Top 10 Best Roller Coasters In Europe

List updated May 2025

I love a good Top 10 favourites list, and was shocked when I realised I've never actually worked out a Top 10 best roller coasters in Europe list! I think once you hit that magical 1000 coasters ridden threshold it helps to break them down into smaller, bite-sized favourite lists to help you digest the coasters you've ridden and still appreciate all the great things about coasters you love that might not necessarily cut it for the all time favourites list. In Europe we're really lucky to have not only some truly world-class, excellent rollercoasters but our historic love and ties to fairytales and folklore mean that more often than not these amazing rides come themed to the hilt, narrative and all, too!

So I wanted to take some time today to talk through the top ten European roller coasters. As always with these lists, this is based solely on my opinion and it's not the end of the world if your favourite coaster doesn't appear on this list. It doesn't mean I'm wrong, nor does it mean I'm saying you're wrong, it just means we have different tastes in coasters, and that is absolutely fine and allowed and by all means feel free to drop your list of top ten best coasters in Europe in the comments below, I'd love to see how they differ from mine! Also worth noting that these are in no particular order - I can never be bothered with truly ranking favourites as some of them aren't comparable, they're all just great. 

Kicking things off with the newly appointed queen of the UK coaster landscape, Hyperia at Thorpe Park. Having opened in May 2024 and taking the title of the UK's tallest and fastest coaster, this epic piece of Mack machinery sends riders hurtling from heights of 236ft at 80mph, with incredible sustained moments of airtime including an insane feeling outward banked airtime hill and just a moment to catch your breath through the inverted stall. We're a little cynical here in the UK, and I think everybody was waiting to ride Hyperia with baited breath, but she truly is a world class coaster that leaves me breathless every single time I ride! We're so lucky to have a coaster like Hyperia right here in the UK - finally a true airtime machine to call our own!

If you read my review of Voltron you'll know I didn't think it was the best coaster ever as personally it was, in the words of RollerCoaster Tycoon, too intense for me. But it's deniable that as a package, Voltron is up there with the very best of the best. It's just a spectacular bit of kit, glorious to behold from every angle, gorgeous trains, insane theming with one of the most entertaining and enthralling coaster queues in the world with an intense and punchy coaster experience to set it off. I've heard it's even better at night, I haven't yet had the pleasure, but honestly even though my personal experience of it wasn't out of this world it is a coaster I think about often and one I would love an afternoon re-riding, trying every seat and exploring every inch of. It's the kind of coaster us enthusiasts could only dream of really existing, except it does exist and that is special in itself. 

I've always been an Intamin fangirl, but after riding Velocicoaster back in 2022 it was very clear that something special was going on over there and we were about to enter a new phase of Intamin innovation. I was nervous to ride Toutatis because I had loved Velocicoaster so much, I was certain nothing could live up to the show that coaster puts on, and yet here we are in Europe with a coaster that very much gives Velocicoaster a run for its money. The launches are breathtaking, the reverse spike is terrifying and thrilling and joyful all at the same time, the airtime is chaotic and ridiculous (very much in line with the general vibe of Parc Asterix humour which I adore) - it's the perfect thrill coaster for that park and an excellent example of what can happen when a coaster doesn't take itself too seriously and doubles down on the fun. 

Karnan, or Schwur Des Karnan to give it its proper, full German name, at Hansa Park in Germany is, quite simply, the most terrifying coaster in Europe and maybe the world. And that's pretty much all in the theming. That hideous, looming, terrifying tower from which one only emerges screaming and clinging on for dear life is too good at doing its job, quite frankly. I won't spoil what happens inside the tower of doom, but it is one of the reasons this coaster is on this list purely for doing something truly unique and innovative that doesn't come off as gimmicky but instead enhances the experience of an already excellent coaster. The coaster proper that follows the...unpleasantness, is spectacular. It takes full advantage of the sheer height and size of the thing and sends riders through huge, swooping inversions and glorious airtime hills and transitions. It's as close to perfect a coaster as you'll find in Europe. 

Of course Helix at Liseberg in Sweden is on this list, which is always strange to me considering my usual distaste for Mack launch coasters. Usually I find them lacklustre, but not Helix. Despite not having the butt-clenching oomph of an Intamin launch coaster, Helix makes up for this with a dramatic, landscape hugging layout that feels impossibly huge, taking riders sweeping through several glorious inversions that deliver just the right balance or airtime and hangtime without once relenting on speed. There's not one section of the coaster that feels dead or like it should be doing something else but simultaneously paces itself perfectly to allow the rider to really absorb every force our bodies go through on this fantastic ride. For me, there's very little that can beat hurtling uphill towards one of my favourite inversions in Europe against a starlit sky illuminated with the lights of Gothia Towers. 

