Vienna for the Family: The Best Things to Do with Kids
Vienna may emanate high culture and sophisticated attractions, but youngsters can find the Imperial City fascinating and even fun — if you know where to look. We run down the best parks, museums, and other fabulous things to do with kids in Vienna.
Take the Children’s Tour from Insight Cities
History is full of exciting tales of daring and heroic figures, and in our Vienna Children’s Tour we bring history to life by sharing stories of heroes and mythical creatures that shaped the story of medieval Vienna, as well as the true stories of the people who’ve lived here. Learn about the saints and craftsmen of St. Stephansdom, imagine the very different lives of nobles and peasants in the Middle Ages, and explore the places where Mozart lived. And no Vienna tour would be complete without a stop for some cake and pastries!
Outdoor activities for kids in Vienna
The Prater
With its distinctive Giant Ferris Wheel, the Prater attracts over 4 million visitors each year — but this amusement park is home to over 200 other rides, games and play places! Located on former Imperial hunting grounds, the Wurstelprater has been around since 1895, and has seen many themes and attractions come and go.
Thrill-seekers can soar high above it all on the swings of Prater Turm, take the Tornado, or try the 90-meter-high freefall tower. Younger kids might find the Liliputbahn and the classic carousel thrilling enough. After going on a few rides you can walk along the chestnut-lined avenues next to the amusement park and relax in the shade.
Note that not all Prater attractions are open during the winter months!
Schönbrunn Palace Grounds
Outside Schönbrunn Palace lies expansive grounds and gardens for children to explore and play. First used as hunting grounds occupied by game birds and peacocks, the grounds are populated with birds both native and exotic (including emus), making it a popular spot for urban birding.
Kids will enjoy finding their way through the garden maze, reconstructed in 1999 according to the historical 19th-century model and full of fun challenges for kids to figure out. A hopping game and flagstone math puzzle are among the mental challenges, and physical challenges include a bell to ring atop a pole.
Kids can also go on a hunt for the statues of mythical figures scattered throughout the park, placed there during Empress Maria Theresa’s reign in 1777, and have a look at the fake Roman ruins for a taste of ancient Rome (or at least architect Johann Wilhelm Beyer’s depiction of it).
Vienna Zoo
Located on the Schönbrunn Palace grounds, Vienna Zoo is consistently rated as one of the best zoos in Europe. First established as a private menagerie in 1752 and open to the public in 1779, Vienna Zoo also enjoys the distinction as the oldest zoo in the world. Among the over 700 species of animals at the zoo are giraffes (viewable eye-to-eye from a purpose-built gallery), koalas, orangutans, and Siberian tigers.
The giant pandas, part of a successful natural-breeding program, are some of the zoo’s biggest stars, so expect some crowds when visiting their enclosure. Kids will also love hopping on the Panoramatrain to get around the zoo. The multi-story rainforest house and sea lion feedings may be especially fun for young animal lovers!
Danube Island
If you’re in Vienna during the long summer days, you can schedule an afternoon at Danube Island, a man-made island in the middle of the great Danube River. Here, you can relax at the family beach or have a picnic, use the water playground, or visit the world’s largest trampoline center. It’s also big enough to bike around for a leisurely ride.
Get even more out of your visit to Vienna with a tour from Insight Cities, customized to suit all your family’s interests and needs. We’ve got guides that cover the gamut of Viennese history and culture, as well as kid-friendly approaches to touring. Connect with us at info@insightcites.com to for expert help organzing your famiy’s Vienna experience.
Indoor activities for kids in Vienna
Schönbrunn Palace Children’s Museum
Mini history buffs will find the Children’s Museum at Schönbrunn Palace fascinating, as they encounter toys from the past and a scavenger hunt, as well as discover the daily habits of children living at court in the Imperial era. They can even dress up as as young nobility from this bygone courtly world.
Marionette Theater
If your kids are more into puppets and plays, Schonbrunn Palace is also home to a renowned marionette theater, putting on kid-friendly abridged adaptations of Mozart’s most child-friendly opera, Magic Flute as well as the opera of Hansel and Gretel. The theater continues an Imperial tradition over 200 years old, with magnificent sets and magical marionettes that come to life once the lights go down.
