An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often featuring multiple areas with different themes. Unlike temporary and mobile funfairs and carnivals, amusement parks are stationary and built for long-lasting operation. They are more elaborate than city parks and playgrounds, usually providing attractions that cater to a variety of age groups. While amusement parks often contain themed areas, theme parks place a heavier focus with more intricately designed themes that revolve around a particular subject or group of subjects.

Amusement parks evolved from European fairs, pleasure gardens, and large picnic areas, which were created for people's recreation. World's fairs and other types of international expositions also influenced the emergence of the amusement park industry.

Bakken ("The Hill") in Klampenborg, Denmark, Wurstelprater in Vienna, Austria, and Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark are the three oldest operating amusement parks in the world. Lake Compounce, which opened in 1846, is considered the oldest continuously operating amusement park in North America.

The amusement park evolved from traditions in the European Middle Ages. An amusement park is a contemporary arrangement, designed to combine components of a fair, carnival, and theme park. An early example of an amusement park is the Bartholomew Fair. By the 18th and 19th centuries, they had evolved into places of entertainment for the masses, where the public could view freak shows, acrobatics, conjuring, and juggling, take part in competitions and walk through menageries.

A wave of innovation in the 1860s and 1870s created mechanical rides, such as the steam-powered carousel (built by Thomas Bradshaw, at the Aylsham Fair), and its derivatives, notably from Frederick Savage of King's Lynn, Norfolk whose fairground machinery was exported all over the world; his "galloping horses" innovation is seen in carousels today. This inaugurated the era of the modern funfair ride, as the working classes were increasingly able to spend their surplus wages on entertainment.

The second influence was the pleasure garden. Bakken ("The Hill"), the world's oldest amusement park, opened in mainland Europe in 1583. It is located north of Copenhagen in Klampenborg, Denmark. In many European countries, traditional amusement parks evolved from pleasure gardens, combining mechanical rides with landscaped spaces, live music, and seasonal festivities.

Another example in early gardens was the Vauxhall Gardens, founded in 1661, in London. By the late 18th century, the site had an admission fee for its many attractions. It regularly drew enormous crowds, with its paths often noted for romantic assignations; tightrope walkers, hot air balloon ascents, concerts and fireworks providing amusement. Although the gardens were originally designed for the elites, they soon became places of great social diversity. Public firework displays were put on at Marylebone Gardens, and Cremorne Gardens offered music, dancing, and animal acrobatics displays.

Prater, located in Vienna, Austria, began as a royal hunting ground which was opened in 1766 for public enjoyment. There followed coffee-houses and cafés, which led to the beginnings of the Wurstelprater as an amusement park.