To celebrate the Christmas season Tivoli Gardens is transformed with more than a million lights, a spectacular covering of 'snow' and an array of stalls with tasty treats and gifts.

As the fifth most visited theme park in Europe, welcoming over 4.6 million people a year, Tivoli Gardens is the jewel of Copenhagen in Denmark.

We visited this winter wonderland to enjoy all the top attractions, the new thrill ride Tik Tak, and the festive additions.

Here's our review...

With the park open from 11am until midnight, there was plenty of time for us to enjoy everything on offer. In the daytime the park was relatively quiet so we were able to do all of the rides with little queues, then during the evening as the park got busy we returned to our favourites for some rides in the dark.

A beautiful Nordic area had been created just inside the main entrance, with traditional Scandinavian wooden huts and fir trees dusted in 'snow'. The charming Trainsbury was another special area for Christmas, with steam trains either side of a decorated station and an extra ride for Christmas, The Spinning Cup.

Other rides benefited from seasonal makeovers, including The Elf Train and The Vintage Cars, both completely transformed for Christmas.

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The Roller Coaster opened in 1914 and is still the most popular attraction in the park. This classic wooden coaster reaches a top speed of 50 km/h (31.1 mph) along 720 m (2362.2 ft) of track. A really distinctive aspect of the ride is the brakeman that travels with the train to control its speed, applying the brakes when needed. The beautiful mountain theme, a wonderfully smooth ride and surprisingly exciting moments make this one of our favourite wooden coasters in Europe.

For thrill seekers, the park's biggest roller coaster The Demon reaches a top speed of 77.2 km/h (48 mph) and packs three inversions (a loop, immelmann and zero g-roll) into a modest 564 m (1850.4 ft) of track. Being a floorless coaster, front row rides were a must - which we did by day and by night - plus we also did the optional virtual reality experience. The addition of VR provides a totally different way to experience the ride, and we loved it. Probably the best use of this technology on a roller coaster that we have experienced, with superb image quality and no technical glitches.

The other notable roller coaster is The Odin Express, a really fun 'runaway train' that's perfect for riders of all ages.

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The park has two indoor dark rides, The Flying Trunk and The Mine. The former is a delightful journey through classic Hans Christian Andersen tales such as The Little Mermaid, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Snow Queen, The Ugly Duckling and Thumbelina. The latter is an interactive boat ride featuring a small drop.

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Some of the most striking rides at the park are located in an area known as the 'Merry Corner', including the thrilling 80 m (260 ft) tall Star Flyer, an intense 'Air Race' called Aquila and family ride The Astronomer. The latest addition to this area is Tik Tak, an elaborately themed thrill ride than opened in 2018 to celebrate 175 years of Tivoli Gardens. Riders are rotated both vertically and horizontally at high speed, while being exposed to forces approaching 4G.

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The Arabian-themed area of the park includes one of the most extreme flat rides anywhere in the world, the looping plane Vertigo reaches a top speed of 100 km/h (60 mph) and a height of 30 metres (98 feet). This area also includes Fatamorgana which offers two rides in one, with the 43 m (141 ft) tall tower having a choice of family or thrill options, the 63 m (207ft) tall turbo drop ride The Golden Tower and an inverted flying carpet ride called The Monsoon.

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Some of our other favourites were The Ferris Wheel, that opened during WWII in 1943, and The Swing Carousel.

The dining options are seemingly endless, with no fewer than 42 restaurants offering traditional and modern Danish cuisine or world foods such as Asian, Italian, Mexican, French and American menus. There are another 20 grab and go kiosks on top of that, with everything from ice cream, milkshakes and waffles to pancakes, popcorn and pastries.

We had a superb lunch in the stunning restaurant Gemyse, which has a recommendation in the Michelin guide and is set amongst an urban-garden in the heart of the theme park. The decor was top notch, the service impeccable and the food extraordinary.

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As it got dark we kept warm with plenty of glogg (mulled wine) and aebleskiver (pancake puffs), and huddled up around the fire pits. We then set off for a walk around the lake, following a trail of lights, lanterns and snowflakes adorning the trees. It was so beautiful and the atmosphere couldn't have been better. Later on we watched as light, sound, laser, fire, smoke and water came together in the Tivoli Christmas Illuminations, a show inspired by The Nutcracker, using Tchaikovsky's music.

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Christmas in Tivoli Gardens is genuinely magical, we can't recommend it enough, so get booking your next festive break!