PortAventura Guide
Our PortAventura Guide will help you plan your visit to the park.
PortAventura World is an entertainment resort on the Costa Daurada in Catalonia, Spain. The resort operates two theme parks, PortAventura and Ferrari Land. We have written a separate guide on Ferrari Land. PortAventura is the most visited theme park in Spain, attracting, on average, 3.5 million guests a year. The resort also includes a water park, five hotels, an RV Park and a convention centre. The park originally opened in 1995. The Tussauds group, which owned 40% of the park, sold the majority of its shares to Universal in 1998 and the park was branded as Europe’s first Universal Studios Park. However, Universal sold its interest in the park in 2004 and the Universal name was dropped by 2005. Since then, the park has been known as PortAventura.
Location
PortAventura is located in Salou and Vila- Seca, Tarragona on the Costa Daurada in Catalonia, Spain. The park is located within 15 minutes of Reus Airport and within an hour of the larger Barcelona Airport. There is a train station at PortAventura which connects to both Barcelona and Tarragona.
PortAventura Address
Av. Pere Molas, Km 2, 43840, Tarragona
Time needed
We would recommend you spend at least two full days at the resort. This should allow you to experience both parks, PortAventura and Ferrari Land. If you enjoy taking your time when visiting theme parks then adding a third day to your visit would definitely be advisable.
Attractions at PortAventura
PortAventura is formed of six themed lands, five based on civilisations (Mediterrania, Far West, Mexico, China and Polynesia) and one themed to Sesame Street. PortAventura has a total of 53 attractions, 9 of which are roller coasters. Shambhala is the park’s main coaster. This B&M hypercoaster has a drop of 78 m and reaches a top speed of 134 km/h. Sesame Street: Street Mission is also worth pointing out, as it’s very easy to overlook as a kids ride due to its location in the park. However, Street Mission is an incredibly good interactive dark ride. The ride was created by Sally Dark Rides and won IAAPA: Best New Ride in Europe Award in 2019.
Top 5 coasters at PortAventura
1. Shambhala
2. Dragon Kahn
3. Furious Baco
4. Stampida
5. Tomahawk
FastPass
PortAventura offers a very good selection of express options at a reasonable price in comparison to other parks of a similar size. The Express Max pass allows you to enjoy express on most attractions one time each. The Express Max Premium pass allows unlimited access to the same attractions. The final option is the Express Max Fun Pass which offers one time express on each of the park’s family attractions. It is also worth noting that this pass is the only one which allows express entry to Sesame Street: Mission Street. The prices of the passes do vary depending on when you are visiting. The park offers Certain on-site hotel rooms which come with express passes and anyone stopping at an on-site hotel can buy express passes on-site for a discounted price.
Food at PortAventura
PortAventura offers a great selection of food, from fast dining to table service restaurants. We have really enjoyed our experience at the parks table service restaurants and would definitely recommend that you experience one of them during your visit. You can book these restaurants online before your visit and we would advise that you do so to avoid disappointment.
Events
Summer Nights- Summer Nights at PortAventura consists of a dance show, a parade and a firework show.
Halloween- PortAventura’s Halloween event consists of three horror houses, a Halloween show, a parade and a firework show.
Christmas- PortAventura’s Christmas event consists of Christmas World, a Christmas themed show, a family festival area, a parade and a firework show.
Hotels
The resort features six themed hotels;
Hotel PortAventura: 4 star and Mediterranean themed
Hotel Caribe: 4 star and Carribean themed
Hotel El Paso: 4 star and Mexican themed
Hotel Gold River: 4 star and Western themed
Hotel Colorado Creek: 4 star and rustic Western theme
Hotel Mansion de Lucy: 5 star and Victorian style Western theme
Hotel Ferrari: 5 star and Ferrari themed
Stuff to do nearby
With the park being located within an hour of Barcelona, there is lots to see nearby. Barcelona is a fantastic city, full of culture and located on the coast. The nearby Salou is also a very popular beach resort with lots of restaurants and hotels.
PortAventura Guide Top Tips
The queue time for Sesame Street: Mission Sesame often drops significantly around 2-3pm.
Start your day at the back of the park on rides such as Shambhala and Dragon Kahn.
Weekends are very busy.
For more information on PortAventura World, visit the park’s official website.
Thank for reading our PortAventura Guide.