Things to do in Vienna with kids

It might seem that Vienna is just another capital city with museums, galleries, and monuments where kids get bored. Nothing could be further from the truth! We have prepared for you a list of places for children of different ages.

Traveling with a child is a higher school of travel. Forget about visiting museums or walking tours all day. From now on, it is the smallest creature that dictates the terms and it is only up to its vision what you will see ;)

And seriously, planning trips with a child requires a lot of flexibility and switching to a different mode. We explore more slowly, take more frequent breaks, and discover the pleasures of simple activities (such as drinking coffee in peace). We are looking for child-friendly places and attractions so that everyone gets something out of the trip.

The challenge can be to plan so as to hit just what the child will be most interested in at that stage of development. With toddlers, every day is different – one day an angel, the next a devil, just hit a developmental spike and you may find that even standing on your eyelashes won’t help.

>> May vacation with the kids? Check out our suggestions!

When planning a trip to Vienna, we read several accounts of travels with children to this capital and were fed with ideas for interesting attractions. However, children are different, and something that worked for some may not necessarily work for others. We have prepared for you a list of places that we think are interesting for children. Some of them are for the youngest (tested!), and some are for those a little older. We assure you that no one in Vienna will be bored, because even adults will be satisfied with these attractions :)

ZOOM Museum

Muzeum dla dzieci ZOOM znajduje się w tzw. MQ (MuseumsQuartier), in close proximity to the Museum of Art History and the Natural History Museum.

The name of the museum itself can be misleading because it is more of an educational or learning center, divided into several rooms where classes are held. You come for a specific time, to a specific room. So it is not an open area where you can walk at will between rooms. But don’t worry, a multitude of activities await the children within one group. We were interested in activities for the youngest children (8 months and older), so we were in the Ocean room – more specifically, we were at the Ocean – Toddler date.

The section set aside for toddlers is called Ocean for a reason. Stepping inside, we initially feel as if we are at the bottom of the ocean, and then we discover more floors and rooms: the deck of the ship, the land with the jungle, the submarine.

At the entrance, the presenters make a short introduction for the children, although the truth is that the little ones understand little anyway (even though the presenters speak German and English), and then the children can explore the world to their heart’s content and walk their own paths. There are different forms, structures, shapes, nooks and crannies that children can enter – everything is safe and stimulates the development of motor skills :)

Children can enter a tunnel of mirrors, control a ship, slide down slides, catch fish, enter a submarine, press thousands of buttons, turn on lights, view pictures…. Well we were tired after 15 minutes of running after Olive :) Oliwia for that over-happy, full of energy ran away from her parents wherever she could.

There is a cool, international atmosphere inside. We were not the only foreigners, although the majority was a regular group of moms from Vienna. The children found each other without problems and were able to communicate without words.

Other rooms host activities for older children: art classes and multimedia classes. We weren’t there, but we saw through the glass how the kids were merrily getting dirty with sand, paints and how they came out excitedly from the film room, so I guess it’s cool?

Practical information: entrance to our classes was charged: a child – 4 EUR, one adult for free, and another for 5 EUR (so for the three of us we paid 9 EUR). It’s worth booking your seat online here.

Museum of Natural History

Our number 1 when it comes to Vienna for kids. We went inside a bit by the way and were not convinced that there would be anything interesting for us here. The tour starts from the first floor, with geological exhibits showing the history of the earth, minerals, meteorites, fossil plant remains. On the floor there are various forms of life from the simplest, single-celled ones, through animals tozł.

We started almost from the end, as we started with the most developed animals, and it turned out to be a hit. Olive could not take her eyes off monkeys, bears, rodents, horses, antelope…. a long time to list. The interested party ran from one display case to another showing more and more animals with her fingers. There were plenty of laughs in the process. We did not expect that such a place would appeal to her so much.

Although some of the exhibits give the impression of being old, there are modern attractions among them, such as animation of walking primitive people and a digital planetarium.

It also houses temporary exhibitions. During our stay there was an exhibition on dogs and cats – interactive, with many games and activities for young and old. You could see how high cats jump, how different breeds differ, how fast they breed, etc.

Practical information: entrance is charged: adult – 10 EUR, with Vienna-Card – 8 EUR, children under 19 enter for free (!).

Park Prater

The Prater Park is a great place for children of all ages. The funfair has plenty of attractions both calmer for the little ones (slow carousels, roller coasters) and extreme for those thirsty for thrills (rollercoasters, high carousels).

