Over 100 attractions in 20 themed areas: Europa-Park in Rust is the largest theme park in Germany – and the most expensive. Two adults and two children aged three and over pay a whopping 227 euros for a day of adventure on the 95-hectare site. This is the result of a study by the travel platform Travelcircus, which analyzed 47 German holiday parks in terms of their costs and offers.
Legoland Germany in Günzburg (from 156 euros), Phantasialand in Brühl (from 132 euros) and Movie Park Germany in Bottrop (from 119 euros) are still under the magical 200 euro mark. These three prices (each for a family of four) are all online tickets for day tickets with a fixed date; they are usually the cheapest of all and therefore sell out quickly.
In general, going to a theme park spontaneously is not a good idea. In around a third of the 47 parks examined, there are sometimes large price differences between online and on-site tickets. At Europa-Park, for example, ten euros per person is added at the box office, meaning a family of four has to pay 267 euros.
The price increase at the box office in Heide Park Resort Soltau is particularly blatant: there, a family of four pays 148 euros for the cheapest online tickets, whereas at the box office they pay 226 euros.
It is no surprise that ticket prices are rising – by an average of 3.91 percent per year from 2011 to 2019, as Travelcircus found. But since the beginning of the corona pandemic, prices have been rising much faster, specifically: by 6.79 percent from 2020 to 2021; by 6.55 percent from 2021 to 2022 and by 8.95 percent from 2022 to 2023. “There has never been such a big price increase,” the online portal summarizes.
However, a few amusement parks are keeping prices largely stable this season. For example, a family of four will still pay 56 euros in the Allensbach Wildlife and Leisure Park, 62 euros in the Sonnenlandpark Lichtenau, 72 euros in the Steinau Adventure Park, 98 euros in the Skyline Park near Bad Wörishofen, 108 euros in the Wunderland Kalkar, 114 euros in the Klotten Wildlife and Leisure Park and 122 euros in the Tolk-Schau near Schleswig.
But according to the study, prices as low as 15 years ago, when a family had to calculate around 50 euros for four day tickets, are only available in three amusement parks: in Rügen Park (44 euros), in LandErlebnis Janßen in Westerstede (48 euros) and in Karls Erlebnis-Dörfer on Rügen and Usedom (50 euros each).
The question remains: in which theme park do you have to pay the least per attraction and roller coaster? Travelcircus has therefore compared the entrance costs to the number of attractions in the 47 parks. The result is a “top ten list with the best value for money”.
The ranking is led by Schwaben Park in Kaisersbach (1st place), followed by Karls Erlebnis-Dorf Elstal (2nd), Tier- und Freizeitpark Thüle (3rd), Europa-Park (4), Bayern-Park near Landshut (5), Skyline Park (6), Freizeit-Land Geiselwind (7), Churpfalzpark near Cham (8th) and Freizeitpark Plohn in Vogtland (9). Hansa-Park on the Baltic Sea, Rasti-Land in Lower Saxony and Potts park Minden share 10th place.
In addition to Europa-Park, the German parks with the most roller coasters, water attractions and family rides include Hansa-Park, Rasti-Land, Heide Park Resort, Freizeit-Land Geiselwind, Schwaben Park, Skyline Park, Churpfalzpark, Bayern-Park and Serengeti-Park in Lower Saxony. In terms of what they offer, they are well above the German park average of 20 rides determined by Travelcircus.
For adrenaline junkies, Heide Park Resort is a good choice, as it boasts nine roller coasters. Only the comparatively expensive Europa-Park offers more, with 14 roller coasters.
The opinion of visitors was also included in the study. To do this, Travelcircus analyzed the guest ratings that the 47 parks received on Google and TripAdvisor (from January 2023 to February 2024) and calculated an average value from them.
The “Top Rating Award”, as Travelcircus calls it, goes to the Ketteler Hof in Haltern am See. The places behind it are taken by the Traumland amusement park at the Bärenhöhle, Europa-Park, Erlebnispark Tripsdrill, Potts park Minden, Bayern-Park, Sonnenlandpark and Rasti-Land.
Note: The travel experts at Travelcircus say they have evaluated and compared 1,633 park attractions and several hundred other data points. Further information can be found at travelcircus.de/freizeitpark-deutschland.