7 days€€AustriaAustrian Alps & Lakes
Salt mines, cable cars and lake swimming
- Best for ages
- 4+
- Pace
- Relaxed
- Driving
- A little driving
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Austria with Kids: Itineraries, Where to Stay & When to Go
Austria is one of the most reliably family-friendly countries in Europe and the easiest introduction to the Alps. Summer mountain resorts are built around children — adventure playgrounds at the top of gondolas, alpine coasters, lake swimming that is genuinely warm by July — and the infrastructure is excellent everywhere. Vienna and Salzburg add city days without the heat and crowd levels of southern Europe, and distances are short enough that a single week can cover both.
- Best for ages
- 0+
- Recommended trip length
- 7–12 days
- Budget level
- €€
- Best time to visit
- Jan–Feb, Jun–Sep, Dec
Suits up to 16
Mid-range
Why Austria works for families
Mountains designed around children
Summer lift passes open adventure playgrounds, coasters and themed trails at altitude.
Everything works
Clean, organised, safe, with excellent public facilities and reliable transport.
Comfortable summer temperatures
Warm days and cool nights when the Mediterranean is at its most punishing.
Short distances
Vienna to Salzburg is under three hours by train; the Tyrol is a few hours further.
Lakes warm enough to swim
Salzkammergut and Carinthian lakes reach comfortable swimming temperatures in July and August.
Guest cards included
Many regions give free lifts, buses and pool entry with your accommodation.
Ready-made Austria itineraries
Each one has a day-by-day plan, a route map, where to stay and an estimated cost.
- 7 days€€Austria
Where to go in Austria
The areas worth building a family trip around, and how long to give each.
When to visit Austria with kids
Two distinct seasons. Late June to mid-September is the summer mountain season, when lifts, coasters and lake swimming all operate. December to March is the ski season. May and November are the quiet gaps, when many mountain lifts and hotels close entirely.
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Where to stay
Family hotels in Austria
We list areas and property types rather than single hotels: family-room availability changes constantly, and the area plus the room requirement is what survives contact with a booking engine.
Zillertal / ÖtztalMid-rangeTyrol — all-in family mountain hotels
Austrian family hotels bundle what would otherwise be separate costs: half board, a pool, childcare, and often the regional lift and bus card.
- Half board with an early children's sitting
- Indoor pool and water play for wet days
- Supervised kids' club at many properties
- Summer or winter guest card frequently included
Fitting a family in
Family rooms, suites and interconnecting doubles are the standard product rather than the exception.
Watch out. Most close between seasons — roughly April to mid-June and October to early December.
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Wörthersee / Millstätter See shoreMid-rangeCarinthia — hotels with their own bathing lawn
Private lake access is what separates a good Carinthian week from an average one: with small children, a lawn and shallow water you can walk to barefoot removes the entire logistics problem of a day at a public lido.
- Private bathing lawn and jetty, usually with a roped shallow area
- Half board, which matters when the nearest restaurant is a drive
- Pedalos, rowing boats and often the regional guest card included
Fitting a family in
Family rooms and lakeside apartments sleeping four are the standard product; five needs booking well ahead.
Watch out. First-row lakefront carries a large premium and many of these properties close outside the short summer season. Where the lake road runs close behind, the cheaper rooms on the land side can be noisy.
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Zell am See centre / SchüttdorfMid-rangeZell am See — lakeside family hotels with half board
Half board, an indoor pool and the regional lift card in one booking is the combination that makes an alpine week with children work in any weather, and the flat lake path means the lido is reachable without the car.
- Half board with an early children's sitting
- Indoor pool for the wet afternoon that will happen
- Summer or winter guest card frequently included
- Flat lakeside path into the pedestrian centre
Fitting a family in
Family rooms, suites and interconnecting doubles are the standard product; four is straightforward, five needs asking about directly.
Watch out. The main road and the railway run along parts of the lake, so a lake-view room can equally be a road-noise room — check which side it faces. Most properties close between seasons, roughly April to mid-June and October to early December.
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Innere Stadt / LendMid-rangeGraz — apartment in or beside the old town
Graz is small enough that an apartment within ten minutes' walk of the old town removes transport from the city days entirely, and a kitchen matters more here than in most Austrian cities because the afternoons are hot and children end up eating at odd hours.
- Walking distance to the Schlossberg lifts and the main square
- Tram and bus hub for the outer sights
- Kitchen, with a covered market hall across the river for supplies
- More space for the money than the city's hotel rooms
Fitting a family in
Two-bedroom apartments sleeping four to six are widely available and usually cheaper than two hotel rooms in the centre.
