Munich and Austria with kids

[Anonymous]

I have family in Germany and Munich is very kid friendly.

[Anonymous]

Great spot for kids! There is so much in that area that is kid friendly.

If you want details, here is what we did with ours - youngest was almost 11 and oldest was 14 but most of the kid friendly stuff here would work for a 7 year old too…

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/germany-june-2022-with-2-kids-munich-alps-saltzburg

[Anonymous]

Make sure to rent some bikes in Munich. Munich is very flat and VERY bike friendly. It’s fun to ride through the English Garden, and then stop at a beer garden.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks guys! Maybe I’ll add a few days in Munich as opposed to just the one day I had planned. Will definitely do the salt mine!

Any specific alpine coasters or things like that that you guys liked? Or are they all pretty similar?

We went to Imst alpine coaster just cause it was closer to where we stayed. So don’t have experiences with other ones, but imagine that there should be other nice ones in other towns too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great spot for kids! There is so much in that area that is kid friendly.

If you want details, here is what we did with ours - youngest was almost 11 and oldest was 14 but most of the kid friendly stuff here would work for a 7 year old too…

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/germany-june-2022-with-2-kids-munich-alps-saltzburg

Wow that is super detailed, thank you!

[Anonymous]

In Munich, the Hofbraukeller biergarten at Wiener Platz (short walk from the Max Weber Platz U bahn station) is very much a local neighborhood hangout spot for families. Almost everywhere in Munich is family friendly, but that particular biergarten is off the main tourist tracks and often has lots of kids playing.

Don't skip Festung Hohensalzburg in Salzburg. The incline train is bound to delight your boys, it's a fortress castle, and what kid doesn't love to see some suits of armor? This is not a Disney princess castle--its a military fortress complete with cannons.

Salzburg is also home to Red Bull, and their hanger at the Salzburg airport is open to the public.

[Anonymous]

Berchtesgaden is a nice drive from either Munich or Salzburg - you can take a cruise on the lake, go up to the top of the mountain on the cable car, etc. we also did Hallstatt from Salzburg which was fun.

Barenwirt in Salzburg has great fried chicken believe it or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had amazing summer in Austria, and we did Vienna (kids loved the museums, and they loved even more spending evenings at the Prater amusement park). The park doesn’t have entrance fees, but need to pay per ride, so we used to go for an hour, 3-4 rides and go home while we were in Vienna.

We also spent time near Salzburg, rented through their farms hotel program, so stayed at a working farm near the lakes about 30 minutes or so from Salzburg. Did sightseeing (Salzburg, Hallstatt), hiking and swimming at the lakes.

Salt mine visit was a lot of fun in Salzburg area.

In Tirol, we also swam (lakes much colder than near Salzburg), did the alpine coasters, hiked, and did sightseeing.

So much to do, it depends how long you’re going for.

Not PP but also looking at Austria this summer would love more info on this! Sounds really neat.

That's also good to know about the lakes- I've been debating either staying lakeside in Achensee (in Tirol) or closer to Salzburg where we could easily do some daytrips to lakes. Achensee looks beauriful but I'm hesitant to go full in on a lake location if the water is really cold (and there seemed to be less of the other alpine activities in the immediate area).

[Anonymous]

In Munich we also loved the BMW museum and taking a tour of Allianz stadium, where Bayern-Munich soccer team plays.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To get a sense of our vibe, one boy was super excited about the water park that’s located near the Sound of Music house near Salzburg so I was like, we could probably visit the sound of music house and then spend a few hours at the public water park. I am fully aware we can waste a few hours at a public water park much closer to home, but I see a lot of value in just experiencing another country in a laid back way like that and not packing too much sightseeing into the day with kids.

From what I recall of the Sound of Music tour I took 30+ years ago…there is no “Sound of Music” house. One house was used for the facade and another for the back patio and lake. The interiors were shot at several different locations. If they still do the tour, you should take it. I remember it being really fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What?

This is not for young kids.

Tyrol is literally filled with family resorts that cater to Austrians traveling with kids

+1. Some people on DCUM enjoy spouting out about things they know nothing about. Austria also has a well-organized system of hut to hut mountain hiking that families take advantage of each summer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had amazing summer in Austria, and we did Vienna (kids loved the museums, and they loved even more spending evenings at the Prater amusement park). The park doesn’t have entrance fees, but need to pay per ride, so we used to go for an hour, 3-4 rides and go home while we were in Vienna.

We also spent time near Salzburg, rented through their farms hotel program, so stayed at a working farm near the lakes about 30 minutes or so from Salzburg. Did sightseeing (Salzburg, Hallstatt), hiking and swimming at the lakes.

Salt mine visit was a lot of fun in Salzburg area.

In Tirol, we also swam (lakes much colder than near Salzburg), did the alpine coasters, hiked, and did sightseeing.

So much to do, it depends how long you’re going for.

Not PP but also looking at Austria this summer would love more info on this! Sounds really neat.

That's also good to know about the lakes- I've been debating either staying lakeside in Achensee (in Tirol) or closer to Salzburg where we could easily do some daytrips to lakes. Achensee looks beauriful but I'm hesitant to go full in on a lake location if the water is really cold (and there seemed to be less of the other alpine activities in the immediate area).

This is the site we used to book: https://www.farmholidays.com/en

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To get a sense of our vibe, one boy was super excited about the water park that’s located near the Sound of Music house near Salzburg so I was like, we could probably visit the sound of music house and then spend a few hours at the public water park. I am fully aware we can waste a few hours at a public water park much closer to home, but I see a lot of value in just experiencing another country in a laid back way like that and not packing too much sightseeing into the day with kids.

From what I recall of the Sound of Music tour I took 30+ years ago…there is no “Sound of Music” house. One house was used for the facade and another for the back patio and lake. The interiors were shot at several different locations. If they still do the tour, you should take it. I remember it being really fun.

There’s a Sound of music bicycle tour that is super fun in Salzburg if your kids are comfortable on bicycles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks guys! Maybe I’ll add a few days in Munich as opposed to just the one day I had planned. Will definitely do the salt mine!

Any specific alpine coasters or things like that that you guys liked? Or are they all pretty similar?

Where in Tyrol are you staying? It's a big enough area that it wouldn't make sense to recommend a coaster or playground that's 2hrs away because there are so many options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To get a sense of our vibe, one boy was super excited about the water park that’s located near the Sound of Music house near Salzburg so I was like, we could probably visit the sound of music house and then spend a few hours at the public water park. I am fully aware we can waste a few hours at a public water park much closer to home, but I see a lot of value in just experiencing another country in a laid back way like that and not packing too much sightseeing into the day with kids.

From what I recall of the Sound of Music tour I took 30+ years ago…there is no “Sound of Music” house. One house was used for the facade and another for the back patio and lake. The interiors were shot at several different locations. If they still do the tour, you should take it. I remember it being really fun.

There’s a Sound of music bicycle tour that is super fun in Salzburg if your kids are comfortable on bicycles.

I’ve done both the bike and the bus tour. Both are enjoyable. My kids were on the bike tour with me, and I would recommend that for kids. It was a really cool way to see Salzburg!