Vienna Agenda

"Vienna waits for you"

-- Billy Joel

There is something for everyone in Vienna, Austria. The city is very well kept and tourist friendly. Here is our agenda from our week long trip to the city. We traveled there in November 2016 with 3 kids. We used the Vienna pass (which I cannot recommend enough - most things on this list were covered by it), but even if you don't get it, geographically this agenda may help you plan out your trip.

VIENNA TRAVEL LOG

Day 1:

Grocery Shopped, got our kids used to our new location. Attended Church and walked around the Prater (amusement park) and surrounding areas. We stayed in a Hotels.com apartment/flat directly across from the Johann Strauss museum and down the street from the Prater.

Day 2:

Schonbrunn Palace- Summer home of one of the most famous King's Franz Joseph (whose nephew's assassination was the tipping point in WWI). We spent almost the entire day here, the things we did on the grounds were:

• Children's museum (actually in the palace)
• Zoo - oldest in Europe
• Palace quarters tour
• Carriage museum
• Green house and Dessert House
• Strudel School

Belvedere - This museum is home of many famous artworks such as "The Kiss" by Gustav Klimt. There were several other artworks that we all loved including the wall of funny faces, and a painting of a Grandma that my 4yr old and I looked at for a long time called "Rosina" by Wald Muller. We definitely could have spent more time here

Day 3:

Hofburg Palace - house tour

Spanish Riding School to watch the horses practice (horses at left). Open, walk in walk out type format - ticket needed though.
National Library
Albertina - Art Museum housing several famous works of art from impressionism, pointillism, and contemporary art collections. It is home of the "water Lillies" by Monet, and several Picaso's, Van Gough's and even American artists Warhol and Lichtenstein.
Cafe, Demel - pastry-making viewing & tasting
Time Travel Vienna

Imperial Vault 
Imperial Treasury
Haus Der Musik (Music Museum)
St. Stephen's Cathedral built in 1147

• Climb 446 ft tall tower which gave the highest viewpoint of the city. 
• Elevator to the bell tower where Pummerin (the 2nd largest free standing bell in the world) hung.
• Visit Christmas Market and surrounding shops
• Listen to carolers or circle the inside of the Cathedral

 

Day 4: 

Natural History Museum (at left)which houses one of the largest and oldest collections of meteorites.

Imperial Treasury where they stored all of the Crowns and are royal things. Things to see there also include - actual knave and joker attire, a narwhal tusk, and a crib from the Roman empire dating back to the 1700's.

Bus Ride through Grinzing, into the Vienna woods, and up to a famous lookout point called Kahlenberg - there is not much to do up on the lookout but to view the city from the hilltop and walk around a church.
Votive church
Prater - Train ride, Ferris Wheel, Madame Tossaud's Wax Museum, and other carnival rides

Johann Strausse Apartment museum

Day 5: 

Thursday, Thanksgiving day (for us). It was the coldest day, with the rest of the day's being in the upper 40s and 50s. We did however see:
Golden Strauss statue
Eat at for Wiener Schnitzel and Goulache next to the State Opera House at Plachuttas Gasthaus zur Oper

Naschmarkt
Karlsplatz - Christmas Market - Here they had a big Christmas market with a play box made of hay in the center for the kids. Most of the locations we went to (schronbrunn, st Stephens, city center, natural science museum) had a Christmas market so we saw a lot of them. Each Christmas market seem to specialize in different things. The one in the Prater was all local food and drink, this one in Karlsplatz was all local artisans. It was really fun to walk around and see all the different crafts including a repurposed carousel that was done as an art project at a local non-profit. The carousel had bird cages and motorbikes, wheel chairs and all kind of different places for kids to sit. There was also a bike train kids could ride that was powered by their legs (like bikes on a track). We hung out here for a while soaking in all the fun culture and listening to some of the local bands which featured different types of string instruments, accordions, and didgeridoos.

Day 6:

 Pack up and leave

A few things we missed that we wish we had been able to attend were the Imperial Amory and the Theater Museum. Also, you can do a carriage ride and they have family nights at the opera house that we were very close to doing as well.