Austria is a great destination for young families. Stunning Alps, picture-perfect villages, and beautiful cities packed with history. I could easily fill a month with things I want to see and do in Austria. The great news is that much of Austria’s beauty is very accessible.
If you only have 1-2 weeks, and you are traveling with young children, one great way to narrow down an itinerary is to stick to cities with easy connectivity. We chose this approach on a visit with our young children, including an infant. As much as we hope to explore more of the remote villages of Austria one day, we decided we did not want to hassle with carseats, car rentals, or changing accommodations every couple days.
So we chose Vienna, Salzburg, and Innsbruck as our three home bases during our roughly 2 weeks in Austria with children. That did not mean we only spent time in concrete jungles. All three cities offer plenty of green space and several day trips into the countryside are accessible from these cities via public transportation. Here is the itinerary that we loved and highly recommend for young families looking to combine adventure and gorgeous scenery with convenience and accessibility.
My biggest advice: take a sloooooow pace and enjoy the time together.
Vienna, plus a day along the Danube
We spent 6 nights in Vienna. Vienna has beautiful gardens and fun playgrounds, and the impressive imperial buildings that make up the Hofburg were fun to explore as a family. Our transit-obsessed child loved riding the tram and was perfectly happy to join along on a self-guided tram tour. My husband and I took turns a couple times taking the children to playgrounds while the other toured the Sisi Museum & Imperial Apartments at the Hofburg, the Vienna State Opera House, and other indoor sites that we were excited to tour without the chaos of little children.
The Schönbrunn Palace (the Habsburgs’ summer residence) was a lot easier to tour with our kids. The palace grounds are huge. With beautiful gardens, charming eateries, and the world’s oldest zoo, Schönbrunn Palace is a great place to fill most of a day with young children. We were even able to sneak inside as a family during naptime to explore the interior of the palace.
A day along the Danube
While Vienna had plenty to offer, we balanced out our time in the city with a daytrip into the Wachau Valley. We took a train from Vienna to Melk, where we toured the impressive Melk Abbey. From there, we caught a public bus that took us on a scenic route along a beautiful stretch of the Danube to Krems. From Krems we hopped on a return train to Vienna. We all really enjoyed the bus ride and the stops along the way. When we passed a village that we wanted to explore, we hopped off and then caught a later bus when we were ready to move on. The valley is blanketed with vineyards and small towns. Dürnstein was particularly charming.
A scenic boat ride back toward Vienna is also an option. We opted for the bus because we could hop on and off to stretch legs, explore, and grab food. We were not sure how our young children would tolerate a several hour boat ride without stops. Biking through this region would also be a fun choice if you are a biking family.
Salzburg and a couple day trips
We spent 6 nights in Salzburg. You could easily see Salzburg’s highlights in a day or two and move on. But, as I mentioned, on this trip through Austria, we wanted to go at a slow pace and enjoy our time as a family.
At a relaxed pace we were able to see Salzburg’s main tourist sites (Hohensalzburg Fortress, Salzburg Cathedral, Mirabell Palace and Gardens, etc.) while also enjoying a rainy morning at Salzburg’s Toy Museum and exploring playgrounds, artisan markets, bakeries, and restaurants in the area. Our visit overlapped with the annual St. Rupert’s Day Fair. Market stalls, rides, beer tents, and brass band music filled the streets and squares of the city center. The kids loved the festivities!
During our stay in Salzburg we were able to fit in a couple day trips (more below). We were extra happy that we weren’t rushing on to the next destination when our whole family caught a stomach bug. Our time in Salzburg did not feel rushed and we left feeling like we really “saw” this city and the surrounding area, despite the unexpected setback.
Day trip to Mondsee
The bus ride out to Lake Mondsee takes about 45 minutes, with stops along the way. You can catch the 140 bus from Salzburg to Mondsee throughout the day. The views of the Austrian countryside along the way are beautiful. Mondsee itself is a small town that is perfect for a half day adventure. The Basilika St. Michael is probably its most famous sight. The wedding ceremony in the Sound of Music was filmed at Basilika St. Michael. Along the town’s waterfront we found peaceful views of Lake Mondsee and the surrounding mountains. There is also a large playground/park (Kinderspielplatz) for children on the Western side of the waterfront. This was a great spot to tire out our children before the bus ride back to Salzburg.
Daytrip to Berchtesgaden and Lake Konigssee
Salzburg is located very close to the border with Germany, making a daytrip to Berchtesgaden, Germany, very easy. While I hear Berchtesgaden is well worth a visit, I was particularly keen to explore Lake Konigssee, an alpine lake not far from Berchtesgaden. I had researched a self-guided tour of the lake, complete with ferry boat rides and a short hike around a second lake, lake Obersee, to a gem of a farm that serves farm-to-table cheeses and other dairy products with fresh bread, and refreshing beverages. The images of cows roaming the alpine pastures looked straight out of a travel book.
Sadly, I did not personally get to enjoy this adventure. I stayed behind with sick children and sent the healthy ones off with a fantastic itinerary for the day. This is the site that I pulled a lot of information from when creating the itinerary. Youtube was also a helpful source of information. Someday I will return to the region and enjoy the scenery and refreshments myself!
Innsbruck and nearby peaks
We spent 2 nights in Innsbruck. Two nights were sufficient to “see” Innsbruck, but you could certainly spend more time in this city if you wanted to do more hiking or explore more of the area.
In addition to exploring the city center, we made our way up one of the peaks to enjoy the natural beauty of the area. From down in the city, we caught a combination of the Hungerburg Funicular and cable cars up to Seegrube, with a stopover to play at a playground on the mountainside, before continuing on to the top (Hafelekarspitze). Once at the top, there is a short hike to a viewpoint for wonderful views of the valley and surrounding peaks. Our kids really enjoyed this day frolicking in the Alps and riding a variety of transportation methods.
Some day we will go back and take road trips from small village to small village and really see the Alps thoroughly. But I was really happy with this itinerary and it felt very approachable with little kids.
Leave a Reply