Vienna with kids

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The Austrian capital tends to conjure up images of classical music concerts, imperial architecture and stylish coffee houses. None of which are typically associated with family travel! We explored Vienna with kids and worked out how to experience all that Vienna has to offer while keeping the children happy! City breaks can be expensive so we tend to prioritise paid attractions that we really want to see and combine these with things to see and do for free. We’ve rounded up advice on where to stay and what to do in this beautiful city.

Getting to Vienna with kids

Being the capital city, Vienna is a big transportation hub. This means that wherever you are coming from you should be able to get here relatively easily. This could be by air, train, bus or even river ferry.

Getting to Vienna by train

We arrived on the overnight train from Amsterdam, which is a great way to arrive straight into the heart of the city. The kids loved the overnight train and it’s a brilliant way to travel longer distances without wasting your days on the train. OBB, the Austrian rail company operates a great network of trains to many major cities. I always recommend checking out the man in seat 61 for anything to do with rail travel. There is a page dedicated to Vienna which covers all the main routes.

Getting to Vienna by river ferry

A river ferry down the Danube is a pretty unique way to arrive in a city. We didn’t arrive this way but did leave on the river. The river ferry sails three times per day between Vienna and Bratislava in Slovakia. It is a bit more expensive than the train on the same route but we felt it was worth it for the experience. It is popular with daytrippers as well so worth booking ahead online.

Getting around Vienna with kids

There are many parts of central Vienna that are accessible by walking. Walking is always my preferred way of getting around a city. However in a big city like Vienna, you are going to need to use transport to get to some locations and to just make the most of your time there.

Vienna U-Bahn

We got around using the U-bahn (subway) which we found pretty easy to navigate. You can buy tickets from the machines found at the entrance to every station. Children under 6 are free and half price for older children. With one ticket you can change trains as many times as needed within 80 minutes. Make sure you remember to validate your ticket at the small machines that you will walk past on your way to the platform. If you think you will do at least 4 journeys it is worth getting a 24 hour ticket which allows unlimited travel for the day. There are also 2 and 3 day tickets available depending on how long you have in Vienna.

Where to stay in Vienna with kids

There are plenty of options for hotels and apartments to stay in Vienna. As with most cities, you will get more for your money staying further from the city centre. We carefully weighed this up against the convenience of being close to the tourist sights. Having weighed everything up we opted for being further out and stayed at the Hilton Vienna Waterfront. This was just a 5 minute walk from the Stadion metro, meaning it was easy to get around. It also has a fantastic position on the Danube, and the biggest selling point for the kids was the pool. It was roasting hot when we were there in August, so the pool was a great respite from the heat.

What to do in Vienna with kids

We had just two days in the Austrian capital but managed to tick off most of the sights that we wanted.

Haus der Musik

I had heard lots of great things about this museum of music and how child friendly it was. It certainly didn’t disappoint. We all thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s a great museum with something for everyone. Each floor has a different theme including composers, the science of sound and the Vienna philharmonic orchestra. The museum is full of interactive elements, which obviously the children (and adults) loved. From creating your own sound waves using VR headsets to conducting a virtual orchestra!

If you’re in Vienna with kids I would highly recommend this museum. We probably spent a couple of hours in there, which was busy but not rushed. To get there we caught the U-bahn to Karlplatz and had a short walk from there. It is very central so easy to combine with other sights in the city. It can be a popular museum but you can book tickets in advance online.

Schönbrunn Palace

This impressive palace is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Vienna, and for good reason! There is a lot to see and do here, depending on how much time you have.

Palace tour

Entrance to the palace isn’t cheap, and being on a budget we decided not to do the palace tour. I have heard that it is worth doing if it is within your budget. There is also a children’s museum on the ground floor in the palace, which sounds great for younger children (this is an add-on to the general entry ticket).

The Palace Gardens

Instead of going around the palace, we booked tickets to just see the gardens instead. We hadn’t realised when we booked that you can wander around a lot of the gardens without a ticket at all. If we had known this we would probably have done that!

Having said this our gardens ticket gave us access to the maze area, which the children loved. There are a couple of mazes and also a nice playground. Other parts of the gardens that we had access to and weren’t open to the general public were the Orangery and Privy gardens and the Gloriette viewing area. The Orangery and Privy gardens were nice but in my opinion not worth paying extra for. The Gloriette is a viewing platform towards the back of the gardens. Set slightly on a hill it has a great view of the palace (apparently). I would have liked to have seen the view from the Gloriette but it was soooo hot that nobody in the family fancied making the trek up the hill.

