Best European parks with out a car
- Thread starter Stevo
- Start date
andrus
Giga Poster
The ones you should NOT go to with public transport are Alton and Heide. It took forever to get there and was rather expensive as well! And by the looks of it Europa seems just as bad? Or have you found another way of getting there??
Apart from the city parks (Scandinavia, Thorpe etc) I would say Port Aventura is the best. It got it's own train station with trains coming straight from Barcelona Sants
Mirabilandia is definitely doable as well. You get there by train and then free shuttle bus, but the shuttle bus stops driving earlier than the park closes which is a bummer! Hmm, other than that I don't think I can help you. It's just plain easier to get to most parks by car!
Apart from the city parks (Scandinavia, Thorpe etc) I would say Port Aventura is the best. It got it's own train station with trains coming straight from Barcelona Sants
Mirabilandia is definitely doable as well. You get there by train and then free shuttle bus, but the shuttle bus stops driving earlier than the park closes which is a bummer! Hmm, other than that I don't think I can help you. It's just plain easier to get to most parks by car! 
Apparently Europa is easy from Baden Baden airport and then the shuttle bus, but until Jordan has been and tested it, I don't think anyone knows for sure. Alton is a pig to get to , you'll spend at least half a day on public transport getting there from pretty much anywhere in the country.
Warner is easy. Transfer trains at Pinto, but it's very straightforward. Not done the shuttle to/from Europa and Baden, but got a bus from there to the nearest trains station and onwards from there, which was no issue at all. European parks in general are simple with public transport. If anyone says otherwise, they're an idiot.
TilenB
Strata Poster
Only park that I've done with using public transport was DLP. Its cool, cause it have its own train station, but that is practically the only thing that its good about the park.
I've got PortAventura in my plans for next year (going to Barcelona by plane, then stay in Barcelona for a week or so)
Edit: how is the public transport access to the english patks like Alton, Thorpe, PBB, Drayton Manor?
I've got PortAventura in my plans for next year (going to Barcelona by plane, then stay in Barcelona for a week or so)
Edit: how is the public transport access to the english patks like Alton, Thorpe, PBB, Drayton Manor?
caffeine_demon
Strata Poster
alton is a way out - but there is a reasonable bus service from both stoke on trent and uttoxeter
thorpe - there are regular buses from staines, and a few from chertsey
drayton - is a bit awkward, as it's quite a walk from the nearest bus stop
pbb - has it's own train station
lightwater - rather awkward, 2 buses from harrogate, change at ripon and a bit of a walk from bus stop
oakwood - you'll need a taxi from narberth station!
flamingoland - use the "yorkshire coastliner" bus
chessington - 10 min walk from chessington south train station
legoland - best bet is the bus from bracknell, as it's less crowded than the one from london going through slough
thorpe - there are regular buses from staines, and a few from chertsey
drayton - is a bit awkward, as it's quite a walk from the nearest bus stop
pbb - has it's own train station
lightwater - rather awkward, 2 buses from harrogate, change at ripon and a bit of a walk from bus stop
oakwood - you'll need a taxi from narberth station!
flamingoland - use the "yorkshire coastliner" bus
chessington - 10 min walk from chessington south train station
legoland - best bet is the bus from bracknell, as it's less crowded than the one from london going through slough
nadroJ
CF Legend
Well, the shuttle itself is £20 each way, so that's £40, the plan tickets would be around....£70? If you get a good deal? The hotels seem to be about £100 per night (the Europa ones are grossly overpriced) then your park ticket for a two day ticket is £65 if I remember, so that's almost £300 for two days at a park. I'd say that's quite expensive.
Stevo said:
If I'm by myself, then I always use public transport, yeah. A lot of the European parks I've done have been with CF, which has involved hire cars though.
In terms of where to stay, I might not be the best person to ask. I don't really do "park" trips, but more general sightseeing trips with a park or two tagged on if I can. For example, I stayed in central Madrid for a few days and got the train out to Warner as a day trip (easy). Similarly, I did Port Aventura as a day trip from Barcelona (again, very easy), and spent most of my time in the city. If you ask most of the uncultured trash on here, though, they'll tell you that you should stay at an all-inclusive in Salou for a week.
The parks I've used public transport for:
DLP: Easy train ride from Paris
Asterix: Shuttle bus from Paris (I used the one from the Louvre - there's a weird underground bus station, but I think there's one from the airport as well)
Port Aventura: Direct train from Barcelona. Piece of piss
Tibidabo: Bus from central Barcelona. Very easy
Parque Warner: Train with one transfer from central Madrid. Easy.
Parque de Attraciones: On the Madrid metro - couldn't be easier
Europa: Only travelled out of the park by public transport - bus at the entrance to a train station 10 minutes away. Can connect to wherever from there. I only did this because I was going on to Strasbourg from there though. If you're doing a specific Europa trip only, then the shuttle bus is clearly the best option.
Walibi Holland: Again, only travelled out of the park as I got there with other CFers in the car. Like Europa, there was a bus to the nearest train station and connections through there.
Duinrell: Involved a train from Amsterdam and a couple of local buses, which sounds worrying until you realise that everyone speaks excellent English and the buses have excellent info screens telling you where you are anyway. Not really a park worth making a massive effort for though.
Drievliet: A 15 minute walk after a tram ride from The Hague main station. Easy enough. I did it in the same day as Duinrell, and both as a day trip from Amsterdam.
Plopsaland: Train station very close - 10 minute walk
Bobbejaanland: Train and bus - not a problem
Särkänniemi: Just on the outside of Tampere. An easy walk from the town centre.
Linnanmäki: Like the above. On the outskirts of Helsinki and walkable from the city centre.
Skyline Park: 10 minute walk from a tiny, obscure station in the middle of nowhere. Not difficult from there though. Well, it was for me as one train was late which had a horrible knock-on effect and meant a ridiculous 3-train detour to get there. I just "popped in" on the way to Munich.
Bayern Park: A shuttle bus (only at weekends though) from some random train station about 45 minutes outside Munich. It was easy, but annoying as there's only one bus in and one bus out, so I was stuck at a quiet park for hours.
Allou Fun Park: Bus from central Athens. Easy, but a crap park. Again, I was there for Athens, though, and just did this as something to do one afternoon.
Wiener Prater: On the Vienna metro. Expensive as all rides are pay-per-ride. The coasters aren't up to much, but there are some amazing flat rides and the whole place has a really fun atmosphere.
Vidam Park: On the Budapest metro (well, pretty much). Not worth a trip on its own, but if you're in Budapest, which is lovely, it's worth a visit.
Like I said before though, most of those parks aren't really worth making a specific effort for; I did most of them as a day trip from a city break, or as a stop off point while travelling between cities.
