Kosher food at Europe's theme parks: a family guide

Anyone who has planned a family theme-park holiday knows the roller coasters are the easy part. The real question arrives at lunchtime, when everyone is hungry, the park is enormous and every stand sells hot dogs you can't eat. The good news: near almost every big park in Europe there is a kosher answer - sometimes inside the park, sometimes a kosher restaurant a drive away, and sometimes a Chabad house that prepares meals to order. Here is what we checked, park by park, so you can plan the days around where you will eat rather than the other way round.

Disneyland Paris - the only European park here with a kosher meal inside the gates

Disneyland has no permanent kosher restaurant, but every table-service restaurant in the park and the Disney hotels can serve a sealed, pre-packaged kosher meal - meat, fish or vegetarian. Order at least 48 hours ahead on +33 1 60 30 40 50; expect about EUR 33 a meal. For the rest of the day there is a simple fix: the Auchan hypermarket at Val d'Europe, about ten minutes from the park, has a kosher section in its "Produits du Monde" aisle. That is where you stock up on sandwich makings, snacks and drinks for the morning.

View full listingFamily itinerary & park tickets

Stays near Disneyland Paris

Sleeping near the park saves the morning drive, and an apartment with a kitchen takes care of kosher dinners. The map shows hotels and apartments around the park, with prices and availability.

Hotels & apartments near the park

Compares prices across the major booking sites. The booking is made on the external site, not on BooKasher.

Affiliate link · no extra cost to you

This is an affiliate link. If you book through it we may earn a small commission - at no extra cost to you - that helps keep the site running.

Europa-Park and Rulantica - a kosher dinner in Strasbourg

There is no kosher food inside Europa-Park or its hotels, but the answer is closer than it looks: across the border in Strasbourg, Autre Part is a kosher dairy restaurant near the university, about fifty minutes' drive from the park. It opens for lunch Sunday to Friday and for dinner Sunday to Thursday. The plan that works for families: breakfast and a packed lunch from home or the hotel, a full day in the park, and a hot dinner in Strasbourg. The park runs as usual on Shabbat, so build your park days midweek.

View full listingFamily itinerary & park tickets

Stays near Europa-Park

Sleeping near the park saves the morning drive, and an apartment with a kitchen takes care of kosher dinners. The map shows hotels and apartments around the park, with prices and availability.

Hotels & apartments near the park

Compares prices across the major booking sites. The booking is made on the external site, not on BooKasher.

Affiliate link · no extra cost to you

This is an affiliate link. If you book through it we may earn a small commission - at no extra cost to you - that helps keep the site running.

Efteling - fairy tales in the Netherlands, a kosher meal in Antwerp

Efteling, the Netherlands' oldest and largest park, may be the best park on this list for small children - a whole fairy-tale forest among the trees. There is no kosher food near the park itself, but Antwerp is about an hour's drive away, with a large Jewish community and kosher restaurants such as Hoffy's, run by the Hoffman family. Many families simply stay in Antwerp and drive to Efteling for a day: Shabbat with a community and synagogues, and a park day midweek.

View full listingFamily itinerary & park tickets

Stays near Efteling

Sleeping near the park saves the morning drive, and an apartment with a kitchen takes care of kosher dinners. The map shows hotels and apartments around the park, with prices and availability.

Hotels & apartments near the park

Compares prices across the major booking sites. The booking is made on the external site, not on BooKasher.

Affiliate link · no extra cost to you

This is an affiliate link. If you book through it we may earn a small commission - at no extra cost to you - that helps keep the site running.

Gardaland, Lake Garda - a seasonal Chabad and a kosher hotel by the lake

Gardaland, Italy's biggest theme park, sits on the eastern shore of Lake Garda - and in summer it is one of the easiest destinations on this list for anyone keeping kosher. In Desenzano, on the southern shore, Chabad of Garda & Verona runs from Seder night to Rosh Hashanah, with prayers and Shabbat meals by registration. Nearby is KosherGarda, a hotel serving Glatt kosher meals about 300 metres from the shore. There is no kosher food inside the park itself. Arrange a packed meal with the hotel or with Chabad, and check the park's website for what you may bring in. Outside the season, WhatsApp Chabad before you plan around it.

