II’m standing next to a giant plastic model of a colored pig, big belly and all, as happy as a pig in a barn. He’s grinning as big as mine, his stubble and pink skin as loudly weathered from hot sun (admittedly, the resemblance is a little worrying), and I’m waiting to board a roller coaster with my theme park bag: my partner , our seven- year-old son and our four-year-old daughter. Only one of us is wearing a sparkly pink Peppa Pig T-shirt.
If it sounds like we’re at Peppa Pig World in the New Forest, we’re not. In fact, we are in Günzburg, southern Bavaria, in the brand new Peppa Pig Park. It is Europe’s first independent amusement park based on the oinktastic children’s park cartoons — the Hampshire one is attached to Paultons Park (where entry is £43.50pp for anyone over a meter tall), this one is slightly cheaper and has 14 rides compared to Hampshire’s nine.
Günzburg has a fantastic pedestrian center thick with pastel colored medieval arches
ALAMY
It’s also child’s play how easy it has been to get here. We have driven 90 minutes west from Munich in a rented Volkswagen (unfortunately the rental place did not have a bright red car with a missing roof), a lovely trip through rolling hills and Little Red Riding Hood forests.
In the midst of rapturous thoughts when we arrive, our little girl grunts, “Daddy, this is the best vacation ever!” Then we’re off at high speed on a runaway car driven by Daddy Pig. It’s a nipper-sized roller coaster, but one that would give anyone at Alton Towers a run for their money. To add to our laughter, Mr. Bull, the big-mouthed boss of the cartoon’s construction company, has his own problems, and there’s a broken pipe spraying water next to the tracks. You guessed it: muddy puddles are everywhere. Our heads are spinning. Our breasts bump when we change direction. There is a rainbow of colors. We immediately rush back again.

Take multiple laps of the Daddy Pig slide
For all its similarities to the one in Hampshire, which opened in 2011, Europe’s newest theme park is in a different league and its launch this year coincides with the TV show’s 20th anniversary. UK-based attraction company Merlin Entertainments is behind this first dedicated Peppa park, choosing Bavaria as the location. The idea was to cash in on loyal local fans, as well as piggy-back (arf, arf) on the success of neighboring Legoland Deutschland, which is also operated by Merlin and has more rides than the original in Billund, Denmark (68 compared to 50), and shorter queues than Legoland Windsor. The appetite for Peppa-themed rides is also evident elsewhere; there’s another Merlin cop opening in Florida in 2022, while a third is set to open in Dallas Fort Worth early next year.
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My family and I are spending a few days in the Günzburg area and there is plenty to keep my little pigs busy in the park itself. After several laps on the slide, there are hot air balloons to control – yes, pigs fly – and each one gently hoists our family litter into the sky for an aerial view of the park. Next door are Grandad Dog’s pirate boats and Grampy Rabbit’s dinosaur ride, which involves straddling a tyrannosaurus, cowboy-style, then looping around a circuit of roaring pink and purple animatronic dinos. Naturally, Peppa Pig’s Treehouse is another hit.

Mike MacEacheran with his children at Peppa Pig Park
So far, so amusement park. But look around and there are some surprises. There’s a spray park with low-sized buckets and water slides that do their best to convince you that you’re in Orlando, not the land of Oktoberfest. Past the bright green hedges is a one-of-a-kind Peppa Pig Duplo-themed area, plus an outdoor stage for character meet-and-greets (who doesn’t want to hug a giant fuzzy pig? ) and a cinema showing non-stop Peppa – classics. It’s a reminder that life is often best when seen through the eyes of a four-year-old.
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Perhaps unsurprisingly for a nation so hungry for pork (lit down, Germany’s bangers are the best of wursts), Germans have taken to Peppa with gusto (it’s one of the country’s most popular TV shows), and it’s clear , that the park is ideally suited to Bavaria. At the market-style restaurant, we pig out on Käsespätzle, cheesier dumplings that are a far cry from the usual theme park fast food, and a menu brimming with fried potatoes, salads and veggie gyros. There are no pigs in lipstick in sight (aka bratwurst slathered in ketchup), but there are rocks of beer.
In a way, the hotels we stay in also belong to a more innocent world – and they are just as happy. There are no themed Peppa coasters, so we sleep one night in the Legoland Holiday Village at the resort’s new Forest Adventure Lodge. It’s like a Boy Scout camp, but with a mid-century motel design, and we leave our balcony door open to get basked in the summer breeze. Above the children’s bunks, a red-hooded woodpecker and rope owl made of hundreds of bricks add to the Black Forest toy town atmosphere.

Legoland Forest Adventure lodge is like a Boy Scout camp but with a mid-century motel design
We also spend time in Günzburg. A five-minute drive from the two parks, the town has a stunning pedestrianized center thick with pastel-coloured medieval arches, fountains and restaurants with outdoor terraces, and a simple, colorful hotel, the Hotel Goldene Traube (room only doubles from ££63; dormero.de).
Unlike Bavaria’s larger haul, the city is pint-sized and perfect for romping at a preschooler’s pace. After wandering the cobblestones of the old town, peering into courtyards and churchyards, we eat at Mary Lou and find its veggie tortilla wraps more satisfying than any bland sausages, then it’s lemon, blueberry and cucumber water, not wheat beer ( wraps from £9; mary-lou.de). It’s all like Germany through the looking glass.
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The whole company adds up to three days of wallet-friendly fun. What’s more, it crosses my mind that in a year when the innocence of childhood has been so heartbreakingly hijacked elsewhere, there is something important in reminding ourselves of what it is to be young. And who hasn’t decided where to spend October half-term or a pre-school autumn break, there’s still time to fool around.
Mike MacEacheran was a guest at Peppa Pig Park (£16 for adults and children, under 2s free; peppapigpark.de), Legoland Deutschland (£33 for adults and children, under 2 years free; legoland.de), and Legoland Forest Adventure Lodge, which has B&B family rooms from £309, including park access. Fly to Munich. For more information, see Visit Germany (germany.travels).
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