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Gardaland

Castelnuovo del Garda, Italy

“Italy’s largest theme park has a lot to offer”

I did not experience it myself, but 1975 was an important year in recent history. Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft, the first Jaws film was released in cinemas, and the Netherlands won the Eurovision Song Contest with Ding-a-dong. The year 1975 also brought plenty of new developments to the world of theme parks. Walt Disney World unveiled the original Space Mountain, Knott’s Berry Farm introduced the first corkscrew roller coaster, and both Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens Williamsburg opened their doors for the first time. Europeans were also treated to three brand-new theme parks. Walibi – which was later renamed to Walibi Belgium – opened near Brussels, and I probably don’t need to tell you which theme park was inaugurated in the tiny German village of Rust. Meanwhile, the story of Italy’s most successful theme park began on 19 July 1975 at the shores of Lake Garda. Welcome to Gardaland.

In the early days, a visit to Gardaland cost 1,750 lire, which is equivalent to 0.90 euros. Admission is approximately 50 times more expensive nowadays, but guests obviously get a lot more in return. After all, Gardaland no longer is the small regional amusement park it once was. It has grown to become the number one of the Italian theme park scene. The park, which is currently run by Merlin Entertainments, now features seven roller coasters, several water rides, two dark rides and a whole range of family attractions. In addition, there is the 250-room Gardaland Hotel, whose exterior was clearly inspired by the Disneyland Hotel in Paris. It looks quite cosy, but I can’t tell you whether the Gardaland Hotel is worth the price or not. We’ve never actually stayed there ourselves, and there are several reasons for that. Firstly, there aren’t any major in-park benefits for guests staying at the Gardaland Hotel. Secondly, I regard Gardaland as a one-day destination, even despite its extensive attraction lineup. Thirdly, it’s super easy to find cheaper accommodations near the park. Lake Garda is one of the busiest tourist areas in Southern Europe, so there are literally hundreds of hotels and campsites.

ROLLER COASTERS

Launches are totally absent from Gardaland’s coaster lineup, but inversion are not. In fact, four of the park’s seven roller coasters feature multiple inversions. One of them is Shaman, a traditional Double Loop Corkscrew manufactured by Vekoma. This is an almost identical copy of Python at Efteling, and Shaman underwent a similar retracking as its Dutch sibling. Given that Python has been running incredibly smoothly since that refurbishment, I expected a similarly pleasant experience here at Gardaland. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Italy’s higher temperatures may play a role, but our ride on Shaman was so turbulent that it managed to give me a major headache. Moreover, the Native American theming (which was introduced in 2017) is quite minimal, so personally I wasn’t particularly impressed by Shaman.

Whilst we’re on the subject of painful, slightly outdated Vekoma rides… Gardaland is also home to Blue Tornado. Let’s start with the good news: I like the ride’s colour scheme and Blue Tornado’s crew members work hard to reach a high hourly capacity. Unfortunately, that’s about as far as the positives go. Blue Tornado is an SLC and, sadly, it’s just as painful as most of its counterparts. The five inversions are particulary rough, but we even experience some serious head-banging in the curves. I would therefore say that it’s a pity that Blue Tornado features more curves than your average SLC. The ride was extended with an extra helix, but it doesn’t add much value in my opinion. So, dear Gardaland management… Please follow Walibi Belgium’s example and send Blue Tornado into retirement soon.

Fans of vertical drops will certainly find something to their liking at Gardaland. The park is home to two different tower attractions and a B&M Dive Coaster called Oblivion – The Black Hole. It’s quite a striking attraction due to its shiny white tracks and supports. However, it’s fair to say this isn’t an exceptionally unique Dive Machine. The layout is relatively predictable: after climbing a 140-feet-tall (42 metres) lift hill, riders experience a vertical drop, a tunnel, two inversions, an airtime hill and a helix. There are barely 25 seconds of effective ride time between the holding brake and the final brake section, but fortunately that’s enough to create an excellent thrill. The first descent offers powerful airtime and Oblivion’s trains run impeccably smoothly. The theming is also worth mentioning, as Gardaland did an extraordinary job with the optical illusion surrounding the black hole.

