Europa Park - tips wanted

[BorisJohnsonsPhysique]

We’re off to Europa later this month - booked after 20th August so hoping it might be slightly quieter as some countries have started school that week. We’re in a park hotel and have two days in the park and one at Ruatlantica. We’re all very excited and would love any advice on best things to do (rides and non-rides), places to eat, best stuff to do in our half hour before general opening, and anything else really!

God, Mummy. You’re soooooo embarrassing.

@BorisJohnsonsPhysique you are SO right, on day 2 I was oriented from the get-go. Day 1 was just a shambles …idiotically I couldn’t get my head round the fact Austria was nowhere near Germany 😂

And yes, Voletarium doesn’t have a queue in the afternoon: which is handy because my ds loved it (he’s young enough to believe that he was actually flying and couldn’t work out how we had left the park).

Further tips: the 4d cinema is not very appropriate for young kids (my ds was frightened by a man who injured his face and wore an iron mask).

Everything else was basically perfect.

If you stay at a park hotel, note that El Andaluz is a little cheaper and we absolutely loved the intimate feel and the beautiful courtyard breakfast. We had a nose in a few Coloseo bedrooms and they basically are no better. It’s a pleasant walk from El Andaluz to the Coloseo and then through the pathways to Bell Rock - picturesque.

Happily after you check out you can leave your cases in Left Luggage and ask Reception for a pool and spa pass and use all the hotels’ facilities all day. We spent the day in the Coloseo pools (also has nice showers and sauna/steam room) and then left our hand luggage in a locker over lunch (the bar at Bell Rock had live music and a good menu; the Coloseo served pizza/pasta/cake). Then back to the pool in the afternoon! The perfect way to relax after a few busy days in the park, and it was very quiet because most people head into the parks in the daytime.

These are such great tips! We're going next August and reading through all your advice has really helped me to judge how much time we'll need and where to stay, etc.

With regard to booking the hotels and park passes, does anyone know when booking opens? We can't book for next August yet, but I'd like to put a reminder in my calendar to do it when it opens. I think we'll aim to stay in one of the park hotels, just because we never usually do that, but it sounds worthwhile.

I think they release the dates for the hotels around October/November. They do sell out quite quickly; I’d recommend going on to the Europa Park website and signing up to their mailing list to get alerts. They have a “hotel friends” programme and if you sign up for that you can also get an early bird discount. However, I think they may have changed the ts and cs recently and possibly the discount only applies from the second stay.

There are of course loads of walkable accommodation options in Rust, which is a lovely town, but as a family we really enjoy being in the Europa Park hotels. We like theme parks and have been to Disney a couple of times, never stay on resort there as too expensive. But we can just about afford it at EP and always really enjoy it; the hotels feel quite special. We’ve visited Bell Rock and Coloseo, but always stayed in Bell Rock. You also get to pick your own room, which is great. We go to bed each nice looking forward to breakfast as well!

night, not nice!

Bumping as I'm looking to go this year

Bumping for myself. As a family, the demand to go back to Europa this summer is huge, and as we're not otherwise having a summer holiday, we think it's time for an on-site hotel. The kids want the Kronasar so they can get into Ruatlantica early. As we're booking quite late, the hotel availability is low in any case. Just wondering on thoughts on the Kronasar at all? I know it's the furthest away from Europa so you lose the benefit of being able to head back in the day that the others have. But other than that, any thoughts? Looking at our proposed dates, the options are a suite in the Kronasar and a room or suite in the Bell Rock. OR a cabin in Tipi Town...

I've stayed there, lovely hotel, can recommend. Huge suites, great restaurant. And you can still get into Europapark early before it opens to general public.

Just looking in detail at the options, the Bell Rock room was tempting me for the lower price but the shower appears to have a glass window into the room. Which would NOT play well with my kids or my husband! Unless there's a blind I can't see.

Just to add, we’ve ended up going for a suite at the Bell Rock, for the ability to walk to the park, and the swimming pools. The shuttle to the Kronasar felt like an added complication. So we’re all booked and raring to go this summer. Three park days and a Ruatlantica one in the middle of them.

Ahhh I’m jealous! You’ll have an amazing time.

We went last year and loved the fact you could park at all the hotels for free if you’re a guest - you just mention it when you go into reception - which means you can drive to Rulantica if you can’t be bothered with the shuttle (very lazy I know!)

And I think someone mentioned in theory you can have your breakfast in any hotel, but we didn’t try that. We did, however, really enjoy using the pools at the Colosseum hotel and the walk between the Spanish hotel and Bell Rock was very pretty - one night there was live music in the Spanish themed hotel and a very convivial atmosphere. So definitely if you’ve been before poke around and try different hotels on for size.

May I ask where you’re heading to in the Alps? We are considering a trip next year again, but can’t decide which part of the Alps we can reasonably get to in a 15 day holiday.

I had pondered heading to Morzine at one stage as we speak French but not sure about it, worried it’s too hyped up and may lack charm?!

The Alps was last year, sadly not this. But we went down to the Austrian Tyrol. We left Europa after our last day and drove quite a way through Germany until stopping for the night at a Novotel somewhere unexciting. And we were in Austria before lunch time. We were at the Achensee, which was fabulous.

Thanks. This all sounds great: the only downside of staying off site (set against the cost saving) was that Rust is not a particularly lovely place to hang out of an evening and we ended up just back in our Air B&B with takeaways.

@BorisJohnsonsPhysique have you been back yet ! We are staying in the bell rock soon but not a suite.

Id like to see the hotel evening shows I know they are only short i wonder if the times are staggered.

No, we’re going next month. Very excited though and would love to hear about your trip.

@SpringKitten were the collesium pools the best ?and was the last day pool pass free thanks

@BorisJohnsonsPhysique I've been before but stayed off site the hotels and exploring them were my favourite part.

By the way I saw on a video that the bathroom window is covered by a sliding door because I wondered about that also 🤣 I know Germans have different views on being naked but still

That's good! I'm hoping it'll be easier to avoid in the suite anyway as I think we have more than one bathroom. Otherwise I will have some seriously mortified teenagers.

We stayed in the park till closing time both days and were utterly exhausted by the end of them so just crawled back. I think this time our plan is to eat dinner in the park so we have some energy to wander around afterwards.

On videos about rooms it shows those brown shutter things sliding across .
Good idea re dinner ! There's so much to see and do I hope we can fit it all in ! I was going to try and book the pizza collesium but with not knowing when the park shuts I didn't want to risk it .
However it's definatly the best park I've ever been to with help getting around with the monorail and train etc

I’ve stayed at the Bellrock and there are shutters that slide across to cover the shower window. However just note that these slide from outside the shower, on the room side. We learned that mischievous toddlers can find it hilarious to slide them open when shower is in use!

@MillieMollyMandi did you like bell rock hotel ?

This is definitely the bonus of teenagers!

I always head straight for Silver Star or Wodan in that extra half‑hour before the park opens – you’ll beat most of the queue and feel like you’ve conquered the place before breakfast. For food, don’t miss the FoodLoop roller‑coaster restaurant in the Swiss area or the rustic schnitzel and tarte flambée at the Alsace village – both hit the spot without wasting time. And between rides, stroll the charming streets of the Scandinavia and Greece zones for shows and little hidden photo‑ops that most people breezily walk past.

Sounds like a perfect plan to make the most out of the park! Thanks for the tips about FoodLoop and Alsace – definitely saving those because quick good food and atmosphere are key. And those hidden photo spots sound awesome, I love discovering little gems others usually miss.