After an amazing experience at Efteling with the twins last year, we decided to check out Europe’s number-one theme park: Europa-Park. The park is located in Rust, Germany—just an hour’s drive from Strasbourg (SXB) and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden (FKB) airports. Because our visit coincided with a record-breaking heatwave 🥵, we decided to spend an afternoon cooling off at Rulantica Water Park just down the road. Both parks have an impressive collection of accolades under their belts—Europa-Park has even earned the Golden Ticket Award ten times, beating out global giants like Disney and Universal. Having been there, it’s easy to see why!
We had a great time at Europa-Park!
Quick tips for visiting Europa-Park
Day passes are quite reasonable at Europa-Park, ranging from €56 to €76 per person depending on the season. The park is divided into beautifully detailed European country zones, each with its own authentic architecture, rides, and culinary spots. The level of detail and commitment to each culture is absolutely astounding. There’s also Grimm’s Enchanted Forest, if you have younger kids, don’t miss it—it’s a magical walkthrough featuring interactive fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood and Rapunzel with English narrations available.
- Food & Drinks: You are completely free to bring your own food and drinks into the park. However, beware that there are no public drinking fountains, so you’ll need to refill your water bottles at the bathroom sinks. In-park dining felt overpriced for the quality at times…water is a major culprit, costing nearly €5 a bottle! 😵
- Minimal Lines: We breezed through the main entrance in under 5 minutes and managed to experience 90% of the attractions without any real queuing. Most lines were 5 minutes or less, and our longest wait was just 20 minutes for one of the major rollercoasters.
- Get the app: Use the official park app to track live wait times and see show schedules. Take advantage of VirtualLine (their free virtual queuing system) to claim a time slot and skip the physical lines entirely on select attractions.
- Picnic Spaces: Need a breather? The park is beautifully landscaped with plenty of tree-shaded areas, hidden seating, and designated picnic spots tucked away from the crowds.
- Beat the heat: Temperatures reached 100°F/38°C during our visit…we avoided any lines that day, took advantage of the indoor shows, rides and exhibits (like Croatia), and stayed close to the water play area (in Iceland) to stay cool.
You don’t have to go to Disneyland for spinning teacups!
Quick tips for visiting Rulantica
We were pleasantly surprised by our recent visit to Rulantica ! It’s an incredible water park for families, and I personally was a big fan of the pool bars 🍻 for adults. Here is what you need to know before you go:
- Generous height limits: My kids are 115cm tall and could go on 99% of the slides, which was a massive win since they wanted to ride just about everything.
- Weather-proof: There is a great mix of indoor and outdoor attractions, so the fun continues no matter what the weather is doing.
- The “Evening Ticket” hack: If you have a midday arrival (our flight landed at 1 PM), grab the cheaper Evening Ticket (5 PM – 10 PM). It’s the perfect amount of time to get a full taste of the park without paying full price.
- Food & drinks: You can bring your own snacks and drinks, but to keep the park hygienic, you do have to eat them in the designated dining areas. Nobody checked our bags upon entering the park.
- Footwear strategy: Putting the kids in water socks was an absolute lifesaver—it saved us from the constant shoe shuffle all day.
- Lockers & facilities: Definitely rent a locker to secure your valuables in the dressing room while at the park and don’t forget to bring your own toiletries and shampoo. Just FYI, the park provides free storage cubbies outside every single slide so you can leave your towel and footwear while you ride.
Escaping the heat at Rulantica
When is the best time of year to visit Europa-Park & Rulantica?
We visited Europa-Park from June 22 – 26 (right after schools let out in Spain), and the second half of June is hands-down the ideal time to go. Here is why it works so well:
- Beat the local crowds: German and French schools don’t go on break until July. You will run into end-of-year school trips on weekdays, but they usually head home fairly early in the afternoon, leaving the park much quieter.
- The weekday hack: Aim for mid-week if you can. We hit the park on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the lines were wonderfully short.
- Better prices: Visiting before the peak summer rush means cheaper flights, lower hotel rates, and slightly lower park admission prices.
- Ideal weather: Normally you’d get 23°C to 25°C (73°F to 77°F) temperatures this time of year. Our visit took place during a massive heatwave, but usually the weather is great.
⚠️ The One Catch: Because late June is technically still the “off-season” for local transit, direct transportation between the park, the nearby airports, and Strasbourg is limited. We highly recommend renting a car or budgeting for taxis unless you don’t mind navigating public transport.
Strolling through “Scandinavia”
What’s the best age for kids to visit Europa-Park and Rulantica?
Based on our experience, Europa-Park is ideal for kids aged 3 and up, though it does feature stricter height requirements than other parks like Efteling. My five-year-old twins were able to go on tons of family attractions, but because they are currently under 120 cm, I found myself saying “sorry, you’re not tall enough” more often than I would have liked. If your five-year-old isn’t an adrenaline junkie and doesn’t care about intense roller coasters, they will have a perfectly fine time. However, if your kids want to hit the major thrill rides, I would recommend waiting until they are around 8 years old so they can comfortably clear the taller height restrictions.
- Kids who are 90 cm and up have access to a wide variety of family rides, though they usually need to be accompanied by an adult.
- Once they hit 120 cm upwards, almost all of the family and adventure roller coasters open up to them.
- The truly intense, world-class coasters—like Blue Fire, Wodan, and Silver Star—require kids to be at least 130 cm to 140 cm, which is why waiting a bit longer can pay off if you have a household full of thrill-seekers.
