We spent about a week Vienna (if you’re traveling without kids I think you can probably see most of Vienna in two days) and really enjoyed it. The weather was great when we were there, so we spend most of our time outside. But even when it’s a bit colder I think you’ll find more than enough things to do in Vienna to fill your days. Also check out our previous post about our visit to Vienna.

Also read:
Tips for succesful city trips with kids
The best places to visit in Europe with kids

Getting around: public transport in Vienna

Vienna has lots of public transport options. There is a subway, trains, trams, and busses. You pay €2,20 per person to reach most of the city. The idea is that for this amount you can keep traveling as long as it’s in one direction and it’s valid on all modes of public transport. If you want to go back, you need to buy a new train ticket though. If you go a short distance it’s actually not that cheap, but for longer distances it’s great. And best of all, kids under 6 travel for free and for older kids there are very good discounts. Most of the time it’s extremely easy to figure out which line gets you to your destination, especially those destinations closer to the city center. The new trams are very simple to board with a stroller, the older ones can be a bit of a pain because they have some steps. Same goes for the trains. All in all, even though we didn’t have a car, we found it really easy to move around.

What to do in Vienna with kids?

Are you planning to visit Vienna with kids? Don’t worry, Vienna has a lot to offer! We visited both Prague, Berlin, and Vienna in one 2-week holiday and found that some of the best playgrounds and public parks could be found in Vienna. Find our tips below for the best things to do in Vienna with toddlers.

Vienna Tiergarten Schönbrunn

On the grounds of Schloss Schönbrunn (Schoenbrunn Castle) you will find a really nice zoo. It’s very large with a huge variety of animals as well as many exhibitions. We didn’t see them all, but the tropical rainforest, aquarium, and insectarium were impressive. There’s a nice playground in the zoo and also an area where kids can experiment with water. Fortunately, it was dry while we were there, or Jace would have been soaked. Like most kids he loves to play with water. We spend about three hours in the zoo, didn’t even go to the playground and didn’t see all the animals, so you can easily spend most of your day there wandering around and visiting all the exhibitions. To save some money we brought our own snacks, but ice cream was priced very reasonably, €1,50 for one scoop (pretty big portions). To enter we paid €18,50 per person for two adults and Jace got in for free.

Schoenbrunn Castle gardens

Schloss Schönbrunn was the summer residence of the Habsburg dynasty, making it one of the most important heritage sites of Austria. We didn’t actually enter the Castle but wandered around the castle grounds a bit after visiting the zoo. You have to pay to get inside and there was a huge line. And the zoo was expensive enough for one day. But you can enter the gardens for free, so that’s a nice bonus. They were setting up a midsummer night’s concert, so there was a podium, chairs and security messing with the view in the main section, but it was still impressive. Our feet were a bit sore from walking around the zoo, so we didn’t get to see a whole lot. But I think if your kids are a bit older it’s very nice to spend a morning exploring.

Josef Strauss Park

Vienna has many parks and in almost every park you will find a playground. Usually they’re quite big playgrounds too, not the tiny ones we have in Holland. We researched some of the expat sites and found out that Türkenschanzpark, Stadtpark and Rathauspark are among the favourites for expats with kids. But by accident we stumbled upon Josef Strauss Park and we liked it a lot. Even more important, Jace liked it too. There was a section for the little ones and a separate section for older kids. He spent about two hours playing, climbing, sliding and running around. The weather was fantastic, so we didn’t mind at all. We were very happy we found this place.

Böhmischer Prater kids amusement park

Of course, the Prater is very famous in Vienna. But for a small child it’s not much fun to be in such a huge amusement park, with all the noise and crowds. So we opted for the less famous Böhmischer Prater (or Boehmischer Prater) which is located a bit outside the city, near Grillgasse station. To get there you have to go to Wien Hauptbahnhof and change to the S60 train that will bring you directly to Grillgasse. From there it’s about a 10-minute walk. I messed up a bit and we took the wrong train at Hauptbahnhof, so we had to walk about half an hour. To be honest we were a bit disappointed. It’s like a Dutch ‘kermis’ (carnival) but quite old and not as picturesque as I thought it would be. It’s quite a long street though and there are a lot of rides especially for kids, with a great variety suited for both young and older kids. And lots of places to get food and drinks. It’s not a ‘must see’ in Vienna, but if you have a half day free and nothing else to do the Böhmischer Prater is a nice place to visit. Do bring your wallet, the rides at the Böhmischer Prater are €1 to €2 each.

