Everyone thinks that to visit the best theme parks of the world you have to go to Orlando, California or Japan. But the truth is that Europe is home to some of the best theme parks in the world, and they are increasingly attracting more international visitors and prestige with their perfect balance between theming, charm, history and strong attractions.
Disneyland Paris is, to no one's surprise, the most visited theme park in Europe. But apart from that, the rest of the theme parks in Europe are very different, singular and unique, sometimes of family tradition or independent from the large park chains (Disney, Universal, Six Flags, Merlin…).
We have made a top updated to 2024 of the largest theme parks in Europe, by number of visitors (as long as we have figures for 2023). Where do our two great Spanish parks fit on the list?
Top 10 theme parks in Europe:
10? Warner Park Madrid (Spain)
Parque Warner Madrid may be, for the first time, in the top 10 most visited European theme parks. It may be, because we don't know for sure, and there are many European parks that are around 2 million people (Legoland, Phantasialand, Puy du Fou France, Thorpe Park, Energylandia…).
We don't know what the number of visitors was in 2023, but the park expected it to be the best in its history, which would exceed the 2.3 million people who visited in 2029…when they didn't have Batman Gotham City Escape yet.
What is certain is that Parque Warner Madrid has an exciting future ahead of it. There are plans for new attractions, new themed areas or even a second park, although for this it is essential that its first hotel goes ahead, turning it not into a park but into a family vacation destinationas is PortAventura.
9. Alton Towers (United Kingdom)
The leading resort in the United Kingdom, even ahead of Legoland or the Harry Potter Studio Tour, is Alton Towers in Staffordshire, between Manchester and Birmingham. It has a historical location (the tower refers to a castle built around 1850 that became public and currently houses attractions inside) and beautiful natural settings, although it is not as “themed” as other European parks.
It makes up for all that with its attractions, the best rollercoasters in the ukincluding some world-renowned ones like Nemesis, which has just reopened after an extensive renovation as Nemesis Reborn.
About 2.3 million visit it a year (that last figure is from 2022) which surely puts it one step above Warner. Although his main rival in the country, Thorpe Parkwelcomes the UK's new tallest rollercoaster, Hyperia, in 2024, so competition is strong.
8. Parc Astérix (Francia)
The second most important theme park in France belongs to some irreducible Gauls, who settled north of Paris in 1989 and they have withstood the North American invasion of Mickey Mouse, offering a differentiated product.
More adrenaline roller coasters, more refreshing water attractions, a Halloween event ideal for the most adolescent audience or those for whom Disney is saccharine, and above all the charisma of some 100% French comic characters that have won the affection of generations. .
Although faced with difficulties due to the fierce competition a few kilometers away, Parc Astérix has not only remained standing but has grown, obtaining 2.8 million visitors in 2023year of the opening of Toutatis, his particular “Batman”.
7. Gardaland (Italy)
Gardaland is Italy's leading theme park, with visitors roaming around 3 million annually (the latest figure is 2.95 million in 2022). Opened in 1975, it is located near Verona and Milan, and offers a good (but not exceptional) collection of roller coasters, with the recent addition of a Jumanji dark ride in 2023.
One of its best things is its location, overlooking the enormous Lake Garda… and another note, although this on a personal level: it is located just ten minutes by car from another much less known theme park, Movieland: The Hollywood Park.
In my opinion, its neighboring park, much less crowded, is however more interesting, without so many roller coasters but with attractions based on the world of cinema, sometimes blatantly plagiarizing Disney and Universal, but full of personality and originality. If you travel to northern Italy and you like parks, you kill two birds with one stone…
6. Liseberg (Sweden)
The Nordic countries have a great tradition of theme parks, or rather attractions, since Liseberg, opened 101 years ago in Gothenburg, Sweden, is far from the theming and immersion of something like Disney, Phantasialand, Europa-Park or PortAventura. But that doesn't make it any less pretty..
Regularly chosen as one of the best amusement parks in the world, it had 3 million visitors in 2019 and has an enviable collection of roller coasters of all kinds, water attractions, mechanical attractions… all located on a hillside in the heart of the city.