Watch out. Air conditioning is the exception rather than the rule in older buildings, and July and August nights in Graz are genuinely hot, so it is worth confirming rather than assuming. The historic centre is a restricted traffic zone, which puts a car in a paid garage for the stay, and the bar streets at the edge of the old town are loud until late on summer weekends.
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Schladming / Ramsau am DachsteinMid-rangeSchladming and Ramsau — family hotels with half board
This is the Austrian family-hotel product at Styrian prices: half board with an early children's sitting, an indoor pool for the wet afternoon that will happen, and frequently the regional summer or ski card covering the cable cars and buses.
- Half board with an early children's sitting
- Indoor pool and water play for bad weather
- Summer or winter guest card frequently included
- Cable cars to the glacier and the high playgrounds nearby
Fitting a family in
Family rooms, suites and interconnecting doubles are the standard product here rather than the exception, so four is straightforward and five is usually possible.
Watch out. Most of these hotels close between seasons, roughly April to mid-June and October to early December. The area is well over two hours from Graz, so it has to be planned as a separate base, and the glacier cable car is a further drive and a separate ticket on top of any guest card.
Check hotel prices — opens Klook in a new tab (affiliate link)Live availability for your dates
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Top family attractions in Austria
What each one costs, how long it takes, which ages it suits and whether you need to book ahead.
CultureHohensalzburg Fortress
Salzburg
One of the largest intact medieval fortresses in Europe, directly above the old town and reached by a short funicular ride.
- Ages
- 4–16
- Time
- 2h 30m
- Adult, from
- €17
AdventureBook aheadSalt mine tour
Salzburg
A working salt mine entered by miners' train, with long wooden slides between levels and an underground salt lake. One of the strongest attractions in the Alps for children.
- Ages
- 4–16
- Time
- 2h 30m
- Adult, from
- €25
Good to know. Around 10°C underground year-round. Overalls are provided; wear closed shoes and a layer.
AdventureZillertal summer lift playgrounds
Tyrol
Gondolas open onto high-altitude adventure playgrounds, water-play areas, themed trails and summer toboggan runs, usually covered by one pass.
- Ages
- 3–14
- Time
- 5h
- Adult, from
- €35
Good to know. Operates roughly late June to mid-September. Check which lifts are running before travelling.
AnimalsTiergarten Schönbrunn
Vienna
The oldest zoo in the world, set inside the Schönbrunn palace gardens, consistently rated among the best in Europe.
- Ages
- 2–14
- Time
- 5h
- Adult, from
- €26
NaturePyramidenkogel tower
Carinthia
A 100 m timber observation tower on a hill above the Wörthersee, with open and glazed viewing platforms looking over the lake to the Karawanks, and a covered slide of about 120 m spiralling back down inside the structure.
- Ages
- 4–16
- Time
- 2h
- Adult, from
- €16
Good to know. The slide is a separate extra and carries its own minimum age and height rules, so it is worth checking before promising it to a small child. The upper platforms are fully exposed and close in thunderstorms, which build on summer afternoons here.
WaterWörthersee bathing lidos
Carinthia
Municipal and hotel Strandbäder around the lake, with grass lawns, roped-off shallow areas, diving platforms, slides, changing huts and cafés, on water that reaches genuine swimming temperatures through July and August.
- Ages
- 0–16
- Time
- 5h
- Adult, from
- €6
Good to know. Most of the shoreline is private or behind a paid gate and the free public access points are few and crowded. The water is only properly warm from about late June, and the lidos keep a short season either side of that.
NatureSchmittenhöhe cable cars
Zell am See
Several cable cars climb from the edge of Zell am See to the Schmittenhöhe ridge at just under 2,000 m, opening marked family walking trails, playgrounds, viewpoints and mountain huts above the lake.
- Ages
- 2–16
- Time
- 5h
- Adult, from
- €35
Good to know. The ridge is markedly colder and more exposed than the lakeshore, so warm layers go up even on a hot day. Lifts stop in high wind and thunderstorms, and only some of them run in the gaps between the summer and winter seasons.
NatureKrimml Waterfalls
Zell am See
The Krimmler Ache drops around 380 m in three stages, with a path switchbacking up through the forest alongside it and viewing platforms placed at each level.
- Ages
- 4–16
- Time
- 4h
- Adult, from
- €8
Good to know. Reaching the top is roughly 4 km of continuous climb on gravel, about an hour and a half up, and not a pushchair route above the first platforms. Spray keeps the platforms and railings wet and slippery. The lowest viewpoints are ten to fifteen minutes in and are the ones most families actually need.
CityGraz Schlossberg, clock tower and hill slide
Styria
The wooded hill in the middle of Graz, crowned by the city's landmark clock tower and the remains of its fortress, reached by a cable railway from the river, by a lift driven up through the rock, or on foot by a zigzag stair. A tunnel slide runs from the top back down inside the hill.
