IN THE LOOP

With UK theme parks busier than ever, Mike MacEacheran finds an alternative for thrill seekers in Germany’s southwest

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These are great days for theme parks, at home and abroad. Universal Studios has announced plans to transform Bedfordshire, England, into a 700-acre movie fan’s utopia. The original Legoland is now easier to reach with new flights from London Gatwick to Billund, Denmark. And Efteling in the Netherlands is opening its first fully-fledged hotel within the theme park this summer. In many others, you'll notice more creativity and technical wizardry, more commitment to sustainability and healthier food options, and an overwhelming focus on quality over quantity. Essentially, more whizzbang-pop.

However, there’s one European theme park - a colossus in roller coaster terms - that most Brits haven’t even heard of. Europa-Park is located in Rust, Germany, almost at the triangulation point between Freiburg im Breisgau, Strasbourg and Basel, and this year, it’s celebrating its 50th birthday. On its anniversary on 12 July, the gates opened for 24 hours.

Theme park newbies might scoff at the thought of going anywhere else apart from Europe’s most-visited theme park – that’s Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, for the uninitiated – but enter into the spirit of post-Brexit travel and there’s something for every mood in the Baden-Württemberg borderlands.