A devastating fire in February 2024 claimed the life of a worker and destroyed the construction of an (indoor) water park that was to open in a matter of months. But the park has committed to rebuilding it again.
5. Tivoli Gardens (Denmark)
Tivoli Gardens, opened in 1843, is one of the three oldest amusement parks in the world still open. And it is an amusement park, not a theme park: like Liseberg, it does not have much to do with the large theme parks in Europe, it is relatively small and does not have major attractions, since it is in the center of Copenhagen.
But it does have a large number and balance of attractions, modern and old roller coasters (including a 110-year-old gem that has a brake operator to brake manually) and, above all, places to ride, have a picnic and see shows.
Tivoli Garden, like Vienna's Prater, is a must-see on any sightseeing tour of the Danish capital, and forms part of the city's busy cultural life with concerts and festivals. For that reason, 4 million people They visited in 2023, even if they reported a decline in tourists and suffered from bad weather.
4. PortAventura World (Spain)
The Catalan resort opened in 1995 as a response to “EuroDisney” has not stopped growing over the last three decades, perhaps not in the way that many would like (it has not been “Universal Mediterranean” and the chances of the Americans returning are deflating ) but it has undoubtedly been triggered.
The record of 5.2 million visitors that it had in 2019 before the pandemic was surpassed in fiscal year 2023 with 5.5 million people and hotel occupancy of 83%.
Figures that correspond to its longest season to date and its three parks (PortAventura, Ferrari Land and the water park), which together with its six hotels make up the largest resort in Spain and one of the largest in Europe.
3. Efteling (Netherlands)
Slightly above PortAventura it has remained Eftelingwhich he received 5.56 million visitors in 2023although these are even more impressive figures since this resort consists of only one theme park.
But what a park! It is even older than the first Disneyland, having opened in 1952 south of Netherlands. A location that allows it to attract many visitors from neighboring countries (Germany, Belgium, England…)… but also local audiences, who with their season pass go there like someone visiting any public park (in fact, it has a large walking area without any attractions).
With its fairy tale atmosphere, it is a magical park, which is something that is said very lightly, but in Efteling it is really true: it doesn't have many big, extreme roller coasters, but it has maybe the best dark-rides of the world that do not belong to Disney-Universal.
2. Europa-Park (Germany)
Port aventura It is gaining a lot of momentum, but Europa-Park remains the most visited theme park and resort in Europe behind Disney. Located in Rust, Germany and open since 1975, it has remained a family business for almost fifty years.
Specifically, of the familia Mackwhich has been manufacturing fair and carnival attractions since the 18th century, eventually becoming one of the leading attractions manufacturers in the world.
In 2022 they exceeded the figure of six million visitors in the park, set in European countries, a figure that also includes The idler, its water park. With a new “world-top” roller coaster opening in 2024, it's hard to imagine those numbers going down in the future.
1. Disneyland Paris (France)
Nobody can beat Disney. The resort formerly called Eurodisney, which when it opened was in the red, had empty hotels and almost went bankrupt, right now it is the most visited theme park in Europe, with numbers that seem unattainable for the rest of the parks. And it will probably be like that forever.
Disneyland Paris is the most visited theme park in Europe, and the other parks don't even come close. Saving the years of the pandemic, the park receives an average of 9 million visitors a year (the latest official figure is 9,930,000 in 2022, and the record was in 2009 with 12 million).
The secondary park, Walt Disney Studios Parkhas an average of 5 million visitors a year: much less than the main park, but still higher than most parks on the continent, given that many visitors take the opportunity to visit them on the same vacation.
Offers on trips to theme parks
There are dozens of theme parks: Disneyland, Disneyworld, Universal, PortAventura and more. Many of them offer discounts on certain packages and dates.
See offers in parks
Will it be possible for any other European park to reach Disney's numbers? Probably not. PortAventura aspires to become the second European resort, and has grown so much that it competes head-to-head with the parks in central Europe.
If it became a Universal resort and they opened a third theme park with Harry Potter, Nintendo or Jurassic World, perhaps things would change… but it seems that the plans are going to the United Kingdom.
This is the list, as updated as possible, of the 10 most visited theme parks in Europe in 2024. Have you been to them? Would you like to visit them?