Trip to Vienna - Family Attractions
General Information
Vienna, the capital of Austria, is also its largest city. It covers an area of 415 square kilometers and has a population of about 1.7 million residents (about 20 percent of the country's entire population), a fifth of whom are foreigners. Vienna is both a city and a province, one of the nine provinces of Austria.
Vienna is located in northeastern Austria, in a wide plain on both banks of the Danube River at an altitude of 156 meters above sea level. The river frequently flooded the city, so in the 19th century a long canal known as the "New Danube" was built. Between the two river channels, a narrow island 5 km long was formed, named "Donauinsel" (Danube Island). The New Danube separates the city center from the UNO City, a modern high-rise area housing the United Nations center in the city, the offices of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the city's international conference center.
The city is divided into twenty-three districts, with most tourist attractions located in the city center, in the area bounded by the Ring Road. The higher the district number, the farther it is from the city center. The inner, ancient city is District Number 1. The inner city and its surroundings include most of the attractive tourist sites in the city, so despite the city's vast area, it is easy and convenient to walk around between the main attractions.
Vienna is considered one of the cleanest cities in the world, with a high quality of life, and it abounds with green spaces and wide, well-kept parks.
The city area also includes the Vienna Woods (Wiener Wald) surrounding the city. Thanks to a construction ban issued in the late 19th century, the forests have been preserved intact and serve as a favorite recreation and hiking spot for city residents. Near the city are also small villages, vineyards, and wine taverns.
♦ Recommended Hotels in Vienna
Grand Hotel Wien
A luxury historic 5-star hotel in a central location.
Radisson BLU Style Hotel, Vienna
A modern and central 5-star boutique hotel.
Park Hyatt Vienna
A modern luxury 5-star hotel (opened 2014) in the center of Vienna.
Appartement in Wien
Quality apartments in the center of Vienna.
Quality apartment hotels in Vienna:
Derag Livinghotel City Apartments Wien
The Levante Laudon Apartments
Appartement-Hotel an der Riemergasse
Recommended Guided Tours in Vienna from Viator:
Independent Trip to Vienna
Vienna has an excellent discount card called: Vienna City Card, which allows free travel on public transportation and many other great discounts for attractions, museums, restaurants, and shops in the city. You can purchase it here from the Viator website for one, two, or three days.
One child up to age 15 joins for free for every cardholder traveling on the city's public transportation.
It is recommended to dedicate at least two full days to Vienna to appreciate its beauty and main attractions, wander through the charming squares and bustling pedestrian zones, admire the impressive palaces and well-kept gardens, and taste the family attractions in the city.
If you are interested in museums, music, or shows, it is definitely worthwhile to extend the visit.
Concert tickets in Vienna (via Viator):
It is advisable to start your family trip in Austria with Vienna or end it there.
Unlike other destinations in Austria where traveling is recommended in specific seasons, Vienna is a destination suitable for visiting in all seasons.
Bicycle Tours
Vienna has almost 700 km of bike paths along the Ring, in public parks, along the Danube, and in the suburbs.
You can rent a bike and go on an independent trip or take a guided bike tour.
Booking from Viator:
♦ Guided Electric Bike Tour in Vienna - Vienna Small Group E-Bike Tour
Lasts 3 hours.
You can also rent bikes relatively cheaply at the city's central railway stations.
Vienna features an impressive selection of palaces and famous buildings, such as the impressive Opera House, the Danube Tower, the United Nations building, and more.
♦ Car rental from the reliable and convenient Booking website: Booking.com
Schönbrunn Palace
A family visiting the city for the first time must not miss a visit to this palace. Without a doubt, one of the most impressive palaces in Europe and considered the "Versailles" of Austria. The palace is surrounded by magnificent Baroque gardens, fountains, greenhouses, plant mazes, friendly playgrounds, and a zoo. You can visit the palace and its attractions for a full day. It features museums, for example: a successful carriage museum, a puppet theater, a bakery demonstrating classic apple strudel baking (with tastings), and more. Details on some of the attractions at Schönbrunn follow.
The palace has 1,441 luxurious rooms with crystal chandeliers, luxury furniture, works of art, painted ceilings, gilded decorations, statues, and impressive tableware.
Booking a guided tour of the palace: Vienna: Skip the Line Schönbrunn Palace and Gardens Guided Tour
Only 40 of the palace rooms are open to visitors. Visiting them (or some of them) will give you a glimpse into the luxurious life of the Habsburg emperors. In this palace, Empress Maria Theresa raised her sixteen children. Emperor Franz Joseph also lived here all his life.
