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05
Jun 21
0

Tenerife Siam Park Sensation

If you are planning to spend some time in the south of the island, then the Tenerife Siam Park sensation is something not to be missed. Siam park is a large, clean, beautifully landscaped and well organized water park, officially the No 1 water park in the world.

If you come to Tenerife, this is absolutely a ‘must do’ attraction.

Even if you are not bothered about the rides, this is a great place to relax on their huge artificial beach – with real white sand and a Gi-normous Wave Palace.

Waiting for the next 3-meter wave in the Wave Palace

Designed for all age groups, Siam Park is not just for the kids. In fact, several of the more daunting rides are prohibited to children under 14 (or anyone else under a certain height).

Tenerife Siam Park – Getting there

Our day out to Siam Park didn’t start too promisingly. Without any familiarity with the local bus network, it took us a while to reach Los Christianos, from where we eventually managed to take another bus to the Water Park.

In fact, there is a regular free shuttle service running throughout the day to and from Siam Park from Los Christianos, Las Americas and other locations on the island. These buses are easy to recognize from their colorful park advertising. You just need to purchase a valid ticket to the park to board the bus.

When you leave the park, the same free shuttle service will also take you back to most of the main hubs on the island.

Tenerife Siam Park Sensation – Take the complimentary bus

Entrance to the park is €34, (children 3-11 are charged €23) with extra small supplements for towels and lockers.

Click here for full details on pricing and opening hours (multi-language).

If you also plan to visit the highly-recommended Loro Park during your stay in Tenerife, there is a worthwhile reduction when you buy both park tickets together.

Tenerife Siam Park Sensation – First Impressions

Siam Park is beautifully landscaped with trees, bushes and flowers. It’s a pleasure just to walk around and enjoy the colorful atmosphere. There are plenty of reasonable-priced places to eat and drink while you observe some of the more hair-raising water rides on offer.

For the more adventurous visitors, there is a selection of 13 water ‘experiences’ to choose from.

The entrance to each of these rides features a useful information board which explains the highlights and difficulty (read ‘scariness’) of the ride.

Similar to a skiing resort, each ride is categorized by a color: Green, yellow or red. The green rides are fine for everyone, whereas the yellow category rides are pretty hairy. With most of the red category rides there is a warning for people with heart or back conditions.

… this is no idle warning.

Tenerife Siam Park Sensation Map (click image to enlarge)

Tenerife Siam Park Sensation – The Rides

The first ride we took was the popular (and relatively tame) Mai Thai River ride. This is a leisurely family-friendly ride (the longest in the park) which won’t stress you out too much.

Upping the scale, our 2nd ride was the Singha. After this we tried in quick succession the Dragon and one of the 3 Jungle Snake rides (we chose the Cobra).

Apart from the Tower of Power, you descend all rides on 1, 2, or 4-person inflated rings.

Some of these rides plunge you into total darkness during extreme spinning sections of the descent, which is pretty unnerving.

Before taking a ride you need to carefully read the basic instructions (all-language pictograms) and heed advice from the attendants at the top.

You have to take care to keep all limbs inside the rubber rings and to hold on tight to the side handles. Some rides throw you sideways at close to 180 degree angles.

I suppose some experts have carefully worked out all the centrifugal forces, but it seems a miracle that people aren’t thrown out of these lightweight plastic craft.

There are medically trained staff at the exits of the more extreme rides, which is at the same time both encouraging and unsettling.

Tenerife Siam Park Sensation – The Wave Palace

After our first three rides, we scooted over to the beach to experience the biggest artificial waves in the world in the Wave Palace.

We then wandered off to warm up on the suntrap beach.

Walking around the park in wet swimwear in May can get a bit chilly – especially if you climb to the top of some of the higher rides where you really feel the cool sea breezes.

The Big One – The Tower of Power

Of course, we had to leave on a (literal) high.

We tried two more rides – the Vulcano and the Giant, and finally it was time for the vertigo-inducing Tower of Power.

The Tower of Power is an insane 30-meter drop from the chilly top of an Inca temple, vertically down an open slide then underwater through a shark-infested tank before being spewed out with a rush of adrenaline into a pool before the waiting spectators.

The shark plunge …you won’t get much time to make their acquaintance

This is the one ride in the park which is very methodically supervised from above.

Each guest is given individual instructions and carefully positioned with arms across chest before being gently pushed over the precipice. The initial angle of descent is so steep that you can’t even feel the slide beneath/behind you. You feel just a rush of water and air as you hurtle vertically down to the shark plunge.

