How to have fun with kids in Vienna

There was one thing I wasn't expecting to see in Vienna... so many strollers!

One way to have fun with kids in Vienna- let them sleep when they need to :)

Out of everywhere I've been in Europe, this was the city with the most little kids. There were a lot more strollers and a lot less dogs than in other European cities.

Vienna is highly rated for being a family friendly city, which is one of the reasons we chose to visit during this stage of life. In addition having things that interest us (music for David and royal history for me), we wanted to go somewhere with wide flat streets for the double stroller, lots of clean bathrooms for a newly potty trained kid, and fun activities for all ages.

On our first day, we arrived at 8am, which meant that we had to stay awake after traveling all night. After a nap at the Airbnb, we walked over to the Prater Amusement Park to entice the girls to not stay asleep for the whole day.

Nap cuddles

The Prater is one of the oldest amusement parks in the world, and the World Fair was hosted here in 1873. There is no admission fee, so you just pay per ride.

Some looked more fun than others.

The girls were very thrilled to ride a merry-go-round for the first time! They talked about it for the rest of the week. Since we were exhausted we didn't do much else besides stroll around and people watch. I'm sure with more energy and older kids, you could spend a much longer time here.

We also found a restaurant there, and David was happy to enjoy his first (but definitely not last) schnitzel of the trip. Of course, the grandparents and grandkids were elated to be reunited after 2 years apart. 

This was also the only restaurant we went to all week that provided crayons and coloring pages for the girls. That's not something you get very often in Europe, so that was a nice surprise!

Another cultural difference about restaurants in Europe is that there are no kid's cups. Not a single plastic cup with lid and straw in sight. They were handed full-size glass cups everywhere. They love it- it makes them feel grown up and gives them good practice drinking out of open cups. I will say though that it's less relaxing for me who had to stay vigilant to avoid spills and broken glass for the entire meal haha.

Vienna has SO many art, history, and specialty museums to choose from. We opted to visit the interactive Haus der Musik and it was a great decision.

The museum is located in the building where David's favorite orchestra (the Wiener Philharmoniker) was founded, so he was in heaven seeing exhibits about their history.

Okay, they had fun here but Daddy did linger a little too long in some of the rooms lol

There were also exhibits about many of the great composers, as well as exhibits about music and instruments in general. There was something interactive for young kids in every room, plus plenty to interest the adults.

The highlight was a chance to conduct the Wiener Philharmoniker. There was cool technology where the orchestra responded to how fast/well etc. you conducted it. David had so much fun that I think it had him daydreaming about a career change.

Musical staircase, dancing to Strauss, David conducting

We didn't have time to see Vienna's famous zoo at Schönbrunn Palace, so we visited the Haus des Meeres aquarium to make up for that.

The aquarium is inside a WWII anti-aircraft tower, which makes it pretty unique. Apparently the concrete is so thick that it would be impossible to tear down the huge blocky tower without damaging the surrounding buildings, so the Viennese got creative.

It was a big hit with the girls (although they were disappointed there were no mermaids), and we all enjoyed the impressive city views from the restaurant on the top floor.

During our week-long trip, we managed to stop at a playground almost every day.

Several of the sites we visited had playgrounds (Haus des Meeres, Schönbrunn Palace, and the Belvedere Palace).

One of our favorite stops was a playground right next to the beautiful Rathaus- Vienna's city hall. Because of the central location, David and his mom were able to sneak away and visit Beethoven's house nearby while the girls happily covered themselves in sand.

Every playground we visited had a sandbox, and many had water pumps to make even more messy fun. An entertaining cultural difference was that several kids were running around completely naked. I'm sure their parents had less laundry to do than I did after the sand!

The Stadtpark, also near the city center, was a beautiful green space with a big playground and separate sections for both older and younger kids. David was also happy to visit a statue there of one of his favorite composers- Johann Strauss. 

As if all of that wasn't enough fun for kids, riding public transportation might have been their favorite activity (besides the merry-go-round).    

Rosie kept saying "It's loud, but I like it,"

Our Airbnb was near a tram stop, so we rode that all around the city. We also experienced the metro for longer rides, and a train to Slovakia. 

All that to say... who needs Disney World? Look how fun Europe trips can be for kids! 

Well, my kids still want to go to Disney someday. But I'm confident they'll eventually be team Europe/real castles over theme parks. Just need a few more years of brainwashing. ;) ;)