The best Disneyland alternatives to visit across Europe
Swap screen time for high octane thrills with Mike MacEacheran’s guide to the continent’s most memorable theme parks
FrankLin
A lot has changed since the world’s oldest amusement park opened its gates in 1583. In Denmark, sideshows and circus revues started a craze for entertainment, leading to the many types of theme parks we have today: fairy tale, cartoon and movie-themed spin-offs. All-ages toy playgrounds. High-octane assaults with rollercoaster brag and bluster. Full-spectrum kingdoms that present epic battles from history.
There’s still one theme park to rule them all, of course, and there’s no stopping Disneyland Paris – it’s Europe’s most heavily-trafficked theme park. Last year, more than 16 million visitors holidayed at the House of Mouse in Marne-la-Vallée. But the flip side is that there are many quieter, more affordable and — some would say — more memorable realms of storybook characters and fantasy lands to get your theme park thrills, minus the self-conscious pomp of Mickey Mouse. Here are our favourites.
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1. Europa-Park, Rust, Germany
Best for: All ages
Annual visitors: 6 million
Disneyland Paris’s biggest rival, Europa-Park is themed around European countries is mind-boggling in its ambition and gravity-defying in its rollercoaster theatrics. You’re here for a rush through a formidable landscape from Austria to Spain, via Ireland and Iceland, on around 100 rides and attractions. One has the steepest launch in the world (Voltron in “Croatia”). Another, a hypercoaster, hits speeds of nearly 80mph (Silver Star in “France”). The highlights merit a couple of days in the Black Forest region, so make a long weekend of it at least.
How to do it
Europa-Park tickets start at €52 (£45) for adults and €44 (£38) for children. Concessions available. Book now.
Where to stay
Europa-Park’s mini Wild West, Silver Lake City, offers tipis from €156 (£135) per night. Book now.
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2. Efteling, Kaatsheuvel, Netherlands
Best for: All ages
Annual visitors: 5.56 million
First a 16th-century farm, then a fairy tale forest created by designer and artist Anton Pieck, now the largest theme park in the Netherlands, Efteling feels like a well-kept secret. It’s evolved since the 1950s into a mix of the twee (teacup rides and steam carousels) and the terrifying (Baron 1898 is a vertical drop coaster with all sorts of health warnings due to its dizzying rush). The park is big enough for at least two days and, unlike many of its rivals, is open year-round, with a helpful online crowd calendar helping you plan the quietest weeks to visit.
How to do it
Efteling tickets start at €46 (£40). Book now.
Where to stay
The Efteling Grand Hotel opened in September 2025, with family rooms for four from £508, including breakfast and park entry. Book now.
3. Legoland Billund Resort, Billund, Denmark
Best for: 2-12
Annual visitors: 1.6 million
It took 80 million Lego bricks (along with all sorts of nuts, bolts and technical wizardry) to build the first Legoland, and its 45-odd rides are the perfect vehicle to ponder the world’s obsession with the little bits of coloured plastic. Highlights include Emmet’s Flying Adventure – Masters of Flight, based on The Lego Movie, and the Polar X-plorer, the fastest coaster in the park. A trip to Billund is one in which you also have to make time for Lego House, an interactive museum, restaurant, shop, playground and tribute to everything wonderful and wacky about the brand.
How to do it
Legoland Billund tickets start at 329 DKK (£38). Book here.
Where to stay
Legoland Holiday Village has themed cabins to stay at, such as the Pirates’ Inn Motel.
4. Parc Astérix, Plailly, France
Best for: All ages
Annual visitors: 2.8 million
René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo immortalised the characters of Asterix and Obelix in their series of beloved French comic books in the 1960s and 1970s, but it took decades later for their antics to be reimagined into a series of theme park rides. You’ll find this glorified Gaulish funfair one hour north of Paris, and the real winner is the attention to detail for fans of the original comics. OzIris is a hair-mussing inverted whizz into Cleopatra’s Egypt, while Le Défi de César is no less of a marvel — imagine a tombola-style spin through Julius Caesar’s Rome. Best of all, this summer has welcomed a steel spinning coaster dedicated to blacksmith Fulliautomatix (Cétautomatix in French).
How to do it
Parc Astérix tickets start at €49 (£42). Book here.
Where to stay
There are three hotels at the park, including Les Trois Hiboux, La Cité Suspendue and Les Quais de Lutèce, with B&B rooms from €88.40 (£76) per person. Book now.
