Vienna • Salzburg

Reviews of Attractions in Austria

Also see our reviews on:

Holly's family of 5, with 2 girls, and one boy ages 15, 15 and 14 went to Vienna and Salzburg in July of 2008.  You can read their reviews below.

Vienna

Belvedere Palace plus Austrian Art Gallery

The palace is located within walking distance of the city center on level ground. We had "Gramma" with us but still found the walk easy and pleasant. The grounds and exterior of the castle are open to the public as a park. The gardens are formal with gentle terraces and fountains leading from the upper palace to the lower palace. The fountains were being repaired while we were visiting so we did not see them in action. The art collection has been newly reorganized so that the works are displayed chronologically starting with the earliest paintings of pre-renaissance ending with post-post modern in the lower Belvedere. Note: The most recent guide books were unaware of the art being reshuffled. In fact I would not purchase the combined ticket to see the lower Belvedere collection if you aren't into surrealism and modern art. I would still go into the gift shop in the lower Belvedere Palace which is free, because it is housed in such a beautiful room. The Upper Belvedere Palace seems to be most famous for its Gustav Klimt collection including "Kiss" but the kids' favorites were the sculpted heads showing different expressions. This is a manageable museum for kids with lots of interesting architecture and art but not too much. There is a lovely coffee and pastry cafe in the Upper Belvedere on the entry level (not inexpensive). There is also an ice cream stand accessed on the outside of the building on the same side as the cafe. There are no lines for the restrooms. Inside the park between the upper Belvedere and the entrance gate there is a botanical garden that charges a small fee. My daughter and mother checked it out and thought it was quite beautiful. www.belvedere.at

Karlskirche

Karlskirche greets you with enormous colomns in the style of the Trajan colomn in Rome but the rest of it is in the Baroque style that dominates Vienna. The church is free to visit but as you enter they will offer tickets to ride the panorama elevator to the top of the dome in the cathedral. This is basically set up on scaffolding. It all appeared quite safe but if you are afraid of heights it doesn't feel substantial enough. The last part of it is accessed by stairs. The views were stupendous and the cupola is very pretty. www.karlskirche.at

Stephansdom

The Stephansdom (St. Steven's Cathedral) is seemingly at the center of all things. We made it the emergency meeting place with our teenagers if we should get separated. There is an unusual colored tile roof amidst the gothic spires. My husband and son climbed the tower for the beautiful views over the city. We visited the inside as a family in the evening during an unexpected revival type service with gospel music we recognized from home. This was definitely still a house of worship! Admittance to the church is free, the tower and elevator are not. www.stephansdom.at

Greichenbeisl

The Greichenbeisl (Greek Tavern) is located where Fleischmarkt and Griechengassse intersect. This area of the old town is great for wandering through the crooked, cobblestone streets. Hotel Austria (on our list of Hotels) is located here and just a few windy streets away from the Schonlaterngasse, another charming lane. The Greichenbeisl is an old pub style restaurant dating from 1447. Many famous people have eaten here including Mark Twain. We ate dinner here with our kids one night. The portions are enormous and the staff is very friendly. Immediately next to the beisl is an ornate Orthodox Greek Church also worth visiting. www.griechenbeisl.at

Schönlaterngasse

Further into the city's old town section is the Schönlaterngasse (the pretty lantern street). A guide book will point out all the historic highlights, but basically it is a charming, winding street through a maze of baroque townhouses, arches, and courtyards.

Schönbrunn Palace

The palace is easily reached by the U4 Line of the Vienna Subway system. We had somehow gained the impression that Schonbrunn was a long ways away based on descriptions from our guide books but it is actually a short trip via the subway and then a five minute walk well signed from there. The gardens are well maintained -- lots of roses and flowers. The gardens are Free but otherwise there are various combinations of tickets to be purchased giving you access to certain buildings and amusements. We chose the Classic Pass which had the greatest value. Check out the website and compare. The Classic Pass does not inlcude certain exhibits like the Zoo, Palm House and Carriage Museum. It does cover the kids' favorite (even teenagers) mazes and labrynths. If you are planning on seeing the Hofburg Sisi exhibit back in town and the Historical Furniture Exhibit there is a combined ticket that can be purchased which saves about 15% off the price of those tickets purchased individually.

