Seniors Find Excitement in Rust, Germany

TripAdvisor is at it again selecting the best of the best for travelers of all ages.  This time they selected the top 25 amusement parks in the entire world and up came Rust, Germany as #7.  Ever heard of Rust? Neither has this senior.

Rust is a town of only 4,000 and home of the famous theme park Europa Park. Rust lies about three long football passes from the Rhine River just south of Strasbourg. Europa-Park is the largest theme park in Germany and the second most popular theme park resort in Europe, following Disneyland Paris.

While Europa-Park is the big draw, I wanted to put emphasis on the town itself, but I lost.  I have found so often that TripAdvisor likes to high light bars, restaurants and places to eat. This time in Rust they highly recommend that visitors be sure to stop in at Bar Colosseo.

It is a highly popular choice in Rust for dining and quenching your thirst. The Bar is on the 5th floor of the Hotel “Colosseo” where you’ll find everything you need to wind down after an eventful day. Dozens and dozens of spirits from all over the world are featured.

Seniors Enjoy Beautiful Parks, Ice Revues and Shows

Visitors will not have problem finding lodging with the 139 hotels in town. There is a wide variety of excitement going on at Europa-Parks’ 90-hectare site… something even senior visitors can enjoy.

With a sensational mix of high-adrenaline rides, cleverly conceived themed areas, beautiful parks, plus around 6 hours of shows including children’s theatre for your grandkids, ice revues and variety of features each day.

The folks who designed this park clearly have scoped out the competition — if they can’t have Mad Tea Party spinning teacups, they’ll put spinning Delft coffee cups in the Holland section; instead of a Haunted Mansion, they have a Ghost Castle in the Italy area; and let’s just call Pirates in Batavia, in the Portugal section, an “homage” to Pirates of the Caribbean.

Seniors Also Find a Castle and Half-Timber Houses

But though there are seven dramatic roller coasters at Europa Park, this place is not just about the rides. It’s a clever microcosm of Europe, with shops and restaurants and shows as well as rides in mini versions of 11 different countries.

Fodor’s highlights Rust noting that the town, on the Rhine almost halfway from Freiburg to Strasbourg, boasts a castle dating from 1577 and painstakingly restored half-timber houses. The big claim to fame remains  Germany’s largest amusement park, with a specially designed autobahn exit.

Frommer’s kicks in their thoughts on Rust noting that from the country that brought you the Porsche and the autobahn, you’d expect the rides at Germany’s largest theme park to be high-tech and speed-obsessed…and they are.

That being said, seniors can enjoy Rust and “rub noses” with folks from all over the world.  -jeb