you look on Ryanair’s website (although that was Barcelona, not Reus)!

Although it must be said that I’m unsure if my parents would even be in the picture here; I am gradually trying to make my theme parking less reliant upon them, what with my initial solo visit to Thorpe last year going well and with me planning a solo train trip to Drayton Manor this summer to set the wheels in motion for me trying to do things more solo in future, and in 1-2 years’ time (certainly by the time I’ve graduated university and gotten a job), I could see a scenario where I’m mostly partaking in this hobby alone. My parents don’t seem unwilling to visit parks by any means, but I don’t want them to feel forced to keep visiting parks with me for years and years, and as my ambitions grow, I think it’s only fair that I do this hobby myself.

So with your feedback in mind, I reckon PortAventura will be my next aspiration in mainland Europe after Europa; thanks, guys!

 

[JAperson]

If I end up going PA I'll let you know how I get on in terms of the family and my own visit which hopefully will help. Ryanair is pretty standard crap service, put it's always the same, you know what to expect.
I do hope though @Matt N that you keep the tradition of a magnum on your solo theme parks trips

 

[Matt N]

I do hope though @Matt N that you keep the tradition of a magnum on your solo theme parks trips

Drayton Manor is planned for June at present, so I think one could well be in the pipeline there!

I’m not sure on one if I were to visit a park solo in a colder month, however… I think ice cream (or Magnums/ice lollies, at least) is more of a summer thing, and it must be said that my initial solo trip to Thorpe was on a pretty hot September day!