With kids · Vienna · Austria
Vienna with kids
Family-tested sights, a calm base and the practical details that make travelling with children easier.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: C.Stadler/Bwag, CC BY-SA 4.0
Quick answer
Vienna is one of Europe's easiest capitals with children: clean, calm public transport, the world's oldest zoo, the Prater amusement park, a dinosaur hall and a hands-on music museum. Parks and playgrounds are everywhere, and stroller access is generally good. Top picks: Tiergarten Schönbrunn, Prater and the Giant Ferris Wheel and Natural History Museum. Families usually base themselves in Landstraße.
Key facts
- Family picks
- 6
- Best area for families
- Landstraße
- Rainy-day options
- 4
- Busiest months
- July–August and December
Best things to do with kids
Zoo · Hietzing
1.Tiergarten Schönbrunn
Founded in 1752 in the grounds of Schönbrunn, this is the oldest zoo still in operation in the world. Its enclosures radiate from a baroque imperial breakfast pavilion, and modern houses include a rainforest and a polar area.
Enter from the palace gardens and combine the zoo with the Schönbrunn maze and children's museum.
- Time needed
- 3–4 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Nature
- Outdoors
Theme park · Leopoldstadt
2.Prater and the Giant Ferris Wheel
The Wurstelprater amusement park has free entry and rides paid individually, from vintage carousels to modern roller coasters. Its symbol is the Riesenrad, a giant Ferris wheel of 1897 with wooden cabins, made famous by the film The Third Man. Beyond it the Hauptallee, a chestnut-lined avenue of about 4.5 km, runs through green parkland.
Ride the Riesenrad just before sunset, then walk or cycle along the Hauptallee.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Low cost
- Kids
- Iconic
- Couples
- Views
- After dark
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Museum · Innere Stadt
3.Natural History Museum
The twin of the Kunsthistorisches Museum across Maria-Theresien-Platz displays the Venus of Willendorf, a limestone figurine about 30,000 years old, a dinosaur hall, one of the world's largest meteorite collections and halls of minerals and animals in their original 19th-century cabinets.
Head first to the Venus of Willendorf in her own small room and the dinosaur hall, the favourites of most children.
- Time needed
- 2–3 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Rainy day
- History
- Nature
Museum · Innere Stadt
4.Haus der Musik
An interactive museum of sound and music in a palace near the State Opera, with rooms on the Vienna Philharmonic and the city's great composers, sound experiments and a virtual podium where you conduct the orchestra yourself.
Try the virtual conductor station; the orchestra stops playing in protest if your tempo is poor.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Rainy day
Palace · Hietzing
5.Schönbrunn Palace
The Habsburg summer residence has 1,441 rooms, of which around 40 are shown on the Grand Tour, including the Hall of Mirrors where the six-year-old Mozart performed for Maria Theresa. The vast baroque gardens, free to enter, climb to the Gloriette colonnade, with a view back over the palace and the city.
Book the first time slot, then walk up to the Gloriette and visit the maze and zoo in the afternoon.
- Time needed
- Half a day
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Book ahead
- Palace tours use timed tickets that sell out in summer and at weekends; book online in advance.
- Iconic
- History
- Architecture
- Views
- Kids
Experience · Innere Stadt
6.Spanish Riding School
White Lipizzaner stallions perform classical dressage under the chandeliers of the baroque Winter Riding School inside the Hofburg, a tradition dating back more than 450 years. Gala performances are the highlight; morning training sessions with music are a cheaper way to see the horses.
If performance tickets are sold out, book a morning exercise session or a guided tour of the stables.
- Time needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Book ahead
- Performances sell out weeks ahead; book on the official site.
- Iconic
- History
- Kids
- Rainy day
Rainy-day ideas
- Spanish Riding School — If performance tickets are sold out, book a morning exercise session or a guided tour of the stables.
- Ringstrasse by tram — Ride the regular trams 1 and 2 with an ordinary ticket for most of the loop, hopping off at the Parliament and City Hall.
- Natural History Museum — Head first to the Venus of Willendorf in her own small room and the dinosaur hall, the favourites of most children.
- Haus der Musik — Try the virtual conductor station; the orchestra stops playing in protest if your tempo is poor.
Where families should stay
$$$ · Best for first-timers, families and quiet stays
Landstraße
The 3rd district is home to the Belvedere palaces and gardens, the colourful Hundertwasserhaus and the Wien Mitte station, where the City Airport Train arrives. It is mostly residential and calm, with good-value hotels within walking distance of the Ring.
- Good
- Direct airport train; Close to the Belvedere and the Ring; Calm in the evenings
- Watch out
- Less atmosphere than the 1st or 7th districts; Some areas are plain and residential
- Nearby
- Belvedere, Hundertwasserhaus, Stadtpark, Wien Mitte
Family travel tips
- Children under 6 travel free on Vienna's public transport, and children under 15 travel free on Sundays, public holidays and during Vienna school holidays.
- Schönbrunn has a children's museum and a maze in the gardens, ideal after the palace tour.
- The Danube Island and Alte Donau have free swimming spots in summer.
- Haus des Meeres, an aquarium in a wartime flak tower in Mariahilf, is a good rainy-day option.
- Many museums are free for under-19s; check each museum's policy.
Day trips for families
- Heiligenkreuz and the Vienna Woods (About 45 minutes by bus) — The Vienna Woods (Wienerwald) are crisscrossed with walking trails.
- Lake Neusiedl and Rust (About 1–1.5 hours by train and bus) — Austria's largest lake is shallow and reed-fringed, a UNESCO-listed area of birdlife, cycling paths and sailing.
- Salzburg (About 2.5 hours each way by train) — Mozart's birthplace has a baroque old town under the Hohensalzburg Fortress, the Mirabell Gardens and the locations of The Sound of Music.
When to go with children
The best months overall are April–June and September–October. July–August and December are the busiest, so book the big sights early. Weather by month.
Questions travellers ask
+Is Vienna good for kids?
Vienna is one of Europe's easiest capitals with children: clean, calm public transport, the world's oldest zoo, the Prater amusement park, a dinosaur hall and a hands-on music museum. Parks and playgrounds are everywhere, and stroller access is generally good.
+What can kids do in Vienna?
Tiergarten Schönbrunn, Prater and the Giant Ferris Wheel, Natural History Museum, Haus der Musik and Schönbrunn Palace.
+Where should families stay in Vienna?
Landstraße: The Belvedere palaces, the Hundertwasserhaus and the airport train terminus.