Objectives  In the global national park system, the national parks in Europe and China shared a common feature, that is, a large number of residents. The experience of the collaborative development process of protection and recreation was of great reference value for the construction of national parks in China.

  Methods  Based on the qualitative research method, this paper compared and analyzed the national parks of Germany, France, and Italy from three dimensions of development history, facility system, and management policy, and three dimensions of ecological conservation, recreation use, and community development.

  Results  Results showed that the recreation development of national parks in European countries was a historical and progressive process, and ecological conservation, recreation use, and community development complement each other. The relationship between the three has gradually changed from the initial vague understanding to the smart management of integration and unity and has roughly experienced four stages, including the embryonic stage, the development stage, the maturity stage, and the expansion stage. Among them, the gradual improvement of the facility system supporting the development of recreation performed a decisive impact on the improvement of the recreation function and quality of national parks. The facility system was a resilient support system for the coordinated development of protection and recreation in European national parks. Under the guarantee of scientific and reasonable management policies such as health promotion and franchising, the unification of landscape quality, recreational experience quality and ecological protection quality of national parks would be realized.

  Conclusions  The zoning adaptability, sustainability, protection, practicality, and landscape integration of recreation facilities in European national parks were the key points worth learning from in our national parks.