No child gets bored in Vienna, is a sentiment that we’ve reiterated on this blog. Aside from museums for kids, theaters, cinemas, parks, and aquariums, there are indoor game centers, huge spaces where kids can explore, parkour, smell the flowers, and be adventurous abound.
Sure, winter could be too cold so kids can stay in and play board games, online games, video game consoles, or simply hang out with the pets, read a book, master the Rubik’s cube, or hibernate. Kidding! There’s no harm in playing such virtual games as there are those that challenges the mind, fosters socialization, and teach kids patience.
However, sitting for too long can have health repercussions. Thus, we go about visiting museums, watching the ducks, or go walking around the park to stretch some. But the kids enjoy it more when we have mini-adventures as game matches, wall climbing, flipping on trampolines or fun at amusement parks. Here are some of the places in Vienna where kids can be kids, and enjoy playing while having casual exercises.
The Prater
The Prater is Vienna’s famous amusement park, which is also home to the Wiener Riesenrad/Vienna Giant [Ferris] Wheel – one of Vienna’s icons.
Aside from bumper cars, kids can enjoy rides that include carousel, Ferris wheels, roller coasters, real horses, go-kart, and many others appropriate for different ages.
There’s also the Liliputbahn, Prater’s gauge light railway which brings visitors around the Prater for a fee. It is fun to ride to see a little bit of nature around the Prater allee.
? by the Prater station, 1020
Family Fun Park
Not everyday is sunny and fine, but that shouldn’t stop kids having fun. That’s why indoor fun parks are a good thing! The cool indoor adventure center, FAMILY FUN park boasts over 4,000 square meters in area, the biggest indoor playground in Vienna. It’s a unique combination of a leisure park, an action arena and a diverse food court.
Attractions, or what the kids could expect to enjoy includes a Riesen-Rutsche (Giant slide), a Wabbelberg (wobble mountain, it’s like a giant blown up trampoline), and a Dunkellabyrinth (maze). There are also 24 Trampolines, Funshooter, Bungee trampolin, Indoor Riesenwell Drive, electric go-karts, Rodeo and climbing walls.
When the weather is fine, bumper boats, aquaball, go-karts and bouncy castles are what kids can enjoy outside the facility.
?♀️Breitenleer Str. 77, 1220
Monki Park
The Monki park is an indoor activity center at the Millenium city mall. It features a climbing wall for adventurous kids, a high rope course of different challenges, and the Skytower, a colorful and challenging climbing tower. There’s also a large area for trampolines for those who want to test their flexibility.
Smaller kids can enjoy a ball pit, a climbing jungle with a giant bounce slide, an activity corner to help them with motor skills, and a lot more. Those who like to play ball gets a big corner for football, basketball and land-hockey. If your kids dream of becoming an F1 racer, they could practice at the track for E-Go-Karts.
?♀️ Handelskai 94 – 96 · Millennium Tower, 1200
Böhmischer Prater
A smaller amusement park where kids and adults can ride a Ferris wheel, a cute coffee cup carousel, a go-kart track, and some kiosks for food and drinks. It’s typically a small Prater version but with a bigger park around. Kids can also enjoy the mini-golf grounds, giant slides, carousels, aqua bumpers, gigantic trampoline, and other rides typical of an amusement park.
? Laaer Wald 216, 1100
Windobona Indoor Skydiving
The WINDOBONA wind tunnel is a vertical leisure wind tunnel where visitors get to experience indoor skydiving and body flying (yes, like Ironman). Kids aged 8-14 can get “flying” lessons and those 15 and up can do body flying. We haven’t tried this yet, but it’s on our list of things to do.
?♀️ Prater 38a, 1020
Motorikpark Wien
Motorikpark Wien is an outside playground that could really test kids motor skills. There are giant climbing nets, parkour elements, swings, slides, and the many installations kids can try to test the capacity of their hands, feet.Older kids, and kids at heart can also enjoy the obstacle courses.
?♀️ Süssenbrunner Strasse 101, 1220
Kurpark Oberlaa
Boasting 608.000 m² of greenery, small ponds, vast grass clearings where kids could run around and play. There are also picnic tables for use, so it’s convenient to bring food and enjoy with family and friends. There’s a small enclosure for goats and other animals that city kids can enjoy visiting. There’s a playground too with the usual swings, slides, and parkour elements every Viennese playground has. Kur in german means cure, health-wise, the Kurpark Oberlaa is nature’s cure for tired minds and feet. With all the green around, one feels refreshed and relaxed, even when just sitting and lazing around.
? Kurbadstrasse 10, 1100
Donaupark
When I was working at a Hort, an after school care institution, I’ve visited the Donaupark with the kids often. It’s just a short walking distance from the hort, where the kids can play all they want on the field. There’s a playground with giant slides, rotating spheres, a climbing hill, and other smaller rides for kids to enjoy.
There are even big chess pieces for your kids who love to play mind games! This isn’t only a challenging strategy game, carrying the pieces is a task itself. While it is fun to play with such big chess pieces, having them at home will eat up a lot of space. ^_^ That’s why we play them on normal boards, chess is still best played and in-person with a friend. But if your friend is busy, you can always play chess online.
The Donaupark is 604.000m² and used to be a landfill. It was developed into a park and was opened in 1964 along with the Donauturm for the Vienna International Garden Show 1964. To this day, its landscaped gardens bloom fully and can be viewed from the Donauturm. You can also enjoy traditional Austrian food at the rotating restaurant at the Donauturm while enjoying a 360° view of Vienna from above.