Schönbrunn Zoo

Just behind the place is the zoo. This is the world’s oldest zoo and I have heard great reports of it. Zoo’s aren’t our thing so we didn’t go but worth checking out if you have some animal-mad kids!

Schönbrunn tickets

It’s worth looking at the palace website to see all the combinations for tickets. There are combo tickets for the children’s museum and maze- which I think would probably be better than the gardens ticket that we booked. If you want to see the zoo there is also a ticket that combines this with the Childrens museum and maze. The palace tickets do sell out, particularly in peak season so it’s worth booking in advance. Likewise the children’s museum requires prebooked time slots.

Eating and drinking at Schönbrunn

There are cafes at the castle and at the Gloriette at the rear of the gardens. We had eaten a large breakfast before arriving so made do with a delicious ice cream from a stall within the gardens. We then bought snacks from a snack stall next to the U-bahn station later on.

Getting to Schönbrunn

The easiest way to get to Schönbrunn is by taking the U-bahn to Schönbrunn on the green U4 line. It takes around 15 minutes from central Vienna.

Prater Park

Prater park is a large amusement park located in the Leopoldstadt district. It’s free to enter and you just pay per ride that you go on. Ride prices vary quite a lot and can be up to €15 for some of the bigger rides. We decided to set a spending limit per person so that we didn’t end up spending our whole holiday budget on fairground rides! The rides are all individual enterprises so are paid individually. Some can be paid by card but many are cash only so it’s worth making sure you have some with you.

Getting to Prater Park

From where we were staying at the Hilton Vienna Waterfront we were able to walk along the Danube to Prater Park. This was a lovely walk and took around 25 minutes. If you’re staying further away the best route is to take the U-bahn on line 1 or 2 to Praterstern, from where it’s just a short walk.

St Stephen’s Cathedral

One of the key architectural landmarks in central Vienna, it should definitely be on your itinerary to at least have a look at this imposing cathedral. Set in Stephensplatz, you can walk all the way around the cathedral to see it from all angles. We were able to go into the first part of the cathedral for free. You can see the impressive interior from this section but need to pay an entry fee to explore fully. We decided not to bother with this as the children were not keen on spending a lot of time exploring inside.

Getting to St Stephen’s Cathedral

Exploring central Vienna is best done on foot so a trip to see the cathedral can be combined with many of the other city centre landmarks. We caught the U-bahn directly from Schönbrunn to Schweden-platz on line 4. From there it was a 5-10 minute walk to the cathedral. The walk along Rotenturmstraße takes you past plenty of tourist shops. The kids enjoyed these looking for souvenirs to spend their holiday money on.

Hofburg Palace

This palace is in central Vienna so much easier to get to than Schönbrunn. We walked there from St Stephens cathedral. This was a lovely walk taking in the Spanish riding school at Michaelerplatz along the way. The one thing I regret not doing in Vienna is having a look around the riding school. This tour comes highly recommended and as horse lovers I think Martha and I would have really enjoyed it.

Watch out for horse and carriages as this area is full of them. A great way to see the city if you have the budget for it! From Michaelerplatz you can wander through the courtyards of the Sisi Museum to emerge onto Heidenplatz and the impressive view of Hofburg palace. There are grassed areas here which is a great place to sit for a while for a drink and rest.

The Hofburg palace complex hosts the Sisi museum and the Imperial apartments. We decided not to go inside as our children would not have been interested meaning we wouldn’t have made the most of the entry fee. You can book tickets in advance online and if you’re thinking of visiting Hofburg and Schönbrunn palaces there is a combo ticket available.

Vienna State Opera

Vienna is famous for its classical music. There are often concerts hosted throughout the city, particularly over the summer season. Even if, like us you don’t actually go to a concert it is well worth admiring the exterior of the state opera building. We actually wandered past by chance on our first morning in Vienna when on our way to the Haus Der Musik. To satisify the kids we bough ice creams from a small kiosk on the corner nearby so they were happy while we walked around to get a better look. Instead of an ice cream Adam and I had their take on Viennese coffee. It was soooooo delicious! It was basically coffee with cream and ice cream. On a hot day after a night train it was just what I needed.

We managed to have a great time in Vienna with kids, without breaking the bank. It worked for us to combine attractions that were appealing to adults and the kids so that everyone got to do something that they enjoyed. There is so much to see an do there though that we could easily visit again and not repeat any of our activities. If you decide to visit we always love feedback on our blog posts or ideas for what to do if/ when we make it back to Vienna.