Efteling In Photos: A Magical Day At Europe's Most Beautiful Theme Park

Whether you’ve heard of Efteling or not, this magical fairytale inspired theme park in the Netherlands is quite possibly the most photogenic in all of Europe. From enchanting forests to beautifully themed rides and charming details, it’s such a unique destination for photographers. This post is dedicated to those moments so sit back, relax and enjoy Efteling in photos.

This is Efteling. A stunningly designed theme park inspired by European fairytales in the Netherlands, just outside of Kaatsheuvel, around 100km south of Amsterdam and 90km north east of Antwerp in Belgium.

In March 2026, just before Emma’s maternity leave ended and once I’d left my job as a lawyer to dedicate all my time to this blog and photography, we embarked on a two week adventure across Belgium with our two little girls (aged 4 and 1). We knew in advance that there was probably only so much time that the girls could travel by train and explore city by city before they’d get bored senseless so we dedicated the last four nights purely to them. We originally wanted to see whether we could travel down to Paris to visit Disneyland (after Evelyn loved Tokyo Disney Resort so much – just look at how beautiful it is) but, once a friend recommended Efteling to us, we could imagine visiting nowhere else. Plus the logistics worked infinitely better.

This post however isn’t the right place to spend time talking about our adventures through Belgium and the Netherlands. Instead, it’s time to introduce Efteling and showcase all of its unique corners through my distinctive style of photography. Whether you’ve visited countless times before, are actively planning a visit or you’re just here to see what all the fuss is about, I’m confident that these photos will inspire you to visit (again).

EFTELING IN PHOTOS

Before we dive right in and simply share all of the photos, I’ll give you a little context and explain what our two days in Efteling looked like. As I said above, we visited in Spring with our two little girls aged 4 and 1. The weather had been extremely cold (resulting in purchasing jumpers and thick coats in Antwerp) but, as soon as we arrived in Efteling, thankfully the sunshine appeared, the cherry blossom glowed and we felt as though as we were actually on holiday for the first time.

The theme park is split into five different realms, Marerijk (Fairy Realm), Reizenrijk (Travel Realm), Ruigrijk (Adventure Realm), Anderrijk (Other Realm) and Fanstasierijk (Fantasy Realm). Our favourite attractions were without doubt Sprookjesbos (the legendary Fairytale Forest), Droomvlucht (a dark ride all about fairies), De Pagode (a Thai-temple inspired observation tower that lifts high up into the sky), Symbolica and Max & Moritz. For those that like a little more adrenaline, like me, Python and Joris en de Draak are really good and I would have loved to have gone on Baron 1898 but it was out of action when we visited.

So, without further ado, let’s share my favourite photos of Efteling. I hope you enjoy!

Notes From A Photographer

Given this is more of a photography post than a guide to Efteling, I wanted to include a section detailing the gear that I used to capture these images, the Fujifilm recipe that provides the beautiful colours and to provide some personal tips for getting the best photographs from your own time at Efteling.

Camera: Fujifilm X-T5
Lenses: Sigma 17-40mm f/1.8, Fujifilm 35mm f/1.4 & Fujifilm 56mm f/1.2
Sling: Bellroy Venture Sling 6L

Fujifilm Recipe: Summer Negative

In terms of photography, I know not everyone will be travelling with essentially a professional setup. You will still be able to capture great photographs and beautiful memories whether you’re using your phone or a compact, fixed lens camera. I love photography, you’ll rarely see me without one of my cameras, and, given it’s technically my job, I obviously had to carry a range of lenses to help capture all of the unique details that make Efteling, Efteling. In all it’s weird and wonderful glory. Even the bins.

Some of these tips will be self-explanatory but hopefully they’ll assist in some way. First up, we visited the Fairytale Forest as soon as we entered the park on day one and I’d recommend ever doing the same. It was our favourite area by a long way and there was so much to see and photograph – visiting early in the day comes with the benefit of fewer people which means you can capture some iconic locations without the crowds. Secondly, don’t be afraid to take photographs of all the little details that, in the end, make Efteling what it is. These details set the scene and enhance any collection of images – I honestly think these will become some of your own favourite images and certainly help showcase what it feels like to visit Efteling too. Visiting in Spring was lovely as the cherry trees (and I’m sure many others) were in full blossom so that really added to the atmosphere. Of course, if you need to know anything more specific just let me know and I’ll be glad to share more advice and tips about photographing Efteling.

Well, I hope you really enjoyed looking through all of these photos of Efteling and, looking back now, I’m still of the view that Efteling is one of the best theme parks in Europe. Not that I’ve visited many but I love how weird (come on, it’s a little weird) and unique it was; the setting is stunning and I am absolutely sure we will be back to spend more time at Efteling soon!

Where To Stay At Efteling

In an ideal world, we’d have booked our trip to Efteling in good time meaning we would have been able to look at staying at one of the official Efteling accommodation offerings. There are four different types of accommodation ranging from luxurious themed hotels to woodland chalets – Efteling Grand Hotel, Efteling Wonder Hotel, Efteling Bosrijk and Efteling Loonsche Land.

Unfortunately, or fortunately I guess, none of those options were available so we booked three nights in a modern lodge at EuroParcs Kaatsheuvel which was really enjoyable, clean and comfortable. There were plenty of activities on site for the children such as parks, a heated indoor pool with slides, an outdoor pool (not open when we visited), jumping pillows and surprisingly really good food in the on-site restaurant. This was really convenient for us as we hired a car in Antwerp and were delivering it back to Brussels Charleroi Airport so getting to/from the park was no issue. If I was visiting again, I would have no hesitation in staying here though of course I would prefer to stay on-site if the price was right.