A four day family trip to Vienna
I’ve just returned from four days in Vienna with the family. It’s a great place for adults and kids. Expensive, but great. I’ve put the total prices of things below. Here’s what we got up to.
I’ve also written about how we packed for this trip with just two cabin sized bags.
Planning
Vienna was chosen by a usual plan of looking at the price of flights in the October half term and finding something reasonable. Once flights were looking good, we checked out Airbnb filtered by Superhosts and those with a decent number of 4.5+ reviews. We lucked out on our Airbnb, it was excellent.
It felt like we did less planning for Vienna. It’s a big place with tons of stuff to do. Looking through our go-to Lonely Planet felt kind of pointless; too much to do in not enough time. The ’72 hours in Vienna’ tips are kind of helpful, but we’ve learnt over time to make trips like this an 80/20 split in favour of the kids. And we know they’ll be happy with a constant supply of food and playgrounds.
Side note: The map that came with the guide book was poor and missed off the area we were staying in, so I bought this map from Stanfords. It wasn’t needed though as the map provided by the host was better than this.
Monday
Early start for our flight but made easier staying at an airport hotel. Time for coffees, juice and pastries before the 2.5 hour flight from Manchester.
Had planned to get the quick CAT train from the airport, but ticket machines said trains not running. Joined the queue for the longer/cheaper S7 S-Bahn train and checked with staff to make sure that train was running, it wasn’t. Had an helpful message from our Airbnb host to let us know about train issues.
Got an Uber to Wein Mitte station where train would have got us to (€26). Had a leisurely 2 mile stroll to our Airbnb apartment via Stadtpark, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, across the Donaukanal, Wettsteinpark. Me and the boy snacked on a slice of take away pizza (€4.50 each) and my wife and daughter shared some take away calamari (€11).
We were staying a few minutes from the impressive Augarten. Met our host, relaxed for an hour, then spent a few hours wandering through the Augarten, stopping at the playgrounds and wondering what two massive concrete tower blocks were. Looked online to see they’re WWII anti-aircraft structures called Flak Towers.
They peek out from behind trees, somehow hidden from view for large parts of time walking through the park. I’m really glad they haven’t been demolished.
Ate at a local pizza restaurant recommended by the host. Really reasonable for the 3 pizzas, fries, pasta and 6 drinks (€65).
Distance walked: 6.5 miles
Tuesday
A busy day started with our usual tradition of pastries from a local bakery (€22). Noticeably expensive. Checked Monzo for our trip to Bordeaux last year; same amount of pastries were €14.
Strolled to the closest U-Bahn (underground) at Friedensbrücke. Bought 48 hour travel passes which cover underground, overground trains, trams and buses (€56).
Jewish Museum Vienna
Caught the U4 line to Schottenring and strolled to the Jewish Museum Vienna (€30). Really interesting and informative exhibitions across three floors dating back to 1300’s. Kids really enjoyed learning about Jewish Identity in the Football Stadium and teams like Bayern Munich, Tottenham Hotspur, Ajax. Starting at the top floor meant we ended with Our City! Jewish Vienna — Then to Now which included 1945 to present day. Tickets last 7 days and cover a second venue at Museum Dorotheergasse.
Museum of Illusions
40 displays of eye-distorting illusion and a highlight of the trip (€48). The kids really loved this place, so did we. Hands on puzzles, optical illusions, and clever displays to make excellent photos. The staff were really helpful too, pointing out how and where to take good photos. The “fixed gangway inside a rotating light display has you clinging to the rails entirely unnecessarily” was spot on.
Afternoon strolls
Stopped for a coffee and cake at Café Hawelka, a dark, broody cafe that we didn’t realise was famous. 2 coffees, 2 juices, 3 cakes and a frankfurter got no change from €50.
Walked through the Volksgarten and headed towards some brass band music. Got to see the last minute preparations for the Prime Minister of Romania (we think) visiting. The 30 minute boot inspections was fascinating.
Caught the U3 at Volkstheater and felt on edge by an aggressive man asking for money. Pissed me off as I was holding my lads hand at the time and his tone scared him. On the tube had a gut feel we were next to a pickpocket and instincts kicked in so we got off at the next stop.
