Erlebnispark Tripsdrill Tickets & Visitor Guide

Erlebnispark Tripsdrill is Germany’s oldest theme park, and it wears the fact lightly. It began in 1929 when Eugen Fischer built the Altweibermühle — an “old wives’ mill” that supposedly grinds elderly women young again — as a joke attraction beside his restaurant in the Swabian wine country, and the same Fischer family still owns and runs the park today. The theme, “Swabia around 1880”, means coasters burst out of sawmills, flume boats are bathtubs, and the on-site museum collects antique wine presses.

Don’t let the folklore fool you: Tripsdrill runs some of the best-regarded coasters in southern Germany, includes a full wildlife park in its ticket, and undercuts the big destination parks on price — especially if you book online and use the free parking. Here’s how to plan it.

Quick Summary

Quick fact	Detail
Tickets from	€41.50 online (adults), €38.50 children 4–11 and seniors 60+; €54/€50 at the gate — [source: official Tripsdrill website, checked August 2026]
Opening hours	Daily 28 March – 8 November 2026, usually 9:00–18:00, to 19:00 on selected Saturdays; Wildparadies open longer
Advance booking	Recommended — online saves up to €12.50 per person; the park rarely sells out
Time needed	One full day for rides; add half a day to do the Wildparadies justice

Ticket Types Compared

Tripsdrill keeps ticketing simple: day tickets covering both park and wildlife area, a wildlife-only option, and passes. GetYourGuide lists the same entry at around €42, in line with the official online rate.

Standard day ticket (Erlebnispark + Wildparadies)

The default. From €41.50 online for adults (12+), €38.50 for children 4–11 and seniors 60+, under-4s free. Includes the adjoining Wildparadies wildlife park — effectively two attractions on one ticket.

• Best for: everyone visiting for the rides.
• Skip if: you only want the animals — see below.

Wildparadies-only ticket

The wildlife park sells separate, cheaper entry at its own gate and runs on a longer calendar than the ride park.

• Best for: off-season visits, toddler days, or locals walking the wolves-and-deer loop.
• Skip if: anyone in your group wants coasters — upgrade to the full ticket.

Two-day ticket and annual pass

A 2-day ticket (€54–64) barely costs more than one gate-price day — the best-value option if you’re staying at the Natur-Resort. Annual passes run €149 (adults) and €119 (children/seniors).

• Best for: overnight guests and Baden-Württemberg families.
• Skip if: you’re passing through once — a single online ticket does it.

Timing Is Everything

• Quietest: weekdays in April–June (outside Easter and Whitsun school breaks) and September–October midweek.
• Busiest: July–August, sunny weekends, public-holiday bridges, and Baden-Württemberg school holidays — the park’s catchment includes Stuttgart’s whole metro area.
• Daily rhythm: Tripsdrill opens at 9:00, earlier than most German parks; the first two hours are the emptiest. Karacho and Hals-über-Kopf queues peak between 11:30 and 15:00.
• Best photo time: late afternoon, when low light hits Mammut’s timber structure and the vineyard hillsides behind the park.
• Arrival tactic: be there for 9:00, knock out Karacho, Hals-über-Kopf and Volldampf before 10:30, then let the day slow down to the park’s own pace.

How to Save

• Book online: €41.50 versus €54 at the gate is up to €12.50 saved per adult, the largest fixed online discount of the big German parks — [source: official Tripsdrill site].
• Under-4s free; children’s and senior rates (€38.50 online) apply to ages 4–11 and 60+.
• Parking is free — over 4,000 spaces. Against the €10–15 charged elsewhere, that’s a hidden family discount.
• Two-day maths: at €54–64, a 2-day ticket costs about the same as one gate-price day — pair it with a Natur-Resort stay.
• Group rates from 20 people drop online prices to €33–35 per person; youth groups (ages 4–17, from 10 people) pay €29–31 online.
• Gate-only discounts exist too: reduced tickets for visitors with disabilities and for birthday guests are sold at the counter only — bring documentation, and ID if it’s your birthday.
• The Wildparadies is included — treat it as the afternoon programme rather than paying for a separate zoo elsewhere on your trip.

How to Get There

Tripsdrill sits at Cleebronn in the vineyards between Stuttgart and Heilbronn — rural, which is why parking is free and transit takes patience.