- Don’t forget kids aged 3 and under get in for free at both parks! 💸
In my opinion, Rulantica is perfect for kids ages 4 and up due to the heigh restrictions. Because our twins over 110cm tall, they were able to go on 99% of the water slides with us accompanying them. The main thing to consider at the water park is independence. If you want your children to be able to go on slides alone or explore the giant water playground entirely by themselves, waiting until they are around 8 years old is the sweet spot. Otherwise, even younger kids will have an absolute blast as long as a parent is sliding right alongside them.
We plan to take the kids back once they’re older so they can enjoy the ‘big’ rides
How many days should you spend at Europa-Park and Rulantica?
I’m glad we stayed two full days at Europa-Park. The first day we focused on riding ALL the rides, and the second day we repeated a few rides, watched some shows and explored the areas we’d missed the day before. Depending on when you go, the park is open from 10am to 10pm (but tends to close earlier in the low season e.g. 6pm). We walked 20,000 steps (around 16 km) both days at the park. Note, you can rent strollers for just 5€ a day.
Because our flight landed around 1pm the day we arrived, we got the evening pass to Rulantica (5pm to 10pm). Due to fast lines, we were able to go on all the slides at least once. If you can spend at least one full day at Rulantica go for it, but if you’re short on time the 5 hour ticket is a great option.
Exploring the realm of the elves by boat!
Should you stay at the hotels inside Europa-Park or Rulantica?
Deciding between the official park hotels and staying off-site is a tough call, as it really comes down to your budget. While the themed hotels look incredibly cool, I managed to find an apartment within walking distance of both Rulantica and Europa-Park for just €140 per night. As a little insider tip, I originally found the place on Booking.com but reached out to the owner directly to pay in cash, which allowed us to bypass the platform fees and save even more. 😉 Ultimately, renting a private flat ended up costing about half the price of staying on-site.
That said, the official park hotels do come with some major perks that might justify the splurge for some families. Staying on-property gives you access to a free shuttle bus that runs directly between Europa-Park and Rulantica, as well as coveted early entry into the parks before the main gates open to the public. For our first trip, those benefits didn’t quite feel worth paying double the price for accommodation. However, looking back at how beautifully immersed the themed hotels were, I think our family really would have loved the experience. If we return in the future, I’ll likely book a park hotel next time!
Hotel area just outside of Rulantica
What’s the best way to get to Europa-Park and Rulantica?
As I mentioned, in the off-season there are limited, direct transport options between FKB or SXB airports and Rust (where the parks are located). Taxis are hella expensive in this area (I was quoted €230 for a taxi between Rust and Strasbourg) 👎 so here are a few alternatives:
- Car rental – While renting a car is the top recommendation you will find online, we chose to skip it for our trip. Because our itinerary included traveling across the border into Strasbourg, France, we didn’t want to deal with the complexities of cross-country insurance or navigate the city’s strict eco-car emissions restrictions.
- Rideshare apps (Uber) – Turning to Uber proved to be a dead end for us. Unlike in the States, you cannot request car seats through the app. Because Germany is incredibly strict regarding child passenger safety laws, drivers might refuse to take you if you aren’t carrying your own booster seats.
- Public transport – We originally intended to use the local trains and buses, but when a massive heatwave pushed temperatures over 38°C, dragging luggage and kids through transit lost its appeal. Furthermore, budget options like Flixbus are highly limited in the off-season, offering only a single night-bus per day between Rust and Strasbourg, which didn’t align with our schedule.
- Online ride marketplace (GetTransfer.com) – Ultimately, our best bet was using a service called GetTransfer.com, which ended up costing about half the price of a traditional taxi. It allowed us to pre-book all of our legs—from FKB Airport to Rust, Rust to Strasbourg, and back—and the biggest win was the ability to explicitly request booster seats for our twins.
💡 Pro-Tip: If you use GetTransfer, submit your ride request at least a few days in advance. This gives multiple drivers time to submit competitive bids so you can choose the cheapest rate, and it gives you a chance to message your driver directly to confirm they have the exact car seats you need. (You can use my promo code “FRX3NZS” to get a discount).
No lines meant lots of repeat rides 😜
How much should you budget for visiting Europa-Park and Rulantica?
To give you a realistic idea of how much to budget, here is a transparent look at our exact expenses—I removed our extra travel days to Strasbourg (but I would highly recommend adding a night in Strasbourg to your itinerary if you can!). We were a family of four (two adults and two kids) flying out of Seville for a 3-night, 4-day trip focused entirely on the parks. Keep in mind that if you choose to rent a car or use public transport instead of booking private transfers, you could reduce your budget further.
| 4 Flights SVQ<>FKB (1 ~ 10k bag) ~ 2 adults / 2 kids | €584 |
| 4 Europa Park tickets (2 days) ~ 2 adults / 2 kids | €464 |
| 4 Rulantica evening tickets (5 – 10pm) ~ 2 adults / 2 kids | €170 |
| Apartment Rust (3 nights) | €420 |
| Parking Airport (Parkos.com) | €20 |
| GetTransfer from FKB Airport to Rust | €130 |
| GetTransfer from Rust to FKB Airport | €130 |
| TOTAL: | €1,918 |
| Food (estimate for 4 days) | €320 (ate breakfast at home) |
| TOTAL: | €2,238 |
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