Ate at McDonalds (€22) and walked back to the apartment.
Distance walked: 7.5 mies (14 miles total)
Wednesday
Started the day with a coffee on the apartment balcony whilst the kids watched some TV. Opted from pastries from a local Billa supermarket (€15).
Spanish Riding School
Caught the number 5 tram towards the centre as my wife really wanted to see the famous dancing white Lipizzaner horses. Booked tickets online to see the horses trained to music (€67).
Wife really enjoyed it, I found it quite relaxing listening to classical music for an hour, the kids were bored within 5 minutes. Later on that day my daughter said she’d spent the time thinking about how the seats were made. She gets the random thoughts from me.
Schönbrunn Palace
Caught the U4 west to visit Schönbrunn Palace, apparently Austria’s most frequently visited tourist attraction. It was busy, but it’s so vast that it really wasn’t crowded. Felt good to be around space and trees and greenery. Entrance to the gardens is free and we wandered aimlessly.
If you visit do make sure you walk up the zig zag path towards the Gloriette as you’ll be rewarded with an outstanding view of the palace and Vienna in the background.
We visited the maze within the gardens which was excellent (€20). 3 mazes, a playground and coffee from vending machine at 45c. This was one of the kids highlights, particularly the climbing chiming poles with bells to ring if you get to the top. The did with some assistance.
Caught the U4 back to the centre, getting off at Schwedenplatz. Strolled through the Leopoldstadt area to visit a homeware store that my wife had seen online. Hopped on a tram that was heading in the direction of the apartment to save some tired feet.
Popped back to Billa as we were craving some home cooked food. Pasta for the kids, schnitzel and potatoes for us.
Distance walked: 7 miles (20.5 miles total)
Thursday
26th October is a national holiday in Austria and our host had told us that most shops would be closed but travel, museums and the theme park would be open. Children also travel for free on this day too.
Our last day started with packing up as we were checking out. Our Airbnb hosts thankfully let us store our bags in the apartment which made for a much more pleasant stroll to Prater.
As our 48 hour travel passes had expired, we strolled the 2 miles stopping on the way at Sperling im Augarten for a mid-way drink. 2 espressos, 2 orange juices for a bargain €23.
Prater theme park
This theme park was a great place to end the trip. The kids were excited to go on a some rides and amusement games. Their highlight was the Labrynth game/ride/puzzle where they had to work their way out. Basketball was a top arcade game. Free to wander round, most rides were €5 per person.
Wiener Riesenrad
This iconic ferris wheel at Prate dates back to 1897 and was one thing that I’d wanted to do. It didn’t disappoint. It takes around 30 minutes to slowly go round and the views from the top are outstanding. I’m fine with heights, but the gentle swaying from 65 metres up was enough to make me check the kids weren’t near the doors (€34).
Moving on
Our time in Vienna was coming to an end and we’d booked a final night in the Moxy Airport hotel. At €224 for the night it wasn’t cheap, but with a 3am alarm call the following morning being a 5 minute walk from the airport felt more reassuring that waiting on a taxi or Uber.
The Moxy is a beautiful hotel, modern vibe to the place and nicely kitted out. Our family room had two double beds, each in a separate room and each with their own tv. The kids loved it.
Welcome drinks vouchers were a great touch and we had a relaxing drink, played some board games, ate a final Viennese meal and headed up for an early night. Thankfully the kids got to sleep before the guests in the room above us started their thudding, slamming, shouting routine for the next few hours. Asking reception to have a word didn’t do anything. Got to sleep after midnight a few hours.
Stunning, but pointless. Waiting to hear back on my refund request.
Distance walked: 7.5 miles (28 miles total)
Friday
Woke up early, packed up and in the airport for 3.15am, ready for a coffee. Found out that things didn’t open until 4am, bugger.
The €36 pastries, 1 coffee, 2 juices from Veganista in the airport rounded off the trip nicely.
Landed back in Manchester and was home for 9am.
Cheers Vienna.
