Stevo said:
Gavin do you always use public transport.what other parks are just as easy? and what area would be best to stay at with these parks? Sorry for all the questions
If I'm by myself, then I always use public transport, yeah. A lot of the European parks I've done have been with CF, which has involved hire cars though.
In terms of where to stay, I might not be the best person to ask. I don't really do "park" trips, but more general sightseeing trips with a park or two tagged on if I can. For example, I stayed in central Madrid for a few days and got the train out to Warner as a day trip (easy). Similarly, I did Port Aventura as a day trip from Barcelona (again, very easy), and spent most of my time in the city. If you ask most of the uncultured trash on here, though, they'll tell you that you should stay at an all-inclusive in Salou for a week.
The parks I've used public transport for:
DLP: Easy train ride from Paris
Asterix: Shuttle bus from Paris (I used the one from the Louvre - there's a weird underground bus station, but I think there's one from the airport as well)
Port Aventura: Direct train from Barcelona. Piece of piss
Tibidabo: Bus from central Barcelona. Very easy
Parque Warner: Train with one transfer from central Madrid. Easy.
Parque de Attraciones: On the Madrid metro - couldn't be easier
Europa: Only travelled out of the park by public transport - bus at the entrance to a train station 10 minutes away. Can connect to wherever from there. I only did this because I was going on to Strasbourg from there though. If you're doing a specific Europa trip only, then the shuttle bus is clearly the best option.
Walibi Holland: Again, only travelled out of the park as I got there with other CFers in the car. Like Europa, there was a bus to the nearest train station and connections through there.
Duinrell: Involved a train from Amsterdam and a couple of local buses, which sounds worrying until you realise that everyone speaks excellent English and the buses have excellent info screens telling you where you are anyway. Not really a park worth making a massive effort for though.
Drievliet: A 15 minute walk after a tram ride from The Hague main station. Easy enough. I did it in the same day as Duinrell, and both as a day trip from Amsterdam.
Plopsaland: Train station very close - 10 minute walk
Bobbejaanland: Train and bus - not a problem
Särkänniemi: Just on the outside of Tampere. An easy walk from the town centre.
Linnanmäki: Like the above. On the outskirts of Helsinki and walkable from the city centre.
Skyline Park: 10 minute walk from a tiny, obscure station in the middle of nowhere. Not difficult from there though. Well, it was for me as one train was late which had a horrible knock-on effect and meant a ridiculous 3-train detour to get there. I just "popped in" on the way to Munich.
Bayern Park: A shuttle bus (only at weekends though) from some random train station about 45 minutes outside Munich. It was easy, but annoying as there's only one bus in and one bus out, so I was stuck at a quiet park for hours.
Allou Fun Park: Bus from central Athens. Easy, but a crap park. Again, I was there for Athens, though, and just did this as something to do one afternoon.
Wiener Prater: On the Vienna metro. Expensive as all rides are pay-per-ride. The coasters aren't up to much, but there are some amazing flat rides and the whole place has a really fun atmosphere.
Vidam Park: On the Budapest metro (well, pretty much). Not worth a trip on its own, but if you're in Budapest, which is lovely, it's worth a visit.
Like I said before though, most of those parks aren't really worth making a specific effort for; I did most of them as a day trip from a city break, or as a stop off point while travelling between cities.