Although it feels much longer, this whole cathartic experience takes around 8 seconds.

The Tower of Power is both thrilling and terrifying. A veritable rite of passage for anybody visiting the park.

… and don’t forget that other theme park

Understandably, cameras and other objects are not allowed on the actual rides. This is just as well, since you’ll be busy enough hanging on for your life.

On the day we visited there were very short queues for the rides, so we did very little waiting around.

Tenerife Siam Park Sensation

Following our day out at Siam Park, we were looking forward to visiting their sister company – Loro Park (‘parrot park’) – in North Tenerife.

If Loro Parque is as much fun as Siam Park, we were in for a treat.

If you enjoyed Tenerife Siam Park Sensation, check out Tenerife & Gran Canaria with Stopovers in Spain. You may also like:

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The highlight of our visit to Tenerife was our day trip out to Loro Parque in Puerto de la Cruz, where you can find the largest parrot sanctuary in the world.

Plan Your Travel - Canaries via Spain — The Canaries with stopovers in Spain
We put together a 2-week multi-destination itinerary which includes Tenerife & Gran Canaria with stopovers in Spain - the medieval city of Girona and the capital Madrid.

07
Mar 21
1

Gdańsk Poland Activities

Tags : Video

Apart from the picturesque old town and excellent eating venues, Gdansk is home to a top-class selection of interactive museums. You’ll need at least 3 days to do justice to these as well as the other Gdansk Poland activities on offer.

Staying at the Liberum hotel in the heart of the old town, we were well-located for visiting the top attractions on our agenda. With 4 full days ahead of us, we were planning to visit the World War 2 Museum, the European Solidarity Center and the Maritime Museum.

Gdansk Poland Activities – Lounging on giant signposts is also an ‘activity’

If there was time, we also had our eyes on a tiny 7D & Virtual Reality kino, and a few pubs to keep us well hydrated. We wouldn’t have time to get bored.

Gdansk Poland Activities – Museum of the Second World War

The Museum of the Second World War is located about a 20-minute walk north-east of the Old Town.

The officially-recommended time required to visit this World War 2 museum is 3 hours. In actual fact you’ll need at least 5 hours (and ideally longer) to absorb most of what the museum has to offer.

Gdansk Poland Activities – The lopsided World War 2 Museum

The reception area is large and spacious, and there are easy-to-follow routes through a series of World War 2 themed areas.

The museum houses a huge collection of photos, artifacts and film footage from the 2nd world war. In addition, there are impressive state-of-the-art audio and visuals. These include interactive screens which allow you to research specific aspects of the war and view photos and documents from a huge digital filing system.

The outside of the building itself is impressive enough, but inside you are treated to a masterpiece of an exhibition which allows you to follow the course of the war in all its different theaters. You travel from the invasion of Poland, through the Battle of Britain, war on the Western and Eastern Fronts, and the war in the Pacific.

Everywhere you look there are photos and film projected onto huge screens. There are also some fascinating life-sized sets that you can walk through, such as the huge set of a bombed-out Berlin Street, complete with a Russian T-34 tank.

The emphasis is as much on the human suffering of the 2nd World War as on the political and tactical aspects. The story of the war is told without bias, sparing no nation from blame for the greatest human tragedy ever recorded.

Everything is beautifully arranged and depicted, and presented with obvious care and attention. The haunting images you see here will stay with you long after you have left Poland.

Blitzkrieg – The Game! … next stop – Paris

Tickets to the Museum of the Second World War cost 23 zł (€6), but there is free admission on Tuesdays. As with most other museums in the city, it is closed on Mondays.

Gdansk Poland Activities – European Solidarity Centre

The European Solidarity Centre is a museum and library devoted to the history of Solidarność, the Polish trade union and civil resistance movement, and other opposition movements of Communist Eastern Europe.

Gdansk Poland Activities – Solidarność Wall of Messages

This movement was publicized internationally during the seventies and eighties, and ended up making Lech Wałęsa a national hero and eventually President of Poland.

There are some memorable set-pieces in the museum, such as a reconstructed typical Polish-Soviet living room from the era, and the massive red and white Memorial Wall of messages, to which you are invited to contribute.

Tickets to the European Solidarity Centre cost 20 zł (€5). This is one of the few places in Gdansk that is open on Mondays (and the rest of the week apart from Tuesdays).