Napoleon made the palace his headquarters after conquering Austria in 1805 and 1809. Napoleon's son lived in the palace under house arrest until his death at age 21. This palace saw the end of the Habsburg Empire, with the signing of the last emperor of the dynasty, Karl I, of his abdication from the throne following the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I.
Among the impressive rooms you can tour: the Great Gallery, which served as the imperial dining hall and is still used today by the Austrian government for state receptions; the Million Guilder Room, in the Rococo style, decorated entirely with Indian and Persian miniatures collected by Maria Theresa; the Hall of Mirrors; the Round Chinese Cabinet (which was the room where Maria Theresa consulted with her advisors); the Blue Chinese Salon; the Tapestry Salon; Franz Joseph's rooms, and of course Napoleon's room.
You can take an independent audio tour or join one of the guided tours: the short Imperial Tour takes about 35 minutes and visits 22 rooms, and the "Grand Tour" takes about 50 minutes and includes a visit to 40 rooms. For families, the shorter guided tour is suitable, which includes, in addition to the rooms mentioned above, the billiard room, the nursery, Marie Antoinette's room, and the dressing room. During the tour, you will hear many facts about the imperial family, including spicy information about their lifestyle in the palace.
The impressive palace gardens span an area of more than two square kilometers. They were initially designed in 1705 by a Parisian garden artist and sixty years later redesigned by a Dutch landscape gardener. The gardens feature water pools with fountains and statues. The gardens also contain an obelisk inscribed with paintings depicting the history of the Habsburg dynasty.
At the top of the hill adjacent to the beautiful gardens stands an impressive arched structure called the "Gloriette" – which served as a resting place for royal guests. A giant statue of the imperial eagle rises from the roof of the structure. The view from the roof of the Gloriette is breathtaking: the palace and its gardens are spread out before you with the entire city in the background. Today, a cafe and souvenir shop operate in the place. The structure was damaged in World War II but restored in 1955.
In the summer months, a panoramic tourist train runs around the entire Schönbrunn Palace complex with stops near all attractions (zoo, gardens, the palace itself, etc.). The train ride costs 2 euros for adults and half price for children.
Admission and tours to the palace, gardens, and all complex attractions are paid. The price depends on the length and type of tour. Free for children up to age 6. Discounts for children aged 6-18 and students. Discounts for Vienna City Card holders. You can purchase various combo tickets that include, in addition to the palace tour, admission to the greenhouses, bakery, gardens, mazes, and other attractions in the palace and its gardens. In peak tourist season, it is advisable to book tour tickets in advance so as not to wait many hours for your tour slot. If you did not book a tour in advance, it is advisable to arrive at the palace, purchase tour tickets, and use the waiting time until the tour to walk around the gardens, greenhouses, and plant mazes.
Additional attractions at Schönbrunn Palace:
Palm House (Palmenhaus)
A large greenhouse from 1882 built on the site of former German gardens. The greenhouse has several large rooms (the highest is 28 meters tall) containing plants from various climate environments, ranging from tropical vegetation to plants from cold regions. Thanks to the maintenance of required temperatures, humidity, and light intensity, extremely rare plants also grow in the greenhouse.
Admission is for a separate fee (can be purchased as part of a palace and garden ticket package).
Opening hours: October-April: 9:30-17:00, May-September: 9:30-18:00.
Adjacent to the Palm House are additional greenhouses called Wuestenhaus, which simulate desert conditions and feature a display of desert plants, mostly from Australia and South Africa. Admission to the "Desert House" is for an additional fee.
Vienna Zoo (Tiergarten Schönbrunn)
This is the oldest zoo in the world. It was established in 1752 by the husband of Empress Maria Theresa, Emperor Franz Stephen, to amuse their many children. The zoo has undergone many changes since its establishment and is constantly renewing itself. Today it is considered one of the top ten advanced zoos in the world.
In the beginning, it included only 12 cages with birds and antelopes, but today it has 2,500 animals of all types and species, including pandas, which can be seen in only a very limited number of zoos worldwide. In addition, the zoo features a "Polarium", an environment simulating polar conditions where polar bears and penguins live, rainforests, a marsh area with mangrove trees, a desert, a bird enclosure, an insectarium, and a reptile house with a large aquarium. Of course, you will find at the zoo the "classic" animals loved by every child: elephants, monkeys, giraffes, and lions. In the "Cat Cinema", short films about the feline family are shown. Several times a day, you can watch the feeding of various animals. You can also purchase a special kit for young children containing activity booklets and various surprises. The zoo is designed in a Baroque style and, despite all the renovations and changes it has gone through, it retains an old-world charm. The place features a restaurant and children's playgrounds.
