Our European road trip continued through Austria. Sandwiched in our itinerary between Prague and Budapest, we only spent one weekend in Vienna and we barely scratched the surface of this history-rich city!
Funny story: Up until this point in my life I truly thought a Wienerschnitzel was a hotdog (thanks to the California fast food chain). It wasn’t until I actually thought about it, that it is indeed a schnitzel from Wien. (Vienna). Grant tried one and we’re still not really into them (nor are we into hotdogs), ha!
Must dos in Vienna with Kids:
Visit the State Hall of the Austrian National Library
This was a highlight for sure. Grant and I kept thinking these surely must be replicas and not original books as old as they were, but indeed they were authentic! The library is quite impressive and even the kids liked admiring the ornate ceiling.
Shop at Naschmarkt
I love visiting markets and Naschmarkt is the perfect spot for eating and shopping. We had a yummy breakfast at Cafe Doan, I bought my dad some cured meats for Father’s Day, and we loaded up on some road trip snacks!
Dine at a classic Viennese cafe
I love cafe culture, but I’m not sure about classic Viennese cafes. It was fun to visit and get a treat with the boys but the queue and inhospitable staff at Café Mozart wasn’t really my scene. There are many to choose from so perhaps give another one a shot! It was something to do after admiring Hofburg Palace.
See a Symphony (yes, even with kiddos!)
Grant loves music and wanted to see a symphony while in the City of Music. It was Father’s Day after all! We bought tickets from a guy on the side of the road (not something we typically do!) and it turned out to be great. It was a little misleading because he sold tickets in front of the stunning Vienna State Opera, but the symphony was in another part of town. Given he said jeans and babies were no problem we weren’t upset about the downgrade. However, it turns out babies were a problem!
Funny story: When we arrived the man working the door told me that Hobie must stay silent (he was 10 months old) and that if he made a peep I had to leave. It was late and he was asleep in the Ergobaby carrier so I thought I was good to go. The Symphony started and sure enough he started crying. I quickly got up to leave but that entire symphony waited until they heard the door slam behind me to resume playing. The pause seemed to last an eternity! After a few minutes of shushing and rocking outside (on the smoker’s patio, yuck!) he fell back asleep and I got to enjoy the Symphony. Meanwhile, toddler Marin did a rockstar job!
Eat some trendy food
We were excited to be in a major city again after jaunting through the Czech countryside. Prague is a big city too, but all of the restaurants we encountered were still variations on the same Czech food. While in Vienna we had delicious meals at Ulrich for brunch and Mochi for sushi. Mochi is located in Leopoldstadt and I really enjoyed walking around this neighborhood. I would stay here if visiting again. We stayed at a Hilton on the Danube because we had a discount! It had a great view and pool but was lacking in vibe and location.
We also had dinner at Palmenhaus. The food wasn’t recommendable but the greenhouse aesthetic was cool and the location by Burggarten Park on a summer day was unbeatable.
What you can skip in Vienna with Kids:
Prater amusement park
I said it! This is likely an unpopular opinion given that kids love rides, but we are not amusement park people.
I felt pressured to check out Prater because I kept reading about it but it was old, cheesy, and a little scary! We did enjoy the city views from the Ferris wheel.
Not Vibin’ with Vienna,
-Ray