Europa-Park at Christmas: Winterzauber

In Rust, about 45 minutes from Strasbourg and half an hour from Sélestat, Germany's largest theme park swaps its summer look for the Winterzauber. This is Europa-Park at Christmas, the winter version of the park: the twenty-five themed areas are decked with garlands and regional Christmas trees, an ice rink opens in the middle of the site, and the smell of mulled wine and roasted almonds drifts between the chalets put up for the occasion. We're talking about a paid day out, or a short break, in an amusement park dressed for Christmas, not a town-centre market: it's designed for families with children and for anyone who wants to stretch the season out on the German side, right by the Alsace border. If you live in Strasbourg, Colmar or Sélestat, the Winterzauber slots in nicely alongside a Christmas market weekend, as a separate day.

Rust in winter dress: the Winterzauber setting

The park keeps its usual layout. The Germany, France, Italy and Greece areas stay in place, simply covered in artificial snow and seasonal decorations. Europa-Park's Christmas market takes up part of the site with its wooden chalets, mulled wine and roasted almonds. The ice rink set up for winter is open to visitors and also hosts figure skating shows at the Ice Arena, in the Greek area. The French area, meanwhile, serves as the screen for the “Eurosat” video mapping, projected onto the façades in the evening.

More than a hundred rides keep running through the winter season, with daily shows at the Globe Theater and the Europa-Park Teatro. Families with young children will find a dedicated snow area, FIS Snowkidz, designed for those who aren't ready for the big rides yet. More than fifty restaurants serve menus revamped for winter, from hot dishes to spiced hot chocolate. The Bellevue Ferris wheel stays open and, once night falls, gives a clear view over all the illuminated areas.

The Rulantica indoor water park, next to the resort, stays open all winter and lets you break up the day with a spell out of the cold, slides and heated pools included. For a special occasion, the park also offers dinner shows from €260 per person, and New Year packages ranging from €256 a night without the party (ticket sold separately), or €455 with the party, to over €1,200 per person depending on the option: well beyond the budget of a simple day out, and meant for anyone looking for a real event to see in the new year.

Europa-Park at Christmas 2026: dates, opening times and prices

For the 2026 season, the Winterzauber is scheduled from 28 November 2026 to 9 January 2027 for day visitors, open daily from at least 11am to 7pm (until 10pm on 31 December). The park is closed on 24 and 25 December 2026; from 10 January 2027, access is reserved for guests staying at the resort's hotels. This information comes from the park’s official page: a final check before booking is still worthwhile, as a park can always adjust its calendar.

For prices, the 2026 structure has two categories of day. In category 2, the quietest weekdays, a day ticket costs €67 for an adult and €56.50 for a child aged 4 to 11 or a senior, bought online. In category 1, weekends and holidays, it rises to €76 for adults and €65 for children or seniors. A €10 surcharge per ticket applies at the ticket office. The park's marketing highlights a headline price “from €56.50”, which is in fact the lowest child or senior price in the structure, not the adult price. Entry is free for under-4s, and parking costs €10 (free for guests at the resort's hotels). If you want to spread your visit over two days, the two-day ticket costs between €127 and €143.50 for an adult depending on the category, and between €105 and €119 for a child or senior: a useful option for enjoying both the Christmas market by day and the evening shows without cramming everything into a single evening. Figures recorded on 30 September 2026 on the official website.

From France: car, train and parking

Strasbourg is the simplest reference point: allow 45 minutes to 1 hour by road, via the A35 and then the Rhine bridge at Marckolsheim, or via the A5 on the German side to exit 57b Rust. From Colmar or Mulhouse, allow a little under an hour (52 and 57 minutes without traffic); from Sélestat, about half an hour. By train, Ringsheim/Europa-Park station, on the Offenburg-Freiburg line, serves the park with a shuttle bus that reaches the entrance in a few minutes: a comfortable way to avoid parking on busy days. From Paris, a TGV to Strasbourg (about 1hr50) followed by road or train to Rust (about 1 hour more) is the most direct combination. From Geneva, allow about 300km and 3 hours by road via Basel, a journey that still works for a long weekend.

The car park is at the park entrance, a few minutes' walk from the first themed areas. It's wise to allow extra time on arrival during school holidays, when queues at the ticket office and the car park build up much faster early in the morning.

Where to stay: park hotels and options on the Alsace side

The resort has six four-star themed hotels, each built around a different setting: Colosseo for Italy, El Andaluz for Mediterranean Spain, Santa Isabel for Portugal with its monastery atmosphere, Bell Rock for colonial America, Castillo Alcazar for a medieval castle, and Krønasår, the newest, around an imaginary natural history museum. Staying on site gives you access to the park from opening time and lets you make a night of it without going back through the car park.

On the Alsace side, Sélestat and Colmar have most of the hotel options less than an hour from the park: a practical choice if you'd like to pair an evening at Europa-Park with an Alsatian Christmas market the next day, without paying resort hotel prices. Strasbourg, a little further away, is still a good base if you also want to take in the big city-centre markets on the same trip.

Budget, tips and good to know

For a family of four (two adults, two children aged 4 to 11), allow between €297 and €332 for tickets bought at the ticket office plus parking, depending on whether your visit falls on a weekday or on a weekend or school holiday. Booking online in advance, the same day out comes to more like €257 to €292 including parking, as the ticket office surcharge disappears. This amount covers neither food on site, as prices for each outlet aren't published in a single price list, nor accommodation if you stay overnight. A meal break at one of the park's restaurants and a few hot drinks at the Christmas market need to be added on top, though no reliable figure can be given without a common price list.

• Book your ticket online rather than at the ticket office: the park charges €10 less per ticket on its website, a saving that soon adds up for a family.
• Check the opening times for your chosen day before setting off: the park closes at 7pm most evenings, but stays open until 10pm on 31 December.
• Bring warm clothes and closed shoes: much of the winter programme takes place outdoors, between the Christmas market and the ice rink.
• Pick a weekday outside school holidays if you can: queues are noticeably shorter than at weekends or over the Christmas holidays, and the category 2 price brings the bill down too.
• Combine the day with Strasbourg Christmas market or Colmar Christmas market the next day, or stay near Sélestat Christmas market: the drive to Rust is short, a good option for exploring both countries without piling up the journeys.