- Ages
- 4–16
- Time
- 2h 30m
- Adult, from
- €12
Good to know. The funicular, the rock lift and the slide are three separate tickets, and the slide carries its own minimum age and height and is sold in timed slots — worth checking before it is promised to a small child. The stepped path up is a long, largely unshaded climb that is hard work on a hot afternoon, and the hilltop terraces have low walls above steep drops.
NatureDachstein glacier cable car and Sky Walk
Styria
A cable car from the Ramsau plateau above Schladming to a station at around 2,700 m on the Dachstein, with a viewing platform over the north face, a suspension bridge across a gorge, a stairway built out into thin air and tunnels cut into the glacier ice.
- Ages
- 6–16
- Time
- 4h
- Adult, from
- €45
Good to know. The top is snow-covered, cold and windy in August, so warm layers and closed shoes go up regardless of the valley weather, and the ice tunnels are below freezing. The suspension bridge and the stairway hang over long drops and are a poor idea for anyone uneasy with heights. The cable car closes in high wind, and the view is the entire point, so the webcam is worth checking before the drive up.
CultureAustrian Open-Air Museum, Stübing
Styria
Around a hundred historic farmhouses, barns, mills and workshops moved from across Austria and rebuilt along a wooded valley north of Graz, arranged roughly by region so that walking up the valley crosses the country. Craft demonstrations run on advertised event days.
- Ages
- 4–14
- Time
- 3h 30m
- Adult, from
- €14
Good to know. The site is one long valley with a continuous gentle climb and the same path back, four to five kilometres of walking there and back and considerably more than most families expect. It closes for the winter, the interiors are dark, low and mostly unstaffed on quiet days, and the craft demonstrations that bring it alive only happen on advertised dates.
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Getting around Austria
Rail between the cities is fast, comfortable and well suited to families, with reserved seats and family compartments on ÖBB long-distance services. In the mountains, a car makes valley-hopping and trailhead access far easier, although a single resort base can work entirely on the included guest-card buses and lifts.
Do you need a rental car?
A little driving. No car is needed for Vienna, Salzburg or a single mountain resort with a guest card. A car earns its cost if you plan to move between valleys or combine lakes with mountains.
What Austria costs with a family
Typical daily spend for a family of four, excluding flights. Accommodation, food, local transport and one paid activity a day.
€
€140
Budget · per day, family of four
€€
€230
Mid-range · per day, family of four
€€€
€380
Higher-end · per day, family of four
Planning estimates based on published prices at the time of writing, in shoulder season. Peak months, school holidays and city-centre accommodation all push the figure higher.
Food in Austria
Straightforward for children: schnitzel, dumplings, pasta, soups and outstanding bakeries. Mountain huts serve full meals at altitude. Vegetarian options are widely available in cities and increasingly so in the mountains, though traditional menus are meat-heavy.
Practical tips for Austria
The things that are easy to get wrong and expensive to fix once you have arrived.
Money & costs
Ask about the regional guest card
Most mountain and lake regions issue a card with your accommodation that covers buses, lifts, pools and some museums. It frequently saves more than the accommodation premium at a hotel that includes it.
Getting around
Buy a motorway vignette before you drive
Austrian motorways require a vignette, sold digitally or as a windscreen sticker. Rental cars from within Austria usually have one; cars brought in from Germany or Italy often do not. Some alpine passes and tunnels carry separate tolls.
When to go
Avoid the between-seasons gaps
Through much of May and November, mountain lifts, coasters and many hotels shut down entirely. The scenery remains; almost nothing else is open.
With kids
Lake water is swimmable from about July
Salzkammergut lakes warm through the summer and are most comfortable in late July and August. In June they are bracing.
Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you book through one, the price is the same for you and we may earn a commission. How this works.
Austria with kids: common questions
Is Austria good for a family summer holiday?
Very. Summer mountain resorts are built around children, with lift-accessed playgrounds, coasters and themed walking trails, and lakes warm enough to swim in by July. Temperatures stay comfortable when southern Europe is at its hottest.
Do you need a car in Austria with kids?
Not for the cities, and not for a single mountain resort where the guest card covers buses and lifts. A car becomes worthwhile if you want to combine several valleys or lakes in one trip.
What is the best area in Austria for families?
Tyrol and Salzburgerland for summer mountains and skiing, the Salzkammergut for lakes and gentler scenery, Vienna for a city stay. A week combining Salzburg with one mountain or lake base covers most of what families come for.
What age is skiing in Austria suitable for?
Ski schools generally take children from three or four, and most large resorts run dedicated children's areas with their own lifts. Family ski passes and free passes for younger children are common.
Other destinations to compare
Every guide answers the same questions in the same order, so two countries take five minutes to compare rather than five evenings.
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