Schönbrunn Palace Children's Museum (Kindermuseum Schloss Schönbrunn)
A museum illustrating the lifestyle of the imperial children who lived in the palace. You can play games they played, learn their secret language, discover what they liked to eat, and even dress up in period costumes typical of the imperial era. The museum hosts guided tours by prior arrangement.
The Carriage Museum (Wagensburg)
An impressive display of coaches, chariots, sleds, and magnificent litters used by the emperors and their households in the 17th-19th centuries. Among the carriages, you will discover the carriage of Maria Theresa, Franz Joseph, Princess Sisi, Napoleon, and even a small carriage belonging to Napoleon's son.
The museum is located in the former riding school, to the right of the main entrance to the palace.
The museum houses the largest carriage collection in the world, of which only a small part is displayed in the showroom and most is stored in a warehouse with special storage conditions, in an oxygen-free environment, in order to try and preserve the ancient carriages over time from weather damage, insects, and chemicals.
Schönbrunn Marionette Theater
Schönbrunn Palace also has a puppet theater that puts on several shows each year. In the months of March to October, almost daily in the afternoon or evening, a puppet theater performance takes place. Maria Theresa and her children loved puppet theater very much, and this was the hall where they watched their favorite shows. Today, the venue combines imperial elegance with advanced technology and presents musical performances by great composers such as Mozart and Strauss.
In addition to impressive buildings, you can diversify your visit to Vienna with plenty of family entertainment:
The largest amusement park in Austria is:
The "Prater", Vienna's Amusement Park (VK)
Considered one of the oldest amusement parks in the world. Its symbol is the Giant Ferris Wheel, Wiener Riesenrad, from which you can see the whole of Vienna. The Giant Ferris Wheel was built in 1897 and is 65 meters (!) high. Next to it is another modern, fast, and tall giant wheel.
This is a colorful place that any fan of active recreation and sports will not want to leave, featuring mini-golf, pit-pat, numerous mazes, bouncy structures for toddlers, wonderful paths for cycling or walking, horseback riding, a lake where you can ride paddle boats, and more. The park also has a museum narrating the story of the Prater through the generations in an experiential way and a planetarium.
The park features a successful pub-restaurant with a beer garden called Schweizerhaus, offering traditional Viennese dishes as well as a variety of fast-food stalls. It's nice to have a picnic in the park's many green areas.
Admission to the park is free. Admission to each attraction is for a separate fee. Some attractions offer discounts for Vienna City Card holders.
Sea World (Haus des Meeres)
This is an aquarium combined with a zoo where 3,500 animals live above and below the water, across an area of 6,000 square meters. Among the animals living there: sharks, crocodiles, squids, snakes, lizards, birds, bats, and even monkeys. The most impressive aquarium of all is the giant saltwater tropical aquarium where sharks, sea turtles, and a variety of colorful fish live among magnificent corals. It is considered the largest shark aquarium in Austria. Piranha fish inhabit the freshwater tropical aquarium.
The roof of the building offers a beautiful panoramic view of the city.
Butterfly House (Schmetterlinghaus VK)
A greenhouse containing several hundred colorful tropical butterflies of various types and sizes (the largest butterfly has a wingspan length of 30 cm!) flying around visitors. You can learn about the complete life cycle of a butterfly at the site.
Fans of markets, shopping, and atmosphere will not be disappointed in Vienna either:
Naschmarkt
This is the largest and most popular market in Vienna, considered one of the successful open-air markets in Europe. Located in the 4th district of Vienna between Linke Wienzeile and Rechte Wienzeile streets. The colorful market offers a large selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, diverse and successful food stalls, clothing stalls, and of course many souvenir stalls, some with goods from Asia and India. On Saturdays, the market turns into a flea market, making it especially crowded and busy.
Even for those who are not shopping enthusiasts, it is recommended to visit to take in the atmosphere and eat a cheap and delicious meal.
Opening hours: Monday to Saturday between 6:30 and 18:30. Many stalls close two hours before the official closing time. It is advisable to visit the market in the early morning or noon hours.
And if it's gray or rainy, you can always visit one of Vienna's successful museums.
Vienna has an enormous selection of museums, ranging from large and impressive museums to small museums dedicated to a specific topic. Some are housed in ancient buildings, some contain valuable collections and treasures, and many offer guided tours.
I have included the museums most suitable for families.
Successful Museums for Families:
Natural History Museum - Naturhistorisches Museum
Vienna Technical Museum - Technischen Museum Wien (VK)
Zoom Children's Museum - Kindermuseum Zoom
Minopolis Children's City
Walter Heindl Chocolate Museum
House of Music - Haus der Musik
Clock Museum - Uhrenmuseum (VK)
Globe Museum at the Austrian National Library - Globenmuseum - Österreichische Nationalbibliothek
Military History Museum - Heeresgeschichtliches