TIP: While performances are in German, you can prepare to see The Magic Flute by purchasing the abridged storybook version in English ahead of time and reading it with your kids.
Haus der Musik
Vienna is a city of music, having been the center of Europe’s classical music scene in its heyday in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Haus der Musik helps keep that musical heritage alive for new generations. While children may find the wide array of instruments on display at the Haus der Musik fascinating, this magical environment offers some extras: piano stairs, virtual dice to create their own waltz, and experiment with sounds in VR. And those are just a few of the kid-friendly interactive exhibits at the museum.
Haus der Musik also has the world’s only virtual conductor. Kids and adults can try their hand at conducting the Vienna Philharmonic, with the help of star conductor Zubin Metha, but they must be careful – too many mistakes and the virtual orchestra will put down their instruments and start insulting your efforts!
Imperial Butterfly House
Insect lovers in the family will find much to enjoy at the Imperial Butterfly House, a special greenhouse housing hundreds of free-flying butterflies, most of them originating from tropical climates. In addition to viewing several unique species of butterfly, kids can learn about the butterfly’s life cycle and observe various tropical plants.
Spanish Riding School
If you’ve got any horse girls and/or boys among your crew, the Spanish Riding School will be an extra special stop. This Vienna institution, running since the 16th century, remains the only riding school training in classical haute école (“High school”) methods. This type of riding includes elaborate movements to showcase the horse’s special abilities and has earned its place on the UNESCO intangible heritage list.
Come to watch professional riders guide horses through a one-of-a-kind dance performance set to some of the most iconic classical music of Vienna. You can also watch them train and we can help you arrange a tour and a meet-and-greet with a rider for more of a behind-the-scenes look at this living piece of Austrian riding tradition.
Kunsthistorisches Museum
Art history comes alive for aspiring young artists in Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum. The museum’s collection spans the wide expanse of early art history, from ancient Egyptian artifacts to early modern portraits and intricately detailed objects such as clocks and goblets, with a special children’s audioguide that can guide them through the various collections.
Natural History Museum
Featuring interactive multi-media stations such as a meteor impact simulator and a CSI table to determine the cause of death for an ancient skeleton, Vienna’s Natural History Museum can entertain and inform kids about the fascinating history of the natural world. With life-size dinosaur skeletons, specimens of extinct species such as the most complete dodo skeleton and a taxidermied Tasmanian Tiger, and meteorites on display, the museum also offers real objects connected to natural phenomena that help bring natural history to life.
Haus des Meeres
Haus des Meeres (House of the Sea) is an aqua-terra housing over 10,000 animals across 11 floors, including sharks, rays, seahorses, turtles, monkeys and lizards of all kinds. Look up feeding times to see when kids can watch sharks, piranhas, and other animals chow down. Lemur lovers can get up close and personal with the bushy-tailed primates by signing up for the ring-tailed lemur experience in the Madagascar facility.
Zoom Children’s Museum
In addition to the Children’s Museum at Schonbrunn, Vienna is also home to Zoom Children’s Museum, a place for interactive learning and play. Zoom Ocean introduces youngsters to the underwater world, complete with a mirror tunnel and a ship. In Zoom Studio, kids can experiment with various forms of arts and crafts, and there’s a rotating hands-on exhibition that encourages kids to interact with fascinating topics like science, art, and technology. Space is limited for each exhibition so advance booking is a must!
Seasonal Activities for Kids in Vienna
Christmas markets
Central Europe is famous for its Christmas markets, and Vienna offers some of the best in the region. The Christmas markets in front of the Rathaus transform the square into a veritable Christmas carnival: seasonal food stalls serving sausage and mulled wine, arts and crafts stands selling Christmas gifts, an impressively tall Christmas tree, a Ferris wheel, and an ice rink that winds its way through colorfully illuminated light displays.
If you’d like to help your kids explore the vast history and distinct culture of the Imperial City, please contact us at Insight Cities. Our children’s tour takes kids on a journey through time, sharing incredible legends and fascinating facts of famous figures and contrasting how kids lived in past and present versions of the Imperial City. Our friendly expert guides can strike a perfect balance between telling compelling stories for the adults while engaging kids at their level. Contact us and arrange your family tour today!