The Donaupark is also home to the Korea Culture House, situated by the banks of the Iris lake.
With its vast green fields and safe routes, kids can go biking, skateboarding, and even scoot. Another gauge light railway runs around the Donaupark, just like the Prater’s Liliputbahn, it takes visitors around the park for a quick ride and nature show.
Adults can enjoy tennis and volleyball on the courts and sand provided for these games. In the summers, we gather with friends to enjoy food we prepared at home and have a picnic of sorts. We would also play some soft ball games and just enjoy the company of each other. (Taking photos around the flowers too!)
? Donaupark 1220
Hohe Wand Wiese
The Hohe Wand Wiese, situated at the Vienna woods has an MTB trail centre that offers a kids line, a kids trail and an installed pump track where families can enjoy. In the summer, there’s a tobbogan trail for the more adventurous souls. And in winter, ski lessons can be booked at the same area.
Bowling Alleys
There are a number of bowling alleys in Vienna but we’ve only been to two.
Ocean Park
Ocean Park is at the underground area of Millenium City, there are also other arcade games, air hockey tables, billiards among others. The bowling alley is our favorite here, and we often go with friends for a friendly match.
? Handelskai 94-96, 1200
Phoenix Park Bowling Hernals
One of the biggest and perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing bowling hall in Austria – the only one that has no pillars between the 32 sports bowling lanes in its halls. It’s also situated beside a large park you can walk around in for fresh air.
? Schumanngasse 107, 1170 Wien
Other Fun Places Aside From Parks and Game Centers in Vienna
Aside from Parks and Game Centers in Vienna, the city’s gardens offer a refuge for relaxation and fun for kids and adults. Every neighborhood has a playground accessible to children living nearby, but the bigger gardens also give them a historical experience aside from fun. We’ve written about museums separately, and other things to see in Vienna, but here are some more.
Lainzer Tiergarten
The Lainzer Tiergarten (Lainzer animal garden = zoo) is a wildlife preserve at Vienna’s 13th district. You can get a sighting of wild boars, fallow deer, mouflons, and red deer (elk) while going around the park.
The Hermesvilla constructed in the property serves as a museum and information center. It is one of the free museums you can visit on the first Sunday of the month.
? Lainzer Tor, 1130
Haus des Meeres
The Haus des Meeres houses over 10,000 creatures – fish, reptiles, aves, and others on 11 floors. Going up on each floor by foot is a great workout. Aside from admiring sea creatures, kids can touch fish at a certain area, kois in particular – proving otherwise the belief that fish can’t be pet. ^_^
? Esterhazy Park, 1060
Schönbrunn Zoo and Aquarium
No year or season passes by without us visiting the Schönbrunn palace and gardens. Aside from the history this vast institution holds, the grounds itself is a joy to walk around. You can say hello to the squirrels as you walk up the Gloriette.
There’s also a lot of things for kids to do: a maze to explore, a ride around with horses, a zoo to view animals, an aquarium, a desert house, a tropical house, and a mini-bahn that takes visitors up to the Gloriette.
The Schönbrunn zoo is the oldest in the world, its efforts in preserving particular species is commendable.
Volksgarten
For a change of atmosphere, just to get away from the hurly-burly of the city life, the Volksgarten is such a relaxing haven. Home to many roses of different species, the Volksgarten is a refreshing sight for sore eyes. There may be a lot of people admiring the flowers when you go, but just enjoy, you might as well hear a busker playing his violin and that just adds to the good mood.
? Burgring 1010
Stadtpark
The Stadtpark is located at Vienna’s city center, where the Danube Canal also flows through. There’s a pond that ducks and birds frequent, it’s become a a place of comfort and relaxation for those seeking peace from the city’s busy atmosphere.
Blumengärten Hirschstetten
While a bit far from the city, this large garden has smaller gardens depicting different countries around the world. We’ve spotted a Japanese one, a Mexican, a French (full of lavenders), and a Chinese one (full of bamboo) with a little pond that turtles live in. There’s also a playground for kids. The highlight would be a wedding garden for those who want to have a classy, outdoor wedding.
(In photos on this slide: Stadtpark and ducks, Botanical garden – pine tree, Volksgarten -roses, and Blumengärten Hirschtetten – Japanese garden.)
Botanischer Garten (Botanical Garden of the University of Vienna)
The Botanical garden is beside the famous Belvedere Palace, which also has an impressive garden. Inside the botanical garden, kids can learn about Flora in general, most of the trees and plants have identifiers, a lot that we weren’t familiar about.
Türkenschanzpark
The Türkenschanzpark is a 150,000 park m² in the 18th district. It is a popular public and often visited park. Its name is derived from that hill on which Turkish troops defended persistently in the second war with Vienna in 1683.
Due to the park’s proximity to the neighboring University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, numerous botanical rarities have been planted the recent decades. There’s a wide open field, sufficient seating, various water surfaces, three children’s playgrounds, whereby one of them is designed for ball plays : streetball, beach volleyball and basketball courts and skating area are available. There are also monuments of significant personalities. In the middle of the park is the Paulinenwarte, a viewing tower with a wonderful panoramic view of Vienna and the Viennese forest (Wienerwald).
There are a lot more parks that are much smaller than the ones listed here, and also game centers in Vienna that are specific for certain games (escape rooms and paintballs), we’ll feature them soon.
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