The best children’s museums in Vienna for toddlers and older kids

There are lots of fun kids museums in Vienna however, we felt that at almost three Jace was a bit too young still to really enjoy them. So we definitely need to come back here one day when he’s a bit older The best children’s museums in Vienna that we read about are:

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Vienna with kids? Yes!

I read a few blogs where they said the Viennese don’t like kids, but that’s not our experience. Vienna offers a lot to do for kids, from fantastic free playgrounds and lovely parks to cool kids museums. Getting around is easy, finding nice and affordable food is easy, what’s not to like? And it’s easy and cheap to get there from other European destinations by airplane or train. So Vienna with kids? Yes!

The post Things to do in Vienna Austria with kids appeared first on FlipFlopGlobetrotters.com.

Also read:
Tips for succesful city trips with kids
The best places to visit in Europe with kids

We weren’t sure what to expect of Vienna. We picked it because it was one of the destinations we could go to with our saved flyer miles (lucky for us Emirates has partnered with Easyjet for European destinations). But Vienna absolutely exceeded our expectations! We could have easily spent more time there. It’s a very child-friendly city. Lots of parks with great playgrounds, drink water points all over the city and very easy to get around with public transport. Read our next post about things to do in Vienna with kids for more tips. Actually, I would not mind going back for a solo weekend in Vienna.

Maximum flexibility

We’re taking things slow and are actually traveling much in the same way as we did while in Asia. With no set plan and as much flexibility as possible. It even works if you’re only on a short trip We booked our train ticket to Prague and our apartment there while we were in Vienna and still have to book accommodation in Berlin. Some might say prices are lower when you book well in advance, but we like to keep our options open. And very often something good comes up, like the three bedroom apartment we now have in Prague for only €25 a night.

Travel tip: great Airbnb apartment in Vienna

We stayed in a nice Airbnb apartment in Vienna owned by a student called Rosalie. We booked it very last minute, but it turned out great. The only thing we felt a bit weird about is that she didn’t clear away any of her personal stuff (including her bra in the bathroom…). But although not spotless, it was a very nice place. A large, new apartment with a separate bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom with bath and a separate toilet. There’s both a supermarket and a bakery less than 5 minutes away by foot. The apartment is located in Floridsdorf, a bit outside of the city center, but it’s only a 5-minute walk to a tram stop that will take you to Floridsdorf station. There you can catch either the train (S-Bahn), metro (U-Bahn, line U6), bus or tram to anywhere in Vienna. We would definitely recommend this place. If you do want to rent it and you’re not registered with Airbnb yet, please use our Airbnb affiliate link to sign up. This will give us both extra travel credit. Win-win

Taking things slow

Because during this trip we’re visiting three big cities in two weeks, we’re not doing the standard sightseeing rush one might normally do on a short city trip. That would most likely be a bit too much for our little world traveler (who is doing fantastic, by the way). We’re basically just following his pace, waking up when he does, taking our time in the morning and doing stuff that he likes Running around tourist style, trying to do as much sightseeing as possible isn’t our style anyway. Instead, we simply like to enjoy our new environment, new foods, new people, new sights and new smells. So even though Vienna is a city with a lot of history, we decided to choose a few fun things to do and just enjoy our new surroundings.

What we did do was walk around the city a fair bit. Even if I didn’t read up on all the history of the city, it’s fun to wander around and check out the beautiful details on all of the old buildings. I personally really enjoyed our stroll around the Innere Stadt with the Volksgarten and the Parliament building. Amazing and impressive architecture all around!

Vienna with kids

Like we said before, Vienna is a very good city to visit with kids of all ages. You’ll find our recommendations for things to do in Vienna with toddlers in our next post. If you’re traveling with older kids, definitely check out this post with 10 more suggestions for fun things to do in Vienna.

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