I've always considered rollercoasters to be extensions of human emotion and expression, literal machines designed to extract a reaction from the experience they deliver. Much like works of art, their purpose is to make you feel something, so it made perfect sense for Plopsaland de Panne to partner with the iconic electronic music festival Tomorrowland for their 2021 Mack Xtreme Spinning Coaster, Ride to Happiness. There's no denying the theming is otherwordly and eclectic, but how incredible that the coaster feels very much like an extension of everything Tomorrowland stands for. Strange elements that put your body in positions even the most seasoned coaster enthusiast has never been in before, with intense launches and rotating cars that somehow flirt with the sensation of nausea but never quite double down on it. Ride to Happiness is one of the most pleasurable and elating coaster experiences in the world, and easily one of the best in Europe.

Well of course Taron at Phantasialand in Germany is on this list. It's by far my favourite coaster in Europe and my second favourite coaster in the world. This Intamin Blitz coaster practically spits venom as it hurtles through the ridiculously detailed themed landscape of the mythical Klugheim. Weaving its way through jagged rocks and smouldering ravines, this beast does its damnedest to send us riders flying into the abyss as it violently snaps through insane ejector airtime filled transition after insane ejector airtime filled transition. The first launch into the gnarled rockface is exquisite but there is nothing quite like the euphoria of flying at high speed through all that theatrical fire and brimstone into the glorious second launch up into a majestic waterfall. I'm practically salivating writing this, it's just fucking great and I can't believe I'm so hashtag blessed as to live on the same Earth upon which such a piece of engineering and thematic perfection exists. 

When this Intamin Mega Coaster opened in Walibi Belgium in 2021, it marked a turning point in what was essentially a complete rehaul of what was previously a park that had been left in the 00s. With an epic prehistoric bordering on King Kong style theme, some seriously cool trains and heights of over 160ft, Kondaa offers fun thrills with excellent airtime moments, the incredibly unique non-inverting cobra roll and just an absolute blast of a coaster experience. It's not too harsh or intense like some of the other newer Intamin or RMC creations at the top of many a coaster enthusiast's list, but instead provides a solid and reliable experience for riders over and over again. To me it's reminiscent of the OG European coaster kings like Goliath and Expedition GeForce, but with a slightly more modern twist.

Dominating the skyline of Spain's PortAventura theme park is the legendary B&M hyper coaster Shambhala. With a first drop of over 250ft, this steel behemoth balances an elegant, swooping layout with intense, sustained forces throughout, peppered with euphoric floater airtime moments as you glide along the track. For years I've gone back and forth on Shambhala - I loved it when I rode it in its opening year back in 2012, something happened on subsequent visits that made it fall out of favour but on my most recent rides in September 2024, there really is nothing comparable to soaring through the layout with your hands up, completely at the whim of the track letting the train drag you along. It's almost spiritual - I challenge anybody to ride Shambhala and not come away elated.

You didn't think I'd leave all of the European RMCs off of this list did you? In at number ten but by no means least, Zadra at Energylandia in Poland. This freshest of the Rocky Mountain Construction machines is like no other RMC I've ridden and it is for that reason it makes the list over the likes of Untamed and Wildfire, who while both excellent coasters do share similar qualities with other RMCs I've ridden. The zero-g stall on Zadra is one of the all time favourite coaster elements - it goes on just too long to make you really appreciate what a bizarre yet brilliant sensation it is, before plummeting you back into the rest of the layout. The various zero-gs where you're just surrounded by a kaleidoscope of wood are just sensational and the big airtime hill is probably my favourite airtime moment in Europe - nothing but bums off seats the entire way through the element but taken with enough speed that you're dragged through the thing like a ragdoll. I guess in a way it is a bit like a mini-Steel Vengeance even though I said it isn't like any of the RMCs I've ridden previously - but I do stand by the fact that Zadra is incredibly unique in how it rides and it delivers a solidly excellent run through on every go. 

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Writing this list has made me appreciate all over again just how lucky we are here in Europe to have such a wide variety of highly themed, excellent coasters across the entire continent. I had a really hard time whittling it down to just ten which is a testament to how many incredible coasters there are here and honestly I can't wait to see what the future brings for the European coaster landscape. 

Do you agree with my list? What are your top ten European coasters? Let me know in the comments, I'd love to have a chat!

Talk later xoxo,