Leviathan

If we’re going to mention something south of the border, we can’t very well exclude our neighbors to the north. Fortunately, they have a steel roller coaster that’s more than deserving of this list. Canada’s Wonderland is the largest theme park in the country as well as the most popular seasonal park in North America. Weather concerns obviously prevent it from operating year-round, so you’ll want to check the seasonal schedule before planning a trip.

While Canada’s Wonderland has 16 roller coasters, third-most in the world, the best of the bunch is clearly Leviathan. It’s a giga-coaster that dazzles with its specs. The ride stands 306 feet tall yet somehow offers a 306-foot drop. The trick is that you fall at an 80-degree angle, which isn’t quite straight down, but it’s close enough that you’ll feel your heart in your stomach as you speed down the tracks. And you’ll do that at 82 miles per hour, best of anything on this list.

Leviathan isn’t fancy the way that some of the other ride designs listed here are. Instead, it gets by on pure power. You’ll face 4.5 Gs of force during the ride, which lasts a whopping three and a half minutes thanks to the 5,486 feet of track. This ride isn’t subtle. If you’re a true thrill ride junkie, however, Leviathan is an absolute must.

Expedition GeForce

A second popular theme park resides in Germany. It’s Holiday Park in Haßloch, Germany, and while this place isn’t as popular as Phantasialand, it has the best roller coaster in the country.

At the turn of the millennium, plenty of roller coaster designers wanted to leave their imprints on the industry. Expedition GeForce was the finest creation outside the continental United States. That’s because it’s structurally similar to Millennium Force at Cedar Point, only on a (slightly) smaller scale.

The Holiday Park version follows that basic premise of going way up and then falling almost straight down at extreme velocity. While Expedition GeForce “only” rises 174 feet in the air, it still drops guests at an 82-degree angle, quickly accelerating coaster carts to almost 75 miles per hour.

For years, Expedition GeForce was the tallest roller coaster in Europe, and it’s one of the most decorated international steel roller coasters. The Golden Ticket Awards have placed it in the top three on four different occasions, and it’s currently listed as the fifth-best of its kind in the world. While all of the international coasters listed here justify a vacation trip abroad, Expedition GeForce is unquestionably the best of the bunch.