5. Tivoli Gardens, Copenhagen, Denmark
Best for: All ages
Annual visitors: 4.25 million
This nostalgic funfair and pleasure garden crackles with Hans Christian Andersen-style magic. The world’s second oldest theme park, opened in 1843, brims with antique coasters and rides, some of which bring to mind the works of Denmark’s beloved children’s author — there are hat tips to little mermaids, tin soldiers, ugly ducklings and snow queens throughout. Andersen, in fact, was inspired to write “The Nightingale” after a visit, and Walt Disney absorbed plenty on a visit in 1951 while planning the first Disneyland in California. As well as the pay-as-you-go rides, there’s the terrific Pantomime Theatre and explosive parades and fireworks every weekend.
How to do it
Tickets start at 170 DKK (£22). Book here.
Where to stay
Bob W Østerbro Copenhagen, in a quiet nook of the Danish capital, has studio rooms.
6. Puy du Fou, Les Epesses, France
Best for: 5+
Annual visitors: 2.3 million
With no rides, the focus of this multi-award-winning park is history lessons in the form of immersive 30-40 minute spectacles with all the swords and sandals swashbuckle of a Hollywood film set. There are 20 live-action shows – from the raw thrill of Roman chariot races to chivalric battles of the Hundred Years’ War – meaning you’ll need at least two days to see them all, as well as have enough time to explore the four period villages, home to casts of thousands of actors and animals.
If back-to-school budget-blowers top your bucket list, then know Puy du Fou España, located outside Toledo, is another option. By 2029, a third park is expected to open in Oxfordshire.
How to do it
Puy du Fou tickets start at £40 per day for adults and £29 for adults. Book now.
Where to stay
Puy du Fou has six themed hotels, all designed to whisk you back to the Middle Ages. Le Camp du Drap d’Or, resembling a sort of Henry the Eighth campsite, is the most affordable, from £56.31 per person, including park entry. Book now.
7. Legoland Germany, Günzburg, Germany
Best for: 2-12
Annual visitors: 1.5 million
Another Legoland? Hear us out. Denmark’s Legoland is the original, but Germany’s equivalent is more than three times bigger and a better family all-rounder. It’s a wellspring of terrific thrill rides (Ninjago The Ride is the most popular; Fire Dragon offers high-speed loops through a castle more Brigadoon than Bavarian), and it’s size means it doesn’t feel too crowded, even at the height of summer. Every theme park has its moment of revelation, and this one comes while strapped onto Mythica, a colossal wing coaster that spins you upside down, putting your brain into top gear at high speed.
How to do it
Legoland Germany tickets start at €39 (£34). Book now.
Where to stay
Legoland Germany has family-sized Camping Barrels with rates that include park entry.
8. Futuroscope, Chasseneuil-du-Poitou, France
Best for: 5+
Annual visitors: 1.9 million
To get the best out of this hyper-real, high-tech, tomorrow-themed park, you’ll have to stretch your imagination. It’s a place where you’ll end up riding a rollercoaster to Mars, dancing with a robot, or falling into a spinning tornado, all thanks to the Imax planetariums and 4D cinemas in which many of the rides and attractions take place. The trigger for all of this is creating something totally different from the usual theme park thrills, with pavilions built from stark glass and steel, not cartoon colour. Note, many of the sense-pricking adventures have a minimum height of at least 1.05m, so it’s best to leave the tots at home.
How to do it
Futuroscope tickets start at €49 or £40. Book now.
Where to stay
Hotel du Futuroscope offers B&B room and ticket combos.
9. Ravensburger Spieleland, Meckenbeuren, Germany
Best for: 3-10
Annual visitors: 440,000
Upper Swabia is full of living traditions, and perhaps its most unsung is that of Ravensburger, the German game publishing company that every household grew up with but may not be able to locate on a map. As it turns out, the brand was born in Ravensburg – located north of Lake Constance, southwest of Munich – and Ravensburger Spieleland is the toy company’s landmark theme park, with rides and attractions based on jigsaws, memory games and Brio train sets. Wonderfully, unlike so many other parks, the focus here is firmly on the littlest family members, with no onslaughts of sugared-up teens.
How to do it
Ravensburger Spieleland tickets start at €39 (£34). Book now.
Where to stay
Ravensburger Spieleland has themed apartments, Swedish cottages and camping barrels.
