Europapark parkrun
Klagenfurt, Austria
I’ve heard Klagenfurt described as tricky to get to, but it’s on major train routes - I came from Certaldo (Tuscany) with a night in Mestre (Venice), though I could have done it in a day with a bit of confidence about connections (as it happened, the Friday saw an Italian train strike, so I was glad to be just on one, Austrian, train). I suppose it’s harder to pick out an easy trip to and from the UK than some, given Ryanair fly in on a Thursday and out again on a Sunday, but transport is really not generally a problem.
Accommodation isn’t either. I stayed at the youth hostel under a mile away (booking direct is much cheaper, albeit requiring some entertaining bureaucracy - a request, a follow-up email with more information, an excel sheet filled in and returned, a bank transfer), but there are hotels even closer. The Hotel Plattenwirt is the meeting spot for a drink afterwards, and is exceptionally convenient for the start.
I had plenty of time on the Friday so walked to the park to have a nose around. There’s a ferry service along the lake that looked tempting for a longer visit, and in a couple of months I’m told the lake is likely to cater for plenty of swimmers though none were braving the Spring temperatures. Despite its size, the lake warmed to well over 20 degrees last year in summer, so you never know your luck. The beach next to Europapark has an entry fee and provides all the facilities you might want. There’s a miniature world - like a miniature village, but wider in scope - at Minimundus, which is cited as having free parking on the parkrun course page.
The meeting point is just down from the large cluster of flags - Flaggen Denkmal on the map - such that you can’t miss it. Given I woke up under a mile away, and had found the shortest route via the river the evening before, I didn’t need to leave early and so for extra reassurance could also follow the newly-set up course signs before spotting the cones that mark the finish (visible in the photo below).
The route is a very natural-seeming near-mile round the largest section of the park. Apparently it looked like it would be a perfect three-lapper when measured online, but the reality was slightly short, hence bearing off left round the cones to add a little bit at the very end. It works perfectly, and gives a constantly-changing perspective of the park and its surroundings (and then repeats those perspectives twice).
It’s a very pretty park, particularly with the sun making it very pleasant to just hang about afterwards. Finish times vary, so walkers shouldn’t be put off, but this time the last participant was running and we were all done by 9:40. I’d suggested I wouldn’t have time for a drink and was called out on it as we strolled to the hotel, further blotting my copybook by discussing the football the (English) run director hadn’t seen and didn’t know or care anything about. But I had plenty of time to be there till 10:30, back to my room at 10:40, showered and checked out at 10:50.
Completing this event means I’ve covered all the parkruns in Austria (to go with Italy, as of last weekend), but there are a couple more fairly imminent, which gives a good excuse to go back. My journey onward to Munich covered train-bus-train-train, with plenty of time to take in the sights as below - even waiting for the third train gave a view of distant mountains. It’s a lovely country to move through, I look forward to seeing more.
Results from Europapark parkrun #18, 24/5/25; 17 finishers
Thanks John. Always interesting to read your reports of distant parkruns. Any idea why that park is called Europapark?
David