• By car (recommended): roughly 45 minutes from Stuttgart, 30 from Heilbronn, signposted from the A81. Free parking at the gate.
• By public transport: S5 from Stuttgart to Bietigheim-Bissingen, then bus 567 or 572 to the Cleebronn Tripsdrill Erlebnispark stop at the entrance; from Heilbronn, bus 662. Allow well over an hour each way and check return times — rural buses thin out in the evening.
• Staying over: the park’s Natur-Resort (tree houses and shepherd’s-wagon cabins beside the Wildparadies) bundles accommodation with entry and puts you at the gates for the 9:00 start.

Inside the Park: What’s Worth Your Queue

• Karacho (2013) — the catapult launch coaster and the park’s adrenaline peak: an LSM launch into inversions, threaded through a half-timbered “engine shed”.
• Hals-über-Kopf (2020) — a Vekoma suspended thrill coaster whose track interlocks with its partner ride; the best of the newer generation here.
• Volldampf (2020) — the family boomerang sharing Hals-über-Kopf’s site; the two trains crossing paths is the park’s signature spectacle.
• Mammut (2008) — a wooden coaster nearly 860 m long, themed as a runaway sawmill, complete with timber-yard queue.
• G’sengte Sau — the vineyard bobsled coaster whose Swabian name (“scorched sow”) tells you everything about the park’s humour.
• The classics: the bathtub flume to the “fountain of youth” (billed as Europe’s tallest of its kind), the Altweibermühle itself, and the Vinarium wine museum with Germany’s largest collection of wooden-spindle presses.
• Wildparadies: Arctic wolves, fallow deer you can hand-feed, and daily birds-of-prey displays across 47 hectares of woodland — a genuine second half-day, not a petting corner.

One-day plan in a sentence: coasters from 9:00, water rides and classics over the midday peak, walk to the Wildparadies for the afternoon animal feedings, back for a last Karacho before close.

A note on pace: Tripsdrill is a walking park, not a queue park. Outside peak Saturdays, waits rarely reach destination-park levels, and much of the pleasure is in the details — carved figures, Swabian dialect signage, vineyard views between rides. Budget unhurried time rather than sprinting a checklist; families with mixed ages report it as one of the easiest big parks in Germany precisely because the thrill rides, classic rides and animals sit in distinct, compact clusters. And because the Wildparadies keeps longer hours than the ride park, you can let the coasters close at 18:00 and still finish the day with the wolves and deer in evening light.

Where the Data Comes From

Prices, dates and ticket rules in this guide come from the official Tripsdrill website and partner listings (GetYourGuide), checked on the date at the top of this page. Seasonal hours and online “from” prices shift year to year — confirm on the official booking page for your visit date.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much are Tripsdrill tickets?

Online day tickets start at €41.50 for adults (12+) and €38.50 for children aged 4–11 and seniors 60+. At the gate you pay €54 and €50 respectively, so booking online saves up to €12.50 per person. Under-4s are free.

Is the wildlife park included in the Tripsdrill ticket?

Yes — the adjoining Wildparadies wildlife park is included in the regular Erlebnispark day ticket. It also sells its own cheaper ticket if you only want the animals.

When is Tripsdrill open in 2026?

The Erlebnispark runs daily from 28 March to 8 November 2026, typically 9:00–18:00 with longer hours on selected Saturdays. The Wildparadies stays open beyond park hours.

What are the best rides at Tripsdrill?

Karacho, the catapult launch coaster; Mammut, the wooden coaster themed as a sawmill; and the 2020 Vekoma pair Hals-über-Kopf (suspended thrill coaster) and Volldampf (family boomerang), whose tracks interweave.

Is parking free at Tripsdrill?

Yes — over 4,000 free parking spaces, a rarity among major European parks.

How do I get to Tripsdrill by public transport?

Take the S5 from Stuttgart to Bietigheim-Bissingen and continue by bus 567 or 572, or bus 662 from Heilbronn. The stop 'Cleebronn Tripsdrill Erlebnispark' is at the entrance. A car is faster if you have one.

Can you stay overnight at Tripsdrill?

Yes — the park's Natur-Resort offers tree houses and shepherd's-wagon cabins next to the wildlife park, with packages that include park entry.

Guide last updated: 2026-08-18. Facts are sourced from the official Erlebnispark Tripsdrill website and our ticketing partners; always double-check before you travel.