Theme Parks of Austria - Part II

Article by Nicole Rabitsch

Once upon a time…

If you have children and if they like fairy tales - and usually all children do - you should maybe stop at a fairy tale park where you can see scenes from well-known fairy tales. As such parks sometimes provide other attractions, too, I will present three of them:

At the "Erlebnispark Straßwalchen" (Adventure park Straßwalchen), situated in the very North of Salzburg at the boarder with Upper Austria, children can take a ride on a corsair, go on safari (they won′t see real animals, though) or take the train to the western town Lucky City. This park is open from April to October.

The Fairy Tale Park Neusiedlersee (at St. Margareten near Lake Neusiedl, in Burgenland) doesn′t only offer a fairy tale wood but also a farm, a fun castle or an adventure island. With an area covering some 100,000 square metres the Fairy Tale Park Neusiedlersee is Austria′s biggest leisure time park, and so there should be plenty of space for relaxation and recreation, too. The park is open from April to October.

The third park I would like to mention here can definitely not keep up with the other two because they surpass it in the sheer size of the area, without even talking about the attractions themselves. But still the "Freizeitpark Märchenwald St. Georgen" (Leisure Time Park - Fairy Tale Wood St. Georgen, situated East of Judenburg, in Styria) is worth a visit, especially when you plan going on a bike trip along the Mur (a river that runs through the whole of Styria, starting up in the North-West and leaving the province South of Graz, going on to Slovenia).

The park offers 30 fairy tale scenes represented by about a hundred of figurines, a labyrinth, a Viking ship and an Indian village. One of the most fascinating expansions is probably the longest slide in the upper part of Styria. The park is open from April to November.

Talking about fairy tales, another attraction comes to my mind (although it′s not a proper "park"): the "Grottenbahn" (a grotto tram) in Linz, the capital of Upper Austria. It has been installed in 1906 in one of the fortification towers on the Pöstlingberg, the "city mountain" of Linz. This tram, which actually is a fire spitting dragon, leads you into the dwarfs′ realm in the grotto. The "Grottenbahn" is open from March until November and on some days in December, too.

A city for children

Minopolis in Vienna (near Reichsbrücke) is unique in the whole of Europe - it′s a city in children′s size built on 6,000 square metres. In some kind of roleplay, children aged between four and twelve years can slip into the skins of grownups and pursue their dream jobs being a journalist, a doctor, a fireman or an engine driver. The miniature city doesn′t only have its own infrastructure and economy but also its own currency - the Eurolino! Minopolis also offers a high educational and pedagogic value - there are special coaches who accompany the children during their activities. The children′s city is open all year.

Return to "Theme Parks in Austria - Part I"

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Further Reading

Open-Air Folk Museums of Austria