The Poles seem very keen on constructing buildings with slanting walls

Gdansk Poland Activities – Maritime Museum

The Gdansk Maritime Museum actually comprises 4 separate areas: The Granaries on Ołowianka Island, the Soldek ship-museum, the Crane and the Maritime Culture Center. On our visit, we only had time for the Granaries (the main attraction).

Our Granaries tour was quite a pleasant surprise. It starts off very low-key, with an introduction to the earliest recorded boat-building activities in the Baltic.

Gdansk Poland Activities – The Maritime Museum

However the tour quickly gains pace as you pass from room to room, tracing the history of maritime events and the development of ship-building through Medieval times to the present.

There are a lot of sensor-activated displays which come to life as you wander into proximity. This is a really good way of keeping visitors alert and engaged.

The museum also features interactive set-piece displays, such as the recreation of a cannon deck on an 18th-century galleon. This set includes a full-sized interactive cannon that you can ‘fire’ by lighting a fuse (cleverly adapted with sensors and digital technology). All great fun!

Tickets to the Granaries cost 11 zł (€3). It is closed on Mondays.

Gdansk Poland Activities – Kino 7D Max

As impressive as they are, a trip to Gdansk doesn’t have to be all about the museums. For a change of tempo we decided to try out something completely different.

The Kino 7D Max is a tiny establishment located close to the Brama Wyżynna Gate. They offer two types of entertainment: Virtual Reality and 7D Cinema.

Gdansk Poland Activities – Kino 7D Max VR Chairs and sets

We first tried the 7D cinema. From a selection of a dozen or so 7D film genres we chose the highly-recommended Pirate romp.

We had the small 12-seat kino to ourselves.

Since this was to be a 7D feet-off-the-ground experience, we were strapped into our seats before donning our 3D glasses. The movie lasted just 12 minutes, although it felt like a lot longer.

We we literally lifted off our feet, shaken and prodded. Wind and water droplets were blown into our faces at synchonized moments.

Thoroughly enjoyable for just 18 zł (€4.50).per person.

Piraci 3D – trailer

Zobacz trailer filmu Piraci 3D! Ta niesamowita przygoda to zupełnie nowe wrażenia w siedniu wymiarach! Oprócz okularów 3D doświadczysz tu dodatkowych efektów takich jak wiatr, zapach, ruchy fotela czy kropelki wody – wszystko dopasowane tak, aby przenieść Cię w tajemniczy świat pirackiego statku!Film dostępny w Kino 7D Max w całej Polsce.

Posted by Piraci 3D on Monday, October 10, 2016

For a truly immersive experience however we returned the following day to try out their Virtual Reality headsets and seats.

This time we donned headphones and VR headsets before being strapped into seats in the front of the kino.

We’d chosen an adaptation of the horror classic Afterlife.

Gdansk Poland Activities – Experience a state-of-the-art Oculus VR headset

The story involves a trip around a demonic lunatic asylum. Again it was just 12 minutes long but this time it really felt real. Hats off to the game designers for some truly horrific thrills … and spills (literally!).

Our Oculus VR experience cost 22 zł (€5.50).per person.

Finally down to the Pub

After a trip to the cinema, there’s nothing like a good pub.

We tried 2 pubs in Gdansk. The Piwnica – a self-styled Irish pub near the Brama Wyżynna and the Bruderschaft pub close to the Liberum hotel.

Gdansk Poland Activities – The Pubs!

Both are cavern-like underground converted bomb shelters with some quite unusual local beers on draft, and often live music.

Mondays in the Old City

On Mondays, apart from the European Solidarity Centre, most of the museums in Gdansk are closed. So on a cold Monday in winter your best bet is to find a cozy bar where you can sample some excellent Polish beers.

Our Final 4-Day Gdansk Budget

So how did our planned budget of €250 per person measure up after 4 days in Gdansk?

Our actual costs for 2 people sharing worked out as follows:

Return inter-Europe flights to Gdansk	€104
Liberum hotel for 4 nights	€161
Airport Transfers	€3
Restaurants (Breakfasts & Dinners)	€261
Museums (World War 2, European Solidarity Center and Maritime Museum)	€16
Sundries (Kino, Pubs)	€54
	€599

This works out at €300 per person, which is a bit more than we’d budgeted. Bear in mind however that we didn’t scrimp on location or food quality.

Gdansk is a fascinating and historically-rich city to visit, and we wouldn’t hesitate to do it all over again.

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