Abisko National Park
Sweden
Abisko is the Swedish Lapland park at the head of the Torneträsk lake, an hour and a half by train or road from Kiruna…
19 tickets & tours
Europe
Oldest national parks in Europe
Sweden created the first national parks in Europe on 24 May 1909, nine at once, including Abisko and Sarek in Lapland. Switzerland followed in 1914 with its single, strictly protected park in the Engadine, and Spain in 1918 with Covadonga, now Picos de Europa, and Ordesa. Italy's Gran Paradiso, of 1922, grew from a royal hunting reserve that had saved the alpine ibex from extinction, and the Abruzzo park was founded a year later for the Marsican bear and the chamois.
| # | Park | Country | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abisko National Park | Sweden | 1909 |
| 2 | Sarek National Park | Sweden | 1909 |
| 3 | Swiss National Park | Switzerland | 1914 |
| 4 | Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park | Spain | 1918 |
| 5 | Picos de Europa National Park | Spain | 1918 |
| 6 | Gran Paradiso National Park | Italy | 1922 |
| 7 | Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park | Italy | 1923 |
| 8 | Thingvellir National Park | Iceland | 1930 |
| 9 | Białowieża National Park | Poland | 1932 |
| 10 | Killarney National Park | Ireland | 1932 |
| 11 | Pieniny National Park | Poland | 1932 |
| 12 | De Hoge Veluwe National Park | Netherlands | 1935 |
| 13 | Portofino Regional Nature Park | Italy | 1935 |
| 14 | Retezat National Park | Romania | 1935 |
| 15 | Sataplia Nature Reserve | Georgia | 1935 |
| 16 | Stelvio National Park | Italy | 1935 |
| 17 | Paklenica National Park | Croatia | 1949 |
| 18 | Plitvice Lakes National Park | Croatia | 1949 |
| 19 | Mavrovo National Park | North Macedonia | 1949 |
| 20 | Tatra National Park (Slovakia) | Slovakia | 1949 |
Sarek National Park
Sweden
Sarek, in Swedish Lapland, north of the Arctic Circle, is the wildest mountain country in western Europe and the most…
No online ticket
Swiss National Park
Switzerland
The Swiss National Park lies in the Lower Engadine in the far east of the country, around the village of Zernez in…
1 ticket or tour
Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park
Aragon, Spain
Ordesa y Monte Perdido lies in the central Pyrenees, in the province of Huesca in Aragon, in the north of Spain,…
4 tickets & tours
Picos de Europa National Park
Asturias, Spain
The Picos de Europa are a compact block of limestone peaks twenty kilometres from the Bay of Biscay, shared by…
8 tickets & tours
Gran Paradiso National Park
Aosta Valley, Italy
Gran Paradiso is the oldest national park in Italy and the best place in the Alps to see ibex at close quarters, a high…
1 ticket or tour
Abruzzo, Lazio and Molise National Park
Abruzzo, Italy
The Abruzzo National Park, as everyone still calls it, is the wild heart of the central Apennines, and the astonishing…
4 tickets & tours
Thingvellir National Park
Iceland
Thingvellir lies forty-five kilometres, about three quarters of an hour by a good road, north-east of Reykjavik, and it…
176 tickets & tours
Białowieża National Park
Poland
Białowieża is the last large remnant of the primeval lowland forest that once covered the European plain, on…
3 tickets & tours
Killarney National Park
Ireland
Killarney National Park begins at the edge of Killarney town in County Kerry, and it has been a tourist destination…
10 tickets & tours
Pieniny National Park
Poland
Pieniny is a very small park in the far south of Poland, on the Slovak border two hours from Kraków and an hour east of…
5 tickets & tours
De Hoge Veluwe National Park
Netherlands
De Hoge Veluwe, in the province of Gelderland in the east-central Netherlands, is an unusual national park in three…
3 tickets & tours
Poland, Iceland and Ireland had parks by the early 1930s. Britain, Germany and France waited until after the Second World War, and most of Eastern Europe's parks date from independence around 1990.