Those craving a thrill at Europe’s largest theme park will soon be able to benefit from new and expanded train services from Switzerland. Following the success of the new RailCoaster from Basel to Europa-Park, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) will be launching a direct connection between the park and Zurich.

Europa-Park remains one of Switzerland's favourite days out

Though it is situated in the heart of Baden-Württemberg, Europa-Park is one of the top attractions to visit from Switzerland. Data suggests that over a million people made the journey from Swiss cantons to the German theme park last year.

However, the main sticking point has always been how to get to the theme park: though early morning buses exist between Zurich and Europa-Park, train travellers have to make multiple changes in both Switzerland and Germany to get their dose of roller-coasters and thrill rides. Therefore, most visitors from the alpine nation choose to drive.

SBB to launch direct train between Zurich and Europa-Park

However, this is now set to change, with SBB launching a direct train from Zurich to Europa-Park on April 12. This will be done by extending the RailCoaster - which launched in May 2024 - beyond Basel to the Swiss metropolis.

The train will run every Saturday and Sunday to and from the park, as well as during public holidays and events like Easter, Ascension, Whit Monday and Swiss National Day. The special train will leave Zurich HB at 6.34am, calling at Basel SBB (7.37am) before arriving at Ringsheim at 9am. From there, passengers transfer to a dedicated shuttle bus, which will take them to Europa-Park and the Rulantica water park just after opening time.

When the park closes, travellers can take a bus from Europa-Park (6.45pm) and Rulantica (6.50pm) back to Ringsheim (7.19pm), before boarding the train back to Switzerland. The train will pull into Basel at 8.27pm, arriving in Zurich at 9.26pm on Saturdays and 9.49pm on Sundays.

How much is the journey from Zurich to Europa-Park?

In terms of pricing, a standard ticket - including the train, bus and entry to the park itself - will cost between 90 and 142,20 francs, depending on the class of travel, whether the visitor has a half-fare travel card and whether they want to visit Europa-Park or Rulantica.

Unlike the previous RailCoaster, SBB will use a much larger long-distance Giruno train to run the service, which will include a restaurant, free internet in Switzerland and Germany, and a family zone. 

Thumb image credit: Wirestock Creators / Shutterstock.com