Europa Park
Looking for something different and excited than your usual outing? Europa Park is the largest theme park in Germany, and its less than two hours from Heidelberg! You can take the Flixbus directly there, and it's pretty cheap. I went during the "winter season", therefore it was only 38 euros. Overall--especially in comparison to U.S. amusement parks--it is not very expensive price wise throughout the park. My lunch was only 8.50 and it was a good portion.
The park, as you might guess from its name, is themed from Europe, with each section being a different country. You can see all kinds of things from the countries, including their food, museums, and themed rides. The roller coasters were not a disappointment. At first they were not as big or fast or scary as the one's I'd been on before(starting at the one in France)but by the time we got to Matterhorn-Blitz we were losing our stomachs. I actually thought I was going to throw up... Not only is it fast with huge drops, but each car spun in a circle the whole time. They have everything from the wooden coasters, to completely inside ones, upside down ones, and even one where you can wear virtual reality goggles.
There are plenty of roller coasters to fill up your day, but there's lots of other things you can do as well. Other than the classic Pirate Ship ride--which we went on twice--there's an ice rink where you can rent skates(in the winter season), shows, 4D theaters, and lots of food from all over the world. We actually got lunch in Germany, but it was still delicious. Make sure to have cash on you because a lot of places don't take card.
As we were there in December, it was all Christmas themed. It was really beautiful, and there was even a band playing Christmas music. At the end of the day, we spent a good chunk of our final hour searching for milkshakes, and were finally successful right before we left the park.
Unfortunately, we only had about seven hours there, which didn't feel like enough, but we still had a great time. It's tricky because there is usually only one bus in the morning and one in the night coming to/from HD/Europa Park. But I would absolutely suggest it to anyone who likes these types of rides. My roommate had actually never been on a roller coaster before, so that was an awesome experience to witness a 6'7 guy be very scared of a ride. By the end of the day he was a total pro, though. A plus of going during the winter season--other than the price--was the lines were much shorter. The longest we waited for a ride was 25 minutes. For the biggest roller coaster we only waited 15 minutes, so if you want to make the most out of your time and money, go during the winter season! Just dress REALLY warm. I had two pairs of pants, two fleeces, a ski jacket, neck warmer, ear warmer, and ski mittens, but I will say I was pleasantly comfortable the whole day and on the rides.
