FOR most people, the words ‘theme park’ conjure up images of terrifying rollercoasters and people in strange animal costumes.
However, there are plenty of variations that people who might be scared of traditional rides and fairs might be much more on board with.
AFP – GettyThe Cite du Vin in Bordeaux has been labelled a “wine theme park”[/caption]
AFP – GettyThe facility cost £79m to build and has immersive wine experiences[/caption]
AFP or licensorsVisitors get to taste the wines and can even go on a wine cruise around the city[/caption]
We will talk about three more of the stranger theme parks that can be found in Europe later on.
However we’ll start with one in Bordeaux in France and a park centred around the city’s most famous export – wine.
Cite du Vin, or City of Wine, is a £70million complex that has been open since 2016.
Housed inside a huge curvaceous 55-metre-high building, the Cite offers visitors the chance to learn all about wine in the region, while also providing them with a tipple overlooking Bordeaux upon entry.
Its website promises “an immersive and sensory experience” with six different “universes” providing “dreamlike” tours through wine culture.
Included in those is a film, projected onto three giant screens to offer three different perspectives, letting visitors feel like they are flying over more than twenty wine regions of the world.
There’s also a giant wall of grape varieties, where park-goers can learn about the process of wine making, following the process from the very beginning.
A dining table invites guests to “get swept away by a whirlwind of sensations” as they see how wine can compliment different dishes.
Meanwhile, a virtual river tour takes wine-enthusiasts on trip back in time along the Rhône, Rhine, Garonne and Dordogne, Seine, Loire and Douro.
This shows how wine affected the regions along the banks of each of the rivers.
The Cite has thousands of five star reviews on website TripAdvisor, with plenty recommending a visit.
One wrote: “Definitely worth a visit. Lots to see and do – a very hands-on experience (loads of aromas too).
“Really well designed with incredible views from the top. Excellent wines.”
Another said: ” It’s like a total immersive experience – sometimes informative, sometimes amusing, sometimes beautiful -that covers every single aspect of the world of wine.”
A third added: “We were a little dubious about this – was it going to be rather touristy?? But we found ourselves spending several fascinating hours and regretting it when we had to leave at closing time.”
Wine publication Decanter said: “Bordeaux’s 80-million-euro wine theme park is likely to be high on many wine tourists’ agenda.”
Tickets for the exhibition begin at around £19, however guests can pay extra for more tastings and exhibits.
A wine-tasting cruise also leaves Cite du Vin at 4.15pm for an extra £11, which offers wine tasting and a 1 hour 30 minute sail around the city.
Getting to Bordeaux takes less than two hours by plane from the UK and flights are available from around £30 return.
Although the idea of a wine theme park may sound odd to some, it’s far from the strangest park in Europe.
The UK is home to one of its own in the form of Diggerland, a park where children play on miniature JCBs for fun.
Earlier this year, the park introduced a brand new ride for children, where they simply get to drive around in a police car on a custom-built track.
The park said that the vehicles offer “authentic and interactive experiences” while allowing children to “feel like real-life police officers on a mission”.
Meanwhile, in Romania, an underground theme park can be found built in one of the world’s oldest salt mine.
Salina Turda welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors a year, with people turning up to play games like bowling, mini-golf, table tennis and billiards.
There’s also a boat ride and an amphitheatre with 180 heated seats, where people can watch both live shows and movies.
A salt mine isn’t the strangest place to find a theme park however, with one in Germany built inside a nuclear reactor.
Wunderland Kalkar, located near the Dutch border, was built at the former nuclear power plant SNR-300 in 1985.
The power station never fulfilled its original purpose because of protests after Chernobyl.
It is now home to more than 40 rides, including a 58m high swing that climbs out of the top of the power station’s cooling tower.
There’s also a Ferris Wheel, go-kart tracks, spinning teacups and other rollercoasters.
Meanwhile, this botanical theme park in France has been labelled “better than the Eden Project“.
And this magical adventure park in the UK claims to be the strangest place in the world.
AFP – GettyGuests get to enjoy a free glass of wine from the top of the building looking over the city[/caption]