Merlin Entertainments doesn’t only like Dive Machines; the group also seems to be a big fan of B&M Wing Coasters. And if you know Merlin, you’ll probably know that they prefer to give these roller coasters a dark theme. At Thorpe Park, the Wing Coaster is set in a post-apocalyptic setting, while Heide-Park‘s version depicts a flight with demons. Here at Gardaland, the trains have been designed to resemble a menacing predator. It’s anything but cosy or friendly, but the dark setting of Raptor works surprisingly well. The industrial-looking station exudes a convincing atmosphere and a large part of the layout was built above mysterious swampland. The ride itself is a bit hit or miss, depending on your personal preferences. Personally, I like laid-back roller coasters with a floating sensation, so for me, Raptor is perfect. The ride is smooth and the layout features a number of well-executed near-misses. However, if you’re expecting the thrill of a lifetime, you might be in for a disappointment. This was the first B&M Wing Coaster on the planet and it’s certainly not as spectacular as some of the younger installations.

A Wacky Worm isn’t a legendary coaster… unless it’s placed at Gardaland. Ortobruco Tour features no fewer than seven lift hills. I repeat: seven lift hills! It offers no thrills and there’s no decoration whatsoever, but the layout really does seem to go on forever. In the same corner of the park, we also discover Dragon Empire. During our previous visit, this section was still themed around the DreamWorks animated film Kung Fu Panda, but it has since been transformed into an IP-less, more generic-looking Asian area. Meanwhile, family coaster Kung Fu Panda Master was renamed to Dragon Rush. It’s hard to understand why this ride often seems to have the longest lines in the whole park. Dragon Rush isn’t more than a funfair-style Wild Mouse with minimal decoration. It doesn’t meet the standards you’d expect from Gardaland and its capacity is disappointingly low. Despite being the park’s newest roller coaster, it’s also the least interesting one.

Merlin Entertainments and Gardaland are sometimes criticised for deliberately keeping ride capacity low. According to some, this is a clever, yet extremely unfriendly way to sell more fast-track tickets. In all honesty: I’ve actually never noticed this myself. During my visits, major roller coasters were operated with at least two trains and staffing was sufficient to keep queues moving at a brisk pace. Mine train coaster Mammut was even running three trains, making it a walk-on for most of the afternoon. This enabled us to enjoy multiple rides on this excellent family roller coaster. With its three lift hills and a track length of 3,260 feet (995 metres), this is a relatively long ride including some strong lateral forces. There’s also a certain element of surprise, as a large part of the layout is hidden amongst tall rock formations. Not everything is perfect, though. Although I really like Mammut’s polar expedition theme, it desperately needs some TLC. Those snowy rock formations aren’t in the best condition and the encounter with the mammoth (which should be the highlight of the ride) turned out to be rather underwhelming.

WATER RIDES

Gardaland is one of the world’s most eclectic parks when it comes to theming. In fact, it’s perfectly normal to see an Arabian palace, dinosaurs, pirates and a German Biergarten from the same spot. Visitors can also explore an Indian temple complex right next to the snow-capped mountains of Mammut and Blue Tornado’s airbase. Amidst exotic vegetation we discover Jungle Rapids, an excellent rapid river. The ride is pretty long and enjoyable, but Jungle Rapids’ main selling point is the theming. I’m not exaggerating when I state that this is one of the most beautiful water attractions in Europe. The setting consists of a volcano, temples, mysterious statues and lush foliage. In my opinion, Jungle Rapids is one of the highlights at Gardaland.

Jungle Rapids isn’t the only must-do in the water ride department. Fuga da Atlantide also counts as a refreshing and absolutely stunning attraction. This beauty has been there for quite some time now, but it remains one of the most popular attractions in the whole park. Shoot-the-chutes are always fun rides, and Gardaland spared no expense when it comes to theming. The ride is dominated by impressive rock formations and there’s even a 60-feet-tall (18 metres) statue of Neptune. Due to all this opulence, it’s easy to forgive Fuga da Atlantide for the fact that the ride isn’t particularly spectacular or wet. May I also praise Gardaland’s maintenance team? On a previous trip, Fuga da Atlantide was overgrown with moss and colours had faded, but much of the theming has been restored to its original state. Great job, Gardaland.

Theme parks tend to show off with state-of-the-art projection mapping and other expensive technology these days, but an average amusement park visitor apparently still loves a good old classic. Old-fashioned coasters like Shaman and Blue Tornado still attract decent crowds and you can also expect considerable queues for Colorado Boat. This is a rather basic log flume: there are two drops, you won’t find any special features, and theming is minimal. The layout is identical to the log flume at Europa-Park, but Colorado Boat fails to match Tiroler Wildwasserbahn’s elaborate theming.

