Europe’s best value water parks revealed

The best value water parks across popular European holiday destinations have been revealed, with Faliraki Water Park in Greece ranking in first position.

Travel insurance experts a Quotezone.co.uk have created the European Water Park Index to help budget-conscious holidaymakers find water parks where they can get the most for their money. 

The experts analysed ten popular water parks in Europe from ‘traveller favourites’ across popular review websites and ranked them based on several factors including admission fees for adults and children, number of attractions, 5-star reviews and locker costs. 

Faliraki Water park in Rhodes, Greece has been named the best value water park in Europe, with affordable ticket prices and plenty of attractions for the whole family. 

Adult tickets for the entire day cost €27, reduced tickets for children aged three to 12 are €18, and kids under three get free entry.

Faliraki Water park is one of the largest in Greece, offering visitors a variety of fun activities, including exciting water slides, lazy rivers, pools and water playgrounds. 

Italy’s Zoomarine Park in Southwest Rome ranked in second place for value. The Zoomarine Park not only has a big water park area with slides, pools and entertainment, but the ticket also includes access to a marine zoo and a theme park. 

With such a big selection of activities, families are offered great value for money as tickets for adults and children are priced under 25 euros. 

Ranking third on the list is the Paphos Aphrodite Water park in Cyprus. The park boasts a selection of thrilling high-speed water rides such as Kamikaze, Super Volcano and Free Fall, as well as leisure pools and kiddie slides. The admission fee for adults is just over €30 and children are offered a discounted price of €18. 

Romania’s indoor oasis Therme Bucharest came fourth on the list, with more than 50 different attractions to choose from – ranging from saunas and spa treatments to exciting slides and indoor and outdoor pools. 

Therme Bucharest has three designated areas – family-friendly Galaxy with plenty of attractions for kids, relaxing The Palm with pools and botanical gardens and Elysium where visitors can enjoy saunas and wellbeing rituals. 

Visitors can either choose one area to visit or they can also upgrade their ticket to have access to all three areas which would cost them just under 40 euros – however parents need to keep in mind that under 14-year-olds are only allowed in the Galaxy area. 

Sandcastle Water park, the UK’s largest indoor water park located in Blackpool, also made it to the top five. While Sandcastle offers a smaller variety of attractions, the admission fees are under €30, and the park has received more than two thousand 5-star reviews.

Aquapark Nessebar in Bulgaria, Tenerife’s Siam Park, Badeparadies Schwarzwald in Germany and Slide & Splash Parque Aquatico in Portugal rank in the 6th-9th positions, according to the index. 

Last in the ranking of the best value for the top ten European water parks is Croatia’s Aquapark Istralandia with 21 attractions, where an adult ticket costs €34 and a child’s ticket is €27.

Greg Wilson, Founder and CEO of Quotezone.co.uk said: “Water parks are some of the most visited attractions on family holidays, they offer something for the whole family, but can sometimes be quite costly. 

“In order to find out which of the top ten European water parks offer the best value for money, our team ranked them based on the cost of a ticket (for adults and children), number of five-star reviews, number of attractions and cost of a locker. 

“Overall, our best value European water park index crowned Faliraki Water park in Rhodes, Greece as the winner. This was based on a high number of five-star reviews, relatively low-ticket prices versus the number of attractions for the family, and low locker costs. 

“Our index only looked at the attractions included in the price of a ticket, so discounted any restaurants. We wanted to see the best value for ticket price, really focusing on the attractions.

“It is sensible for holidaymakers and families to understand how to make the most of their money while on holiday. There are lots of small additional and unexpected costs which can add up over the course of the trip. Investing in activities which offer a full day of fun for the family without taking a big chunk out of the holiday budget are great options.

“Just a word of caution for travellers to make sure they have adequate protection for holiday activities.  Most travel insurance providers will cover a range of holiday activities in their policies such as theme parks and swimming, however the level of coverage can vary, and some activities may not be covered as standard including certain water sports which can be considered high risk.”

Quotezone.co.uk can help holidaymakers compare travel insurance and find savings on annual travel insurance, travel insurance for families and even those who are need travel insurance for pre-existing conditions. 

References:

All sources, conversion rates and information are correct as of 02/08/2024.

• The water parks analysed are taken from the top water parks from different countries sorted by ‘travellers favourites’ from popular online holiday review sites.  
• Each city was given a nominal score which was totalled up to give a final ranking. 
• Spain and Germany tied so Spain was awarded an extra point because Siam Park is bigger (46 acres) compared to Badeparadies Schwarzwald (14.8 acres)