The enchanting French theme park just 40km from Disney that’s cheaper – and far less busy

Who makes the magic potion?” I asked my 13-year-old nephew Fred as we landed at Charles de Gaulle airport. “Getafix,” he replied without hesitation. While the stories of Asterix, the Gaul had been the mainstay of my youth, Fred had recently discovered this world through Netflix’s five-part series released in April. As we walked from Les Trois Hiboux hotel into the park, he looked up at the rollercoaster rails of the Goudurix ride towering above the Viking area.

“Are we going on that?” he asked, eyes wide with anticipation and disbelief, after all, it boasts five loop-de-loops followed by a corkscrew. This wide-eyed astonishment would set the tone for our entire weekend.

The Adventures of Asterix the Gaul follow the warrior Asterix and his fellow Gaulish villagers as they stand up against the might of Julius Caesar and the Roman empire. First published in 1959, there are now 40 volumes with another due for release this year. With a whopping 393 million copies sold, they are the bestselling European comic book series ever and the second best in the world.

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Some 40km away, while Disneyland Paris was preparing for the May bank holiday, one of their busiest weekends, with snaking queues and lengthy waits, we were casually strolling straight into the heart of Parc Astérix. Though it isn’t striving to imitate its larger, more saccharine neighbour (which it actually predates by three years), the park is reaching new audiences through recent book releases like Asterix in Lusitania, due October 2025, and the new Netflix series.

Parc Astérix has grown from strength to strength, recording 2.84 million visitors in 2024. With short transfer times from Charles de Gaulle via an €11 (£9.40) shuttle bus, it’s positioning itself as a genuine alternative in European theme parks.

Read more: We swapped Disneyland Paris for a cheaper Dutch theme park – and my kids preferred it