DARK RIDES

Gardaland knows that indoor attractions deserve an impressive exterior. The rotating Magic House, for example, is situated beneath a striking fairy-tale tree. Besides, the stunning facade of the Cinema 4D Experience convinced us to watch Prezzemolo e l’Enigma Svelato. Neither of these attractions left an unforgettable impression, but their air conditioning was more than welcome on a hot summer day in Italy. Things got more interesting at Jumanji – The Adventure, a dark ride that was built on the location of the former Valle dei Re and Ramses – Il Risveglio. The building’s imposing exterior (based on the archaeological complex of Abu Simbel) looks completely different since the introduction of Jumanji, and the ride experience changed dramatically too. Nevertheless, I don’t consider Jumanji – The Adventure to be a particularly outstanding attraction. The pre-show is rather dull and screens play a very prominent role during the ride. Undecorated walls and poorly camouflaged ceilings weaken the immersiveness even further. A motion-based ride system offers fantastic possibilities, but it clearly does not guarantee a top-class attraction.

I Corsari opened in 1991 as a classic (and entirely underground!) boat ride through a pirate-themed world. It has undergone two significant makeovers since. In 2018, it was updated to I Corsari – La Vendetta del Fantasma, but that version only lasted for a few years. In 2025, the dark ride made a comeback under the name Animal Treasure Island. The main components of the attraction remained identical: the pirate theme and the impressive exterior are still there, and you may also recognise many of the former scenes. The most important novelty is the addition of fresh audio-animatronics, designed in a more cartoony style. I’d feared that their appearance wouldn’t fit in the existing sets, but it’s not actually that bad in reality. Furthermore, Animal Treasure Island features a number of excellent effects using projection mapping and lighting, making it by far the best dark ride at Gardaland.

OTHER EXPERIENCES

UFO spotted near Gardaland? The situation actually sounds less probable than it is, as Flying Island soars 160 feet (50 metres) above the park every few minutes. This futuristic ride is Italy’s answer to Pagode at Efteling. I like its sleek appearance, but unfortunately the ride duration is far too short to fully enjoy the panoramic views. Interestingly, this ride is located in a section of the park where white is the dominant colour. Flying Island is the white zone‘s most notable family attraction, whilst Oblivion – The Black Hole and Space Vertigo cater to thrill seekers. This Intamin freefall tower is barely 130 feet (40 metres) high, making it considerably smaller than similar attractions like Fritt Fall and Hurakan Condor. Don’t underestimate Space Vertigo, though, as the drop is surprisingly powerful. Another tower ride was added to Gardaland in 2024 and it’s called Wolf Legend. This ride from the SBF Visa Group is far less intense than Space Vertigo, but it makes up for this with its looks. The tower was placed in a giant wolf’s statue, very similar to the one that’s part of Croc Drop at Chessington World of Adventures.

It’s not unusual for Merlin parks to focus on thrilling rides with dark themes. Gardaland is no exception to this rule, but the park caters to young families as well. Peppa Pig Land and the colourful Fantasy Kingdom, for example, offer quite a lot of carousels, monorails and car rides for the youngest visitors. You’ll also find several (water) play areas, the impressive Giostra Cavalli carousel and a giant Jumanji-themed labyrinth. Guests then can hop on the Transgardaland Express for a relaxing tour of the eastern half of Gardaland, whilst Monorotaia offers a bird’s-eye view of the western side of the park. Note that both the train and the monorail have just one stop, so you cannot use them for transportation between different corners of the park.

WORTH A VISIT?

I thoroughly enjoyed all of my visits to Gardaland, but this certainly isn’t the best theme park in Europe. There are a few imperfections, and some of them are quite difficult to fix. Firstly, there’s the odd situation at the park entrance. Nearly every large theme park welcomes its guests with a nice Main Street or a cosy square, but there’s nothing more than a painfully ordinary T-junction right behind Gardaland’s main entrance. Then there’s the questionable state of Mammut and the visually-unappealing area behind Shaman, which lacks charm and identity. However, there’s no need to avoid the park just because of these issues. Overall, I had an excellent day at Gardaland. Crowds were very reasonable during our most recent visit in June 2026, crews worked hard to keep the lines short, and Bar Aladino offered refreshing, reasonably priced Aperol Spritz. Gardaland certainly knows how to make me happy.

Italy is a lovely holiday destination with plenty of great amusement parks. Did you know that one of these parks is actually within a 10-minute drive from Gardaland? From the Flying Island, we could even spot a few thrill rides of the nearby Movieland Park on the horizon. Do you prefer the grand scale of Gardaland, or do you favour the unique attractions of that nearby film-themed park? Share your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of this page.

This article reflects my personal experience at Gardaland during a visit in June 2026.