Murren, Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Budapest

[erbear]

oh my!

We are leaving next week for this trip - 5 of us including 2 kids (10 and 8, both good travelers) and my 75 year old MIL (very active). My husband has a ton of stuff planned/considered but any recommendations we should not miss? We love outdoor stuff, cities, food, beer. We'd like to see the sights, obviously, though museums are probably limited for the kids.

[meowmaps]

It's been many years since I visited but I loved Vienna. Schonbrunn Palace is a must.

Munich is also a great place to visit. Hofbrau House and Englischer Garten in town and Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein in Fussen. I highly recommend Big Hat Tours to see the castles in Fussen. It's one guy, Curt, and he's an American who's lived in Germany for many years. He's really personable and fun to hang out with.

[G22]

Ditto everything the PP said about Munich and Vienna.

In Murren, we took a gondola to the peak of Piz Gloria. Even though it was a bit cloudy at the top, view on the way up cant be beat if it's a clear day!

Salzburg, theres the big fortress on the hill. You can see it from nearly everywhere. The views from up there are pretty! We enjoyed just wandering the Mozartplatz there. Also Mirabell Gardens are very pretty if the flowers are blooming.

I havent been to Budapest so I cant help with that city.

[hazel]

This sounds like a fantastic trip! I haven't been to Murren, but all of the others are some of my favorite cities! When we were in Salzburg last summer we went on a toboggan at Sommerrodelbahn Keltenblitz. Had to look that one up...I think was about a 30 minute drive from Salzburg. It was a beautiful view and lots of fun! We found one ride was enough, but with kids you might want to pay for two. In Vienna we went to the Time Travel tour, which was probably a lot more appealing for kids. In Budapest you can always go to one of the thermal bath houses.

[dutchgirl678]

How many days do you have in each?

Switzerland: We were in Lauterbrunnen, but that is super close to Murren. We hiked a lot there. There are gondolas up and down the valley. We started in Lauterbrunnen and took the gondola up to go to Murren and then walked to Gimmelwald and took the gondola down. We stopped for a hike at Trummelbach falls in the valley, I highly recommend that.

We didn't go up to Piz Gloria, but we took the train up to the Jungfraujoch on the other side of the valley. That was a fantastic train ride and the views from up top were amazing.

Germany, we didn't stay in Munich, but visited for the day. The castles are definitely a worthwhile stop, though I'm sure they are really busy this time of year. If you can book a private tour, you probably get to skip the lines. There is also a summer rodelbahn really close to Neuschwanstein in the same town. My husband and dad rode it when we were there.

Salzburg: we just walked. We saw the gardens where they filmed the Sound of Music and walked all over downtown and up the hill to the castle.
Outside Salzburg we went to the Koenigsee, Berchtesgaden, and the salt mines and ice caves near Halstatt and the beautiful town of Halstatt itself.

I was only in Vienna once for 6 hours, so not a lot of recs there.

Budapest: go swimming at hotel Gellert. Visit the typical sites, castle, etc. Eat Dobos torte and crepes with nutella and goulash

[erbear]

Jun 5, 2019 12:25:50 GMT -5 dutchgirl678 said:

How many days do you have in each?

Switzerland: We were in Lauterbrunnen, but that is super close to Murren. We hiked a lot there. There are gondolas up and down the valley. We started in Lauterbrunnen and took the gondola up to go to Murren and then walked to Gimmelwald and took the gondola down. We stopped for a hike at Trummelbach falls in the valley, I highly recommend that.

We didn't go up to Piz Gloria, but we took the train up to the Jungfraujoch on the other side of the valley. That was a fantastic train ride and the views from up top were amazing.

Germany, we didn't stay in Munich, but visited for the day. The castles are definitely a worthwhile stop, though I'm sure they are really busy this time of year. If you can book a private tour, you probably get to skip the lines. There is also a summer rodelbahn really close to Neuschwanstein in the same town. My husband and dad rode it when we were there.

Salzburg: we just walked. We saw the gardens where they filmed the Sound of Music and walked all over downtown and up the hill to the castle.
Outside Salzburg we went to the Koenigsee, Berchtesgaden, and the salt mines and ice caves near Halstatt and the beautiful town of Halstatt itself.

I was only in Vienna once for 6 hours, so not a lot of recs there.

Budapest: go swimming at hotel Gellert. Visit the typical sites, castle, etc. Eat Dobos torte and crepes with nutella and goulash

3 days in Murren
1 day in Zurich
1 day in Lucerne
2 days in Munich
2 days in Salzburg
3 days in Vienna
4 days in Budapest

[candreco]

We did Munich, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Salzburg, Neuschonau, and Pilsen last summer with our then-9yo and 5yo, it was amazing! In general, I think our favorite was how many beer gardens had playgrounds, lol.

Munich: We were surprised at how much our youngest liked the Rezidenz Museum, Marienplatz was fun (go to the viewing spot in the Rathaus too), Deutches Museum was a really fun science-y museum (very interactive, and cool to see how scientific principles didn't really need translation when the plaques were only in German), and Englisch Garten (playground and merry go round by the beer garden).

Salzburg: Hohensalzburg, listen to music all over the place especially in Mirabell Gardens with ice cream, the kids LOVED the Toy Museum, and the trick fountains at Hellbrunn Palace were absolutely amazing and one of the kids' favorite things from our trip. DomQuartier museums were extensive but reptitive, we went through pretty quickly though with the kids but it was worth it to see the cathedral from the choir loft. We got Salzburg Cards that covered pretty much everything plus public transportation.

