It’s all so cozy and festive: lights, garlands, ornaments, nutcrackers…everywhere.
Families dare the cold and love bringing children to the rides and many Londoners choose to visit nearby Alton Towers to watch the Christmas parade and the holiday spectacular setting.
Alton Towers is without a doubt the most beautiful park in the United Kingdom as well as the most visited, it is located in Stoke on Trent about two hours drive from London.
The area is completely immersed in the English countryside, lost in the middle of nowhere, reaching it by public transport becomes complicated and obviously you waste precious time, taxis are quite expensive, so in my opinion the cheapest way to reach the park and also in the shortest possible time is definitely by car.
Alton Towers is a rather large and very spread out park, visiting it all in one day is practically impossible, also given the limited opening hours, especially in the winter period.
The resort is made up of the theme park as well as the water park (in summer), and accommodations for overnight stays.
Alton Towers also offers a treetop adventure course.
There are several areas to visit, each with different attractions: Adventure Land, Cloud Cuckoo Land, Dark Forest, Gloomy Wood, Mutiny Bay, The Gardens, The Towers and X-Sector among them.
It caters to both thrill-seekers and families with small kids.
I personally love the Skyride, which allows you to see the entire resort from the sky.
There are a variety of food outlets, mostly fast food.
As Alton Towers theme park is usually very busy, especially during holidays and in summer, some people prefer to buy a fast track pass, which means you can skip the queue. There are four types: Bronze for 4 rides, silver for up to 6 rides, gold for up to 13 rides and platinum with 14 rides.
To reach the park from the hotels you can use the free monorail which is an attraction on its own.
Once you get in, and go through the Main Street you will find yourself in front of the beautiful lawns of the park with the large castle in the center, then turning left you will encounter the first attractions.
The Nemesis is there…to my mind, the second most beautiful attraction in the park.
It is a very respectable inverted coaster, one of the most beautiful in Europe.
The best attraction for me if you are with kids is a family coaster with a dark and gloomy theme but there is no person who will scare you and it is not horror themed, it is the story of the coaster that is centered on a dark forest setting and it’s really really fun.
If you are brave and love this type of attractions they have also opened the Dungeon (currently closed), it is a horror path a little different from the usual where obviously you will be put at the center of the story.
In the high-thrill zone is the Oblivion, a roller-coaster with a simple descent into a black hole and then a return to the station.
The Smiler on the other hand for me remains the most beautiful attraction in the park, (in fact it is also the one with the longest queue), it is called so because you laugh a lot on it since you don't understand where you are and what is happening.
Think that this coaster boasts the highest record of inversions in the world, so you absolutely have to try it.
Alton Towers is a fascinating park, you always have fun and you don't want to leave, and that's what matters.