The mazes are a lot of fun for both kids and adults -- part of the labrynth squirts water if you step in the wrong spot so visitors may wish to avoid it on a cold day. There is a cafe inside the Gloriette serving pastries and ice cream. There are stairs to the top of the Gloriette for beautiful views of the palace and the rooftops of Vienna. After a walk through the gardens, we ended our visit with the apple strudel demonstration (samples provided). The demonstration is in English and German and lasts about one half hour. Schönbrunn Palace also has a Kinder Museum (Children's Museum) which has seperate activities directed specifically at young children including period toys, costumes etc.

We observed that there are restrooms at the Gloriette, near the Ticket Counter and in the Entrance Courtyard area. www.schoenbrunn.at

Salzburg

Hohensalzburg

Photo to right is of Salzburg through an archway at the Hohensalzburg.

This a large, medieval fortress high on a hill looking down on the quaint town of Salzburg. There are various tours and exhibits inside the Fortress including the fancy state rooms, a church, and torture chamber. The Fortress and views can be visited and enjoyed for Free but the tours charge entrance fees. There is a resaturant with beautiful views available. The climb is obviously steep if you don't think your kids can tackle it there is a funiculare for a fee available (www.festungsbahn.at). We enjoyed an evening walk up the hill and around the Fortress with hardly another tourist in sight. The evening sky was spectacular along with views of the town below and hills surrounding Salzburg. The special exhibits were closed up for the day. www.salzburg-burgen.at

Schloss Hellbrunn

The day we rode our rented bicycles along the river side and then down the Hellbrunner Allee to Schloss Hellbrunn was probably one of the most treasured by our family. The Hellbrunn Palace is a must for kids of all ages. It was built in the 17th century as a pleasure garden for an archbishop. The palace itself is small and lovely with beautiful formal flower gardens, but the main attraction is the "Wasserspiele" which refers to all of the water works including a dining table where the guests are suddenly squirted with water, grottoes with singing birds all powered by water pressure and animated marionettes, again, all powered by water. Visitors will become pretty wet so it is best to either go on a very sunny day or dress accordingly. There are plenty of restrooms available. A glorified hotdog stand is also available. Entry fees vary for families, students, kids and grown ups. Another favorite attraction is the gazebo used in The Sound of Music located in the park (no charge for this). www.hellbrunn.at

Mirabellgarten

Another Sound of Music attraction can be found in the Mirabell gardens (stairs near Pegasus fountain) surrounding Schloss Mirabell on the opposite side of the river from the old town section. The gardens are made up of well kept formal flower and rose gardens, a statue park of dwarves, an orangerie and baroque fountains. Each family member took a picture with their favorite dwarf. The gardens are Free to the public, but the Barockmusuem located there as well is not.

Mozart Dinner Concert/Siftskeller St. Peter

This intimate Mozart Dinner Concert takes place in the Siftskeller St. Peter, which claims to be the oldest restaurant in Central Europe dating form 803 AD. The Baroque dining hall is lit with candles, the five musicians and two opera singers are dressed in period costume and the dinner is based on 18th century recipes. We truly enjoyed this dinner and music evening with our teenage children. It would be a long evening to get through with a much younger set. The concert is broken up between courses which provides enough variations for those who are not avid Mozart fans. There is a family price which includes two kids at 135 Euros (Summer 2008), then a student price for those over 14 at 36 Euros and an additional child under 14 at 28 Euros. This is a pricey event but one we felt was well worth it. There is a dress code of "smart casual". Most folks were definitely dressed up. Our hotel made the reservation for us months in advance, but there were still plenty of tables left on the Tuesday evening we attended. www.skg.co.at

Back to Top