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6 book-inspired theme parks you can visit

6-MINUTE READ

There are books whose settings we'd love to be able to walk through and touch with our own hands. Especially when they take us to worlds that, in theory, could only exist in our imagination.

Stepping into Asterix's village, visiting Pippi Longstocking's house, wandering through Moominvalley or standing right in front of Hogwarts Castle.

Luckily, someone had the same idea before us and made it happen.

These parks have turned books, comics and literary characters into places we can explore on our own two feet.

01 · THEME PARK

Parc Astérix, France

If you've ever wondered what it would be like to step into the little Gaulish village that still holds out against the Roman invaders, you can do it about 35 kilometres from Paris.

Parc Astérix is inspired by the comics created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, and it opened its doors in 1989.

Here, of course, you'll meet Asterix, Obelix and the rest of the villagers, but also many of the places and eras they pass through in their adventures: the Roman Empire, the Vikings, Ancient Greece and Egypt.

All of this is mixed in with roller coasters, water rides and shows. And in 2026 the park revamped its Egypt area.

If you're one of those who lived dozens of adventures and travelled halfway round the world reading Asterix and Obelix, getting to step into some of those settings is one of those experiences that will whisk you straight back to your childhood for a few hours.

Where: Plailly, France, about 35 km from Paris.

02 · THEME PARK

Astrid Lindgren's World, Sweden

Pippi Longstocking has her own house.

Villa Villekulla (or Villa Kunterbunt) exists, at least here, and you can visit it at Astrid Lindgren’s World, a park in Vimmerby, the Swedish town where its author, Astrid Lindgren, was born.

But this place isn't just about Pippi.

You'll also meet Emil of Lönneberga, Ronia, Karlsson-on-the-Roof, The Brothers Lionheart and other characters created by the writer.

Visitors can go inside the houses and explore the settings from her stories. You'll also come across her characters around the park and can watch performances of scenes based on the books.

Here the big rides are almost beside the point. What really matters is being able to step into places you had only ever known through Astrid Lindgren's stories.

Where: Vimmerby, Sweden.

03 · THEME PARK

Moominworld, Finland

In the nineties, Spain's La 2 channel showed a cartoon starring some sort of little forest trolls that looked like cuddly toy hippos.

They were the Moomins. Born in the books of the Finnish writer and illustrator Tove Jansson, they eventually made the leap to television and reached audiences in many countries.

They also gave rise to a theme park.

Moominworld opened in 1993 with the blessing of Jansson herself and occupies the island of Kailo, next to the small Finnish town of Naantali.

There you'll find the Moomins' big blue house, probably the most recognisable place in their stories, along with other settings and characters from the valley.

There are performances, paths winding through the forest and various spaces inspired by the books. And being on a small island surrounded by nature particularly suits stories in which the forest and the sea matter so much.

Outside Finland it isn't as famous as other parks on this list, but that's exactly why it could be one of the most intriguing discoveries.

Where: Naantali, Finland.

04 · THEME PARK

Le Parc du Petit Prince, France

Yes, there's an entire theme park devoted to The Little Prince.

It's in Alsace and uses the characters, drawings and little stories created by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry as the starting point for its attractions.

You can meet the fox, look for the famous sheep, get lost in a maze or stand in front of a huge drawing of the boa constrictor that, of course, some people will still see as a hat.

One of its most striking attractions is a large balloon that can rise up to 150 metres, letting you take in the Alsace countryside from the air.

It's designed especially for families, but references to the book are everywhere. If you've read The Little Prince, spotting them is part of the fun.

Where: Ungersheim, Alsace, France.

05 · THEME PARK

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Orlando

This one probably needs little introduction.

The world of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando has grown over the years and now spans areas of three different parks.

Islands of Adventure is home to Hogsmeade, with Hogwarts Castle towering over the landscape. Universal Studios Florida has Diagon Alley, and the Hogwarts Express links the two.

And since Epic Universe opened, there's a third: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic.

This new area recreates the magical Paris of the 1920s and takes you all the way to the British Ministry of Magic in the 1990s, where Harry, Ron, Hermione and Dolores Umbridge appear once again.

Here it's hard to separate the books from the films, because much of the look of these places comes from the film adaptations. But it all began with the books, and today millions of readers can walk through some of the settings that for years had existed only in their imagination.

If you're a true Potterhead, this is one of those places you have to visit once in your life.

Where: Universal Orlando Resort, Florida, United States.

06 · THEME PARK

Efteling's Fairytale Forest, the Netherlands

Efteling isn't a park devoted to a single book, series or writer. It has roller coasters and plenty of other areas that have nothing to do with literature.

But inside you'll find the Fairytale Forest, and it seemed far too lovely to leave off this list.

Since it opened in 1952, the forest has grown to include around thirty fairy tales.

You can find the house from Hansel and Gretel, as well as Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, The Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Pea, Snow White, The Little Match Girl and Rumpelstiltskin, among many others.

There are stories by Hans Christian Andersen, the Brothers Grimm and Charles Perrault, as well as tales from folk tradition.

As you walk through the forest, the characters and places you've always known appear one after another: the witch's house from Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel's tower, Little Red Riding Hood, the Big Bad Wolf…

And we especially like that this list ends this way: going back to some of the stories many of us knew before we could even read.

Where: Kaatsheuvel, the Netherlands.

TO WRAP UP

When the world you imagined appears before you

Perhaps this is the most special thing about all these places.

When we love a book or its characters, we end up building their settings in our heads. We imagine what it would be like to walk their streets, step into their houses or come face to face with characters we've known for years.

And then you arrive at one of these parks and, suddenly… that world comes to life right in front of you!

For a Harry Potter fan, walking through the doors of Hogwarts isn't simply visiting an attraction. The same goes for stepping into Villa Villekulla after growing up with Pippi, or finding yourself walking alongside Asterix and Obelix.

For years those places existed only in books and in our imagination. And suddenly their doors open in front of us and we can go in and explore them in person.

It's a bit like coming across that magic wardrobe we so often imagined would take us to Narnia, and discovering that this time we really can walk through it.

Even if, a few hours later, it's time to go back through the door and return to the real world… the trip is worth it.

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