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Tivoli Friheden

Aarhus, Denmark

“Relaxing amusement park near city centre of Denmark’s second-largest city”

While talking about Tivoli and Denmark, everyone automatically thinks of Tivoli Gardens. This theme park has achieved a monumental status and it’s a not-to-be-missed stop during any trip to Copenhagen… even for non-coaster enthusiasts. However, many people don’t know that Denmark’s second largest city has a similar amusement park with a similar name. Tivoli Friheden is located just outside of Aarhus and it’s a popular place for enjoying concerts, entertainment and rides. By the way: a day at Tivoli Friheden can easily be combined with visits to other Danish amusement parks like Djurs Sommerland, Legoland Billund and Fårup Sommerland.

ROLLER COASTERS

Tivoli Friheden is not that famous, but it suddenly appeared in international news reports on Thursday 14 July 2022. Unfortunately, this was due to an accident with Cobra, the park’s inverted coaster. The last car of the train came off the rails, resulting in one fatality. Sadly, this wasn’t the first serious accident that has happened with Cobra. The park immediately decided to close the coaster for good after this second incident, and this seems the only right decision. By the way: Cobra will not be missed. We were able to ride it just 10 days before the fatal crash… and it felt like torture. The train offered little comfort, the layout consisted of poorly designed curves and the inversions were painful. Cobra has since been replaced with a Gerstlauer Eurofighter called Vindfald.

It’s a bit bizarre, but Tivoli Friheden’s largest roller coasters are hidden behind huge see-through noise barriers. Therefore, Cobra seemed to be an inverted coaster in a fish tank. Its neighbour Tyfonen has a similar look and feel, but the ride is considerably less painful. This is a Zamperla spinning wild mouse, similar to the ones you find at Belgian and Dutch funfairs. Despite its predictable layout, we noticed that these rides can get particularly intense if you create an uneven weight distribution. We got out slightly dizzy, just because we were both seated at the same side of the vehicle.

The park’s two other credits are small-scaled kiddie coasters. Dragen is a dragon-themed Wacky Worm with a slightly modified layout, while Bisværmen is a spinning coaster manufactured by SBF Visa Group. These simple figure 8-shaped coasters can be found at many European amusement parks nowadays. They’re forgettable, to say the least, but these rides seem to be surprisingly popular among families with children.

OTHER EXPERIENCES

Tivoli Friheden offers many flat rides, including two free fall towers. The first one is called Hjertekig, a 65-metre drop tower with a spinning gondola. The most striking feature of this ride: Tivoli also uses it as a panorama tower, without the free fall element. There aren’t separate queues for both experiences, but just let the operator know your preference. The other free fall tower may be considered as the park’s signature attraction. In fact, Sky Tower takes the concept of a free fall to a whole new height/depth. Daredevils are transported up in a cramped elevator, after which they drop down 30 meters. To be clear: this ride doesn’t feature a gondola, cable or vehicle of any kind. Guests are just thrown off the top of the structure, after which they’re caught in a huge net. Needless to say… Sky Tower is a thrill ride of epic proportions.

WORTH A VISIT?

Tivoli Friheden made a surprisingly good impression on me. I expected a cheap, second-rate version of Copenhagen’s Tivoli, but I was wrong. Although Tivoli Friheden won’t ever match the grandness and world-wide fame of its famous brother, the park turned out to be more than pleasant. The grounds are stunningly landscaped with lots of greenery and water features, while we also got to enjoy a beautiful summer flower festival. The park has a fine attraction lineup as well. It’s true that Tivoli Friheden lacks a signature roller coaster, but there’s still plenty to do for visitors of all ages. I would therefore highly recommend a visit to Tivoli Friheden if you ever visit the area.

Have you been able to ride Cobra before it closed forever? Do you think that a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter was the right replacement for it? Share your opinion in the comments section at the bottom of this page.

This article reflects my personal experience at Tivoli Friheden during a visit in July 2022.