View full listing

Stays near Gardaland

Sleeping near the park saves the morning drive, and an apartment with a kitchen takes care of kosher dinners. The map shows hotels and apartments around the park, with prices and availability.

Hotels & apartments near the park

Compares prices across the major booking sites. The booking is made on the external site, not on BooKasher.

Affiliate link · no extra cost to you

This is an affiliate link. If you book through it we may earn a small commission - at no extra cost to you - that helps keep the site running.

Legoland Billund, Denmark - the kosher food is in Copenhagen, far from the park

The original Legoland in Billund is every child's dream, but know this before you go: Denmark has no kosher slaughter, and all kosher meat is imported. The country's only kosher restaurant, Taim, is inside the Chabad House in Copenhagen, next to Gils Deli - Denmark's only kosher butcher and deli. Copenhagen is more than 200 kilometres from Billund, so it is not a lunch option. What works: stock up in Copenhagen before the drive, take packed food for the park day, and arrange anything special with Chabad in advance.

View full listing

Stays near Legoland Billund

Sleeping near the park saves the morning drive, and an apartment with a kitchen takes care of kosher dinners. The map shows hotels and apartments around the park, with prices and availability.

Hotels & apartments near the park

Compares prices across the major booking sites. The booking is made on the external site, not on BooKasher.

Affiliate link · no extra cost to you

This is an affiliate link. If you book through it we may earn a small commission - at no extra cost to you - that helps keep the site running.

Siam Park and Loro Parque, Tenerife - a Chabad house a short drive away

Siam Park, one of Europe's biggest water parks, is in Costa Adeje in the south of Tenerife - and the Chabad house of the Canary Islands is in the same area, about two kilometres away. Run by Rabbi Shmuel and Shterna Mushka Rosenberg, it offers Shabbat meals by advance booking and has sold kosher weekday meals for pickup. Before you travel, WhatsApp them on +34 606 198 813 and check what is available on your dates - that way a water-park day and a Loro Parque day both come with kosher food ready.

Stays near Siam Park

Sleeping near the park saves the morning drive, and an apartment with a kitchen takes care of kosher dinners. The map shows hotels and apartments around the park, with prices and availability.

Hotels & apartments near the park

Compares prices across the major booking sites. The booking is made on the external site, not on BooKasher.

Affiliate link · no extra cost to you

This is an affiliate link. If you book through it we may earn a small commission - at no extra cost to you - that helps keep the site running.

Phantasialand near Cologne - arrange with Chabad ahead

Phantasialand, in Brühl, is about fifteen kilometres from Chabad of Cologne at Hochstadenstr 15. Kosher options in Cologne are limited, so here more than anywhere it pays to write to Chabad a few days ahead and ask about meals or kosher supplies. It suits families with slightly older children best, and is usually combined with a trip to Cologne and the Rhine.

Stays near Phantasialand

Sleeping near the park saves the morning drive, and an apartment with a kitchen takes care of kosher dinners. The map shows hotels and apartments around the park, with prices and availability.

Hotels & apartments near the park

Compares prices across the major booking sites. The booking is made on the external site, not on BooKasher.

Affiliate link · no extra cost to you

This is an affiliate link. If you book through it we may earn a small commission - at no extra cost to you - that helps keep the site running.

And if you fly further: Walt Disney World, Orlando

Orlando is the opposite of Europe: inside Disney's four parks you can order packaged kosher meals 24 hours ahead, and around I-Drive there are kosher restaurants, a kosher grocery and a Chabad that delivers to your hotel. Worth reading our full Orlando guide before you book.

View full listingFamily itinerary & park tickets

Stays near Walt Disney World

Sleeping near the park saves the morning drive, and an apartment with a kitchen takes care of kosher dinners. The map shows hotels and apartments around the park, with prices and availability.

Hotels & apartments near the park

Compares prices across the major booking sites. The booking is made on the external site, not on BooKasher.

Affiliate link · no extra cost to you

This is an affiliate link. If you book through it we may earn a small commission - at no extra cost to you - that helps keep the site running.

The rule that holds at every park: plan the food before you plan the rides. Pre-order whatever can be pre-ordered, stock up at the kosher shop in the nearest city, and put park days midweek - every park on this list runs as usual on Shabbat. That way the kids get their extra ride, and the parents get a calm day.