With so much sophisticated culture around, kids need a child-friendly Vienna tour to add fun to Wien. And since most activities for kids hide in museums and palaces how to get your children to explore the city itself? In fact, the historic center is packed with wonderful stories and references. It’s just not obvious. For example, my own children were lukewarm about ‘mama’s home city’ because stones don’t speak. Hence we decided to roam Vienna with a special children’s guide. Read our story.
Our Child-Friendly Vienna Tour Experience
Child-friendly Vienna tour. A pink hare the size of a donkey, right next to the opera house: This was our agreed meeting point. To set us off to a good start our guide Kate had picked the funky replica of Albertina’s iconic Albrecht Dürer hare. Like many guided walks, our tour started at the Vienna State Opera at the southern entrance of the historic centre.
With the animal glancing over our shoulders Kate unrolled the story of the Vienna State Opera in the 19th century: Focusing on people and stories like rude Emperor Francis Joseph and a subsequent suicide she grabbed my kids’ attention in the first four minutes. Kate must have known little girls so well when she shared her own memories of her debutante evening at the opera ball. As she fished her sparkling debutante crown out of her handbag my daughter’s eyes lit up in awe. During the course of the tour she would magic many more fantastic objects out of her bag, which all wonderfully related to her stories.
Child-friendly Vienna tour. To warm up and add fun we ran up the 50+ stairs of the Albertina museum. From there, we caught another fun view of Vienna’s ‘wildlife’: this time it was a green hare grazing on top of a Viennese sausage stand. With the opera house in the back, we heard the story of aristocratic couple Albert and Christina, and their new home - the Albertina.
Standing some eight meters above ground, we eventually learned what had been underneath some 400 years ago... From then on, the historic key date of 1683 weaved a red thread through our tour. Rather than walking past many loose sightings, Kate provided a historic anchor for my kids connect otherwise loose sightings into a meaningful whole.
Life At Hofburg Palace
Child-friendly Vienna tour. Before we knew it we headed for Hofburg Palace. Just behind the former orangery in Burggarten we sneaked through a secret passage way. As we peered through the orangery’s glass panels: To decorate their ballrooms the Habsburgs loved to cultivate orange and lemon trees there. In fact, the reason for them to do that made both my kids’ noses wrinkle…
From Burggarten onwards, Kate established the Imperial Eagle as another leitmotiv. Like in a treasure hunt, spotting that eagle additionally animated our walk.
Finally, we resurfaced among the castle-like compounds of Schweizerhof (Swiss Court), where the Vienna Boys Choir goes in and out every Sunday morning, and Imperial treasures sparkle behind thick doors. While medieval castles generally make for attractive stories we had the most fun spotting exciting details, such as the Lamb of the Golden Fleece, and the Imperial coat of arms.
If you wanted to get to know Habsburg’s most eccentric personality that lived behind those walls you would pick Empress Sissi (Elisabeth), and this was what Kathi did. That time she conjured up a picture of the stunningly beautiful monarch, along with a measuring tape, probably from Kathi’s own sewing box. Standing in front of Sissi’s house we listened to her astonishing daily routines, frequent escapades, and love of candied violets.
To be honest, we found the truthful facts about Sissi were in no way inferior to the many ‘fake news’ about her. Noticing our frozen faces Kate decided she could as well talk to us in the warmth of the nearby souvenir shop – fab idea.
'Asterix and the Romans' in Vienna
Child-friendly Vienna tour. Without doubt, Roman excavations can be exciting. But how intrigued would my children be by rotten brickwork and red gravel pathways? Even in the middle of Michaeler Square, in front of splendid Hofburg Palace there were limitations. But since Vienna started out as a Roman camp – Vindobona – it did matter knowing about the city’s roots.
Because they lacked intriguing visuals the excavations required passionate story telling. In no time, Kate connected pathways and brickwork to revive the picture of an imposing Roman junction lined with Southern European style villas. In addition to that she conjured a real Roman coin out of her inexhaustible handbag. By that time, we weren’t far from imagining an ‘Asterix and the Romans’ episode.
A Pestilence Column and A Bombed Cathedral
Child-friendly Vienna tour. Following Empresses, palaces and the Romans, it was time for a pestilence column, so typical for Central European cities. Rather than dwelling on boring history Kate explained the background of that column by picking out the most interesting bits, such as a relief of the world map missing Australia.
NOTE: At about this point, the newly designed tour takes your group for Viennese cakes and confectionery to a lovely historic café.
When St. Stephen’s Cathedral came into sight my kids showed the first signs of fatigue. Just in time an original Turkish cannon ball from 1683 woke them up: Stuck mid way up the cathedral walls it was almost invisible to the unsuspecting eye. Likewise, the legend of ‘toothache Jesus’ persisting next to an outside sculpture proved captivating enough for my kids to appreciate a gothic church.
We were almost done, and Kate agreed to accompany us to our nearby lunch spot Zu Den Drei Hacken. On the way we passed one of Mozart’s former work and living spaces. I was betting Kate would share the hilarious anecdote related to them – and she did!
Talking about St. Stephen’s Kate and I remembered the cathedral’s unusual stone mason. Because the cathedral represents the logo of Austrian wafer brand Manner the company decided to sponsor him. When Kate showed the picture of the stone mason all dressed up in Manner pink (see photo) my kids laughed their socks off! What’s more, they can now perfectly connect with most Austrian school kids’ passion for Manner wafers.
By the way, the final piece emerging from Kate’s handbag was a pack of Austrian Manner wafers!
Vienna For Children: Book The Tour
Private walks for children for up to 10 people cost USD 330 per group. Drop me a line inc. a reference to the Vienna Walk For Children if you are interested.
NOTE: We were kindly invited to this tour. All opinions expressed are explicitly our own.
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