A popular attraction among both families and adrenaline junkies, the Europe-themed park draws six million visitors each year. Most visitors come from France, Germany, and Switzerland. A day-ticket costs €60.
The park famously promises attractions for both young and old, with an extensive show programme across a number of impressive locations. People can explore 16 ‘countries’ within the park, including the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
The Luxembourg district extends over close to 2,000 square metres and is situated between ‘England’ and ‘the Netherlands’ right at the heart of the park. A Melusina sculpture is one of the centre pieces of the district.
Europa-Park is about a three-hour drive away from Luxembourg. Founded in 1975, the park was the brainchild of a family specialised in the engineering of theme-park rides. Today, the park has 13 spectacular roller coasters, one of which goes from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds. Another is 73 metres high and has a maximum speed of 130 km/h.
Between 7 and 8am, right before visitors enter the park, some workers are already walking off the complete route of the gigantic wooden roller coaster as part of the daily safety protocol. This attraction transports an average of 18,000 people per day and has a maximum speed of more than 100 km/h.
The theme park employs 4,750 people from 104 different countries, including four Luxembourgers. One of them is 28-year-old Sven, originally from Pontpierre in Luxembourg, who currently lives in nearby Freiburg and commutes to Rust daily to work in the park’s logistics centre. He is responsible for new employees in the park’s hospitality sector, which has 1,400 employees working across the more than 100 restaurants, as well as hotels.
