Got the need for speed (or to be tipped upside down, or twisted around like a corkscrew)? Then the world's scariest rides are waiting. From hair-raising hairpin bends to face-shaking G-forces, we've found the wildest rides on the planet. Just a glance at this selection of terrifying attractions is sure to put you in a spin...

Busch Gardens Tampa Bay combines zoo attractions with thrill rides, and the latter are often inspired by the animals visitors can see at the park. Take Tigris, opened in 2019 as Florida’s tallest launch coaster. It’s a wild mix of twists, tilts and drops at more than 60 miles per hour, designed to mimic the speed and agility of a tiger. A percentage of gift shop proceeds goes to tiger conservation projects. 

With a curly-whirly track of loops, sharp turns, slow climbs and fast drops – not to mention a rather terrifying clown face at the entrance – the Hair Raiser ride is enough to get your heart racing. Its setting, on a cliff overlooking Deep Water Bay in the South China Sea and with views of Hong Kong Island, further adds to the drama.

Stomach-flipping thrills collide with spectacular views on Fujiyama, the longest and tallest coaster at Fuji-Q Highland, Japan. As it reaches its 259-foot summit, riders are treated to clear views of Mount Fuji, barely having time to catch their breath before it’s snatched away again with a rapid descent.

This Staffordshire theme park is famous for its innovative white-knuckle rides and Wicker Man tends to leave faces a little pale. It combines the rickety charms of wooden roller coasters with bone-chilling special effects that engulf the labyrinthine track with burning embers and effigies that seem to burst into flames on impact.

You might need a Hershey’s chocolate bar to recover after a spin on this crazy coaster. The steepest in the world when it launched in 2008, Fahrenheit throws pretty much everything at its willing participants: high climbs, inverted loops, corkscrew turns, cobra rolls and moments of weightlessness where it feels like your stomach’s floating.

Find the excitement of Formula One in the heart of Surrey, England with a ride on Stealth, which catapults riders from zero to 80 miles per hour in less than two seconds. It’s the fastest coaster in the UK and the whole ride lasts a hot 26 seconds.

Hyperion in Poland's Energylandia is Europe’s tallest and fastest mega coaster. Designed as an abandoned space station, the ride boasts a mile-long track and speeds of more than 87 miles per hour. Tunnels, twists, sudden drops, weightlessness and over-banked turns – where the carriages teeter on the edge – keep the thrills coming thick and very, very fast.

Always fancied yourself a speedster? Formula Rossa makes the bold (and quite terrifying) claim to be the world’s fastest roller coaster, launching riders to intense speeds of nearly 150 miles per hour in under five seconds. The G-force is so strong, riders have to wear protective goggles. Gulp.

With a Wild West theme and cars like old-fashioned train carriages, Steel Vengeance looks quite charming and cute. Yet, as the name implies, it isn’t. This hyper-hybrid roller coaster, whose steel track is set atop a wooden structure, rises 205 feet above the park and has more airtime – when you rise out of your seat – than any other ride, at 30 seconds.

Wildfire takes the traditional wooden roller coaster to new levels with speeds of around 70 miles per hour, three uphill climbs and drops so steep your stomach seems to stay behind. It lasts for a satisfying two minutes and, at the top, riders can take a moment to soak in views of mountain-backed Braviken Bay before another heart-stopping plummet.

Silver Star at Europa-Park in Germany hits its riders with about as much G-force as humans can physically stand. Those prepared to face the centrifugal forces head-on are rewarded with adrenalin-pumping, skin-tingling speeds of 80 miles per hour as the steel coaster soars up to around 240 feet.

The T Express at Everland theme park in Yongin, South Korea is one of the world’s steepest roller coasters, so probably not one for nervous riders. Even standing below the intricate wooden structure, against a backdrop of thick forest, is enough to make the strongest stomach flip. Thankfully it isn’t as rickety as it looks, as it sends riders down a 77-degree angled track at speeds of up to 65 miles per hour.

It isn’t only the shiny new theme parks that can deliver top-notch thrills. Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen brings a modern spin – and lots of loops – to the historic park, founded in 1843. The Demon ride has a virtual reality twist too – riders can choose to wear VR glasses to transform the car into a fire-breathing dragon.

Special hydraulics launch riders a head-spinning 456 feet upwards, making this the world’s tallest roller coaster. Kingda Ka is also one of the fastest, reaching 128 miles per hour in just 3.5 seconds, before rapidly descending on a spiraling track.

Tail Spin is (hopefully) the closest you’ll get to riding on the actual propellers of a helicopter. The ride, in Dreamworld on Australia’s gorgeous Gold Coast, is made up of a dozen mini airplanes, with riders strapped in for a head-spinning ascent that goes faster and faster. Each plane has controls so people can choose to go slow or perform tricks and spins.

This roller coaster soars, dips and twists at speeds up to 75 miles per hour. But it’s the size, and the fact the ride lasts for a satisfying minute and 15 seconds, that sees it regularly top best ride lists and keeps coaster fans coming back. Riders can expect to feel that weightless, what-happened-to-my-belly feeling several times over.

Drop Line isn’t as twisty and topsy-turvy as some coasters, but the thrills here are in the anticipation and the speed of the descent. Breathtaking views of the Smoky Mountains quickly become a blur as riders are dramatically ‘dropped’ from atop a 230-foot-high tower.

The Big One, in England’s seaside resort of Blackpool, is aptly named. It’s the UK’s tallest coaster, in fact, at 235 feet, and riders zoom at up to 85 miles per hour and twist down a corkscrew, near-vertical drop. It’s one of the longest rides too, at more than a mile – so there’s little let up when it comes to the thrills.

Red Force is part of Ferrari Land and is as sleek and speedy as you'd expect. The ride boasts the tallest and fastest vertical accelerator in Europe, shooting riders up to 367 feet above ground and reaching 112 miles per hour (180km/h) in five seconds.

An oldie really is a goodie in the case of this indoor classic. Space Mountain might not lay claim to being the world’s fastest, tallest, longest or scariest ride, but it’s been thrilling riders since it opened in 1975. It reaches 28 miles per hour but feels faster thanks to crazy spins, hairpin bends and flashing lights.  

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