Here you will find cars that you can ride alone or with a parent, shooting ranges, dozens of slot machines and contests with mascots to win. If someone is not at all interested in such attractions, there is a wax figure museum (Madame Tussauds) and a chocolate museum on the grounds of the funfair. The park also abounds with bars and restaurants, so you can easily spend a whole day here.

The place is colorful, bright and very noisy. Especially the smallest ones may be disturbed, so a better option would be to come in the daytime, when the lights are off or not so intense.

And if you’re not interested in the attractions of the funfair or the covered museums, you can always walk to the Prater Park – a vast green area with many playgrounds, a pond and even a narrow-gauge railroad.

We wrote more about the Prater park here.

Schönbrunn Palace

Yes, you read that right! We recommend families with children to go to the palace and tour the interiors. Don’t worry, it won’t be a regular tour, but the entrance to the part where there is a children’s museum (Kindermuseum Schloss Schönbrunn)– The west wing of the palace. We only saw one room, as it is an attraction for older children, but it was impossible not to notice how much fun and enjoyment the little ones had inside.

There are 12 rooms and many, many accessories and props available for children. Instead of history, the emphasis is on children’s life in the palace, something that is closer and more interesting to them. Visitors can see what toys they played with, how they took care of their hygiene, what manners were expected of them…. And you know what the best part is? That you can try on outfits, including beautiful, aristocratic gowns in which girls can feel like real princesses. We’ll be back when Olive gets older ;)

The Schönbrunn park also has a zoo (more on that below) and a maze where you can get lost under parental supervision :)

Read more about Schönbrunn Palace and the Vienna Zoo.

Practical information: entrance to the museum is charged: adult – 8.80 EUR, with Vienna-Card – 6.70 EUR, children and students pay 6.70 EUR. Also, you have to pay to enter the labyrinth: adults – €5.50, with Vienna-Card – €4.20, children/students – €3.20/4.20.

Vienna Zoo

Although within Schönbrunn Park, it should be treated as a separate attraction for children (also at an additional cost). We decided to go to the zoo for one reason – pandas, which Olive has recently been “sick” of. :)

Vienna Zoo is the oldest operating zoo in the world and is home to more than 700 species of animals. Not only is it the oldest, it’s also considered one of the most modern and best zoos, although we still felt that the animals had too small enclosures (fact, we’d most like to see them in the wild, but there’s no chance for that).

Of greatest interest are the aforementioned giant pandas. There are several plaques around the enclosure with interesting facts about pandas, and plenty of additional information in the pavilion. To our surprise, Olive was more interested in the pandas in pictures than in real life, but what to do ;) In addition to pandas, children can see orangutans, elephants, lions, flamingos, giraffes, koalas, polar bears, penguins, enter the rainforest pavilion or walk along the path of communing with nature. In addition, you can hit the animal feeding, which also attracts crowds.

 

In the center of the first, oldest part, there is a pavilion with a restaurant, and the catwalks diverge radially. There are several restaurants, stores and food stalls in the area. Even though we were in the middle of the week, the lines for food were quite long.

On the grounds, we also liked the playground styled after Park Güella in Barcelona.

Practical information: entrance to the zoo is paid: adult – 18,50 EUR, , children over 6 years – 9 EUR.

House of Music (Haus der Musik)

A place that will appeal mainly to older children – we didn’t go inside because the information told us that children roughly from the age of 5 have most of the fun here, and a year and a half old is still too small. Nothing by force.

Instead, we learned what the museum is all about. In an interesting, interactive way, it shows how sounds and music are created. You can play conductor, play giant instruments, compose a melody. There is a museum of the Vienna Philharmonic and a lot of information about famous composers.

Practical information: ticket prices: adult – 13 EUR, children over 3 years – 6 EUR, children over 12 years – 6 EUR.

Butterfly House

Finally, there is one more attraction, also for children a little older than Olive (although we have read that two-year-olds already have fun visiting the Butterfly House).

The Butterfly House (Schmetterlinghaus), is a place where butterflies fly at your fingertips. It is an interestingly arranged palm house resembling a rainforest with waterfalls and bridges. Walking along the paths, you can observe some 400 butterflies up close as well as learn a little about these creatures.

Practical information: ticket prices: adult – 6,5 EUR, children over 3 years – from 3,5 to 5 EUR.

Summary

We ourselves were surprised how many interesting places for children we covered in Vienna. We used to pay no attention to them, and now the first thing we do is look for places for the little ones. Such are the charms of traveling with a child :) And the coolest thing is that in many of these places also parents have a lot of fun and do not get bored, only they may be exhausted at the end of the day, but what is not done for children ;)

See also our post: Vienna attractions for one weekend!