[jennybee1018]

Cutural Recs:

Schronbrunn Palace, Albertina Museum, Belevedere, and the MQ area (lots of museums nearby to each other - I think there is a children's museum here). There's also a great courtyard area to hang out in and they have free wi fi :-)

www.mqw.at/en/

Food and beer recs:

First and most importantly, 1516 Brewing Company. If not for the craft beer, for the soft pretzels! Their ribs and spatezle were also amazing! Also, it's sort an expat bar so English is widely spoken. I'm a big fan of their radler :-) It's the best! (Honestly, we usually spend more than half our time here :-P) There's also a cute little place called Salieri's across the way from 1516, which had really good pizza :-) www.1516brewingcompany.com/

1516 is kind of on the outskirts of the main shopping drag, by the Stephensdom Cathedral. Definitely check that out, and be sure to stop by a Mozart store to get the mazipan candies! They're the best! Also, we usually pick up some Mozart liquor to add to our coffee. The white chocolate one is the best! The metro stop is Stephensplatz, in case you're staying outside of that area.

For breakfast, we loved this little place called Corns and Pops! They had 11 different kinds of muesli, bagel sandwiches, waffles, pancakes and good coffee :-) They have an English menu, and spoke English very well :-) Here is the yelp page, with reviews in English. www.yelp.com/biz/corns-n-pops-wien-2

Corns and Pops is super close to the Naschmarket, which is like an open air farmers market, with restaurants and stores throughout. This is our favorite place to get a doner kebab! And falafel at Doctor Falafel.

A friend had posted about a hot dog cart by the opera house (it's actually outside the Albertina Museum), and we finally got to try it on our past visit. It's SO good. They hollow out a huge hot dog bun, fill it with ketchup and mustard and stick the hot dog in the bun. No seats here - just enjoy being outside with the delicious hot dog and fries! It's called Bitzinger, make sure you get there ;-)

I like cats, so when I found out Vienna had a cat cafe, I had to go :-) It's called Cafe Neko and it's really cute! They have tea, coffee, cakes, etc. And cats! www.theneighborscat.com/cafe-neko

Praterstern is fun to wonder through! Amusement parks aren't super popular these days any more it seems, but this one is still popular and frequented by tourists and locals :-) The Riesenrad (big ferris wheel thing) is close to here!

Also, if you go the the amusement park, you have to go to the Schweizerhaus! This is the most amazing biergarten, and the seating is awesome. It's always packed, and rightly so! www.schweizerhaus.at/

We also like the Siberstern Brau, which is a beer place, but again has good food too! (It's close to the naschmarket). The food is great! As always, I got spatzle and DH got the pork knuckle. It's a big place so it tends to be a tourist haven, but we've always been able to find a seat! They brew their own beer right on premises,  and they even have a beer vending machine so you can take some to go. If the weather is nice, sit out on the upper balcony! www.7stern.at/en-gb/

Oh!!! And you should go to Tichy!!! It's an ice cream store/parlor - it's located all the way at the end of the Red Line at Reummanplatz, and it's totally worth it :-) You'll see signs all over the city, so make the effort to go.

Let me know if you need other suggestions :-)

[GilliC]

The kids probably won’t get much out of it, but we were told by one of my friends in Budapest to go to Memento Park and take their guided tour. It was fascinating (and surprisingly amusing), and I found that it was interesting how the Hungarians had chosen to deal with the relics of their soviet history.

[erbear]

Just wanted to say that this trip was AMAZING. We had a blast and the kids did awesome

Thanks for the recs!

[dutchgirl678]

So glad to hear it. Would love to get a recap of your trip!

[lovebeingmama]

Jul 3, 2019 8:35:25 GMT -5 erbear said:

Just wanted to say that this trip was AMAZING. We had a blast and the kids did awesome

Thanks for the recs!

We are headed to Vienna and Budapest with my kids (7 and 9, also good travelers). Any other recommendations from you, seeing as you were just there?

[erbear]

Sept 15, 2019 14:50:41 GMT -5 lovebeingmama said:

Jul 3, 2019 8:35:25 GMT -5 erbear said:

Just wanted to say that this trip was AMAZING. We had a blast and the kids did awesome

Thanks for the recs!

We are headed to Vienna and Budapest with my kids (7 and 9, also good travelers). Any other recommendations from you, seeing as you were just there?

Vienna - Schoenbrunn Palace was a hit with both kids. Our 10 yo really liked Time Travel Vienna but I think the 8 yo would have thought it was too scary (we had grandma with us so we didn't take her). Everyone liked the Prater. 

Budapest - my kids loved the Karavan food truck place. The farmer's market breakfast at Szimpla. They loved the Baths. We spent an afternoon in Buda walking around and walking back to Pest was a surprising hit. The evening cruise of the Danube was a favorite - we went at 9 and it was perfect.

[lovebeingmama]

Sept 15, 2019 20:58:32 GMT -5 erbear said:

Sept 15, 2019 14:50:41 GMT -5 lovebeingmama said:

We are headed to Vienna and Budapest with my kids (7 and 9, also good travelers). Any other recommendations from you, seeing as you were just there?

Vienna - Schoenbrunn Palace was a hit with both kids. Our 10 yo really liked Time Travel Vienna but I think the 8 yo would have thought it was too scary (we had grandma with us so we didn't take her). Everyone liked the Prater. 

Budapest - my kids loved the Karavan food truck place. The farmer's market breakfast at Szimpla. They loved the Baths. We spent an afternoon in Buda walking around and walking back to Pest was a surprising hit. The evening cruise of the Danube was a favorite - we went at 9 and it was perfect.

Thank you!