Before the kids’ school started, we took another trip to Europe! I had plenty of Air France miles and they do expire in 24 months without activity and the recent unannounced devaluation made me expedite my usage of them. Plus, Jason has 5 free 50K Marriott night certificates from a credit card sign-up bonus so I was researching to take the best value of them. I took advantage of Air France’s free stopover so we did Boston to Vienna and returned from Vienna to Paris (stopover) to Boston. The round-trip cost 225K miles and $1937 in taxes and fees (Flying Blue has high fees compared to other airline miles but not as ridiculous as British Airways) for 3 adults and 2 kids.
Unlike TAP Portugal and Lufthansa’s family-unfriendly seating assignments, we were seated together and were able to switch seats at no additional cost when checking in. I preordered kids’ meals for the kids and I’m glad I did because they were the first ones who got food! My son was happy with the fruits.
They also got a cute box with activities and toys inside:
The flight was decent, and my only complaint was the limited movie choices 🙁 We had a connection at Paris CDG and had to take a shuttle to another terminal. Our flight arrived Vienna right around noon. After we exited the arrival gate, we turned right to the Taxi 40100 stand and requested a van taxi to accommodate 5 people for €49. The guy called his brother and he came to walk us to the parking lot where his van taxi parked. The ride to our hotel, the Intercontinental Vienna, was around 25 minutes. There was no bellboy at the entrance which I found it odd for an Intercontinental hotel but it was fine since we don’t need help with our luggage anyways to save on the tips! We booked two rooms (most of the European hotel rooms can only accommodate 2 people) but on two different IHG accounts (both Jason and I have Diamond status for the free breakfast). I emailed the hotel weeks prior to ask for our two rooms to be close together. The receptionist told us that our rooms are connecting rooms; I was very happy about that. However, once we get to our rooms on the 9th floor, they are not connecting, they are next to each other! I went back to reception and asked for connecting rooms, he was able to find us the connecting rooms on the 5th floor.
We had stayed at multiple Intercontinental hotels and I would say this one was in the worst shape. The rooms were worn out and the furnishings didn’t feel luxurious.
The worst was the bathroom, it was cramped and I felt like in a Holiday Inn!
It was 2 PM already, so we hurried out for a late lunch at Chinacy. I was surprised to find that the restaurant was full at 2 PM and luckily there was a corner table available. We squeezed into this tiny table and oh boy it was hot inside; there was no AC! Most restaurants in Vienna are open-air and environmental friendly. We ordered crispy duck and it was okay:
The stir-fried ubon was a little too salty:
As well as the bulgogi beef, you can tell it has too much sauce!
The xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) were alright:
The late lunch was €76.
After lunch, we walked to the supermarket: Bella to get drinks and milk. I saw a mango ketchup :O I wonder how it tasted!
After the grocery trip, we walked back to the hotel for break before heading out for dinner. I reserved Reiskorn Schellinggasse at 6 PM with 30% off via The Fork. Once again, it was open-air and had outdoor tables. We chose to sit outside as the inside has no AC. Reiskorn Schellinggasse is an Asian-fusion restaurant. We ordered a homemade lychee lemonade, we could tasted the lychee syrup.
The crispy salmon roll was very good:
The avocado spring roll was refreshing:
The salmon bowl was okay:
The salmon and shrimp tempura roll was different and good:
The chicken hot stone bowl was flavorful and not salty:
The crispy duck ramen was not bad, but the broth was too light.
Jason got the ramen with pork, the pork was very thin and the broth was light too.
We enjoyed our dinner much more than lunch; all dishes were good to great and plenty of varieties. With 30% off, our bill was only €65, it was a great deal!!! After dinner, all the shops were already closed, so we went back to the hotel to catch some sleep.
The next morning, we had a full day of sightseeing in Vienna! The first was the Sisi Museum, which opens at 9:30 AM so we got up at 7 and had breakfast. As IHG Diamond members, we chose the free breakfast as our welcome amenity. At breakfast, the waitress gave my kids an IHG-branded coloring kit, it was nice of her and the hotel, once again, Vienna is very kid-friendly.
The breakfast room’s lighting was dim, which made the whole environment felt sleepy. In terms of food quality, there were a wide selection of breads. The croissant was not crunchy even though they kept them in this heated cabinet.
The granola/cereal station and dispensers of skim milk, whole milk, and soymilk.
The only unique item was the juice station where there was a juicer to make fresh fruit and vegetable juice.
The pancake and egg station; I make better pancake than them 😛
There were a lot of Japanese tourists in the hotel so I was not surprised to see Japanese breakfast items like make your own miso soup and some stir-fried noodles. I found the noodles were salty and overcooked.
After breakfast, we walked to the Sisi Museum. Sisi Museum, like many other famous museums, has implemented timed entry with the exception of the Sisi Pass holders. I purchased the Sisi Pass online, which gives access to Sisi Museum, Schönbrunn Palace and the Vienna Furniture Museum and can be entered anytime (I like the flexibility, especially with kids). We went straight to the entrance line, showed and scanned our pass and we entered; it was simple!
The museum hosted the collection of Empress Elisabeth’s personal items, like exquisite jewelry:
Her fashionable iconic gowns:
My daughter loves the big ball gowns, so she was delighted to see them. However, only two of them were on display, I thought it would be more.
After the elegant palace rooms, we walked through a dark hallway with more displays of her dresses and beautiful handwritten letters.
After the dark hallway, there were more royal apartment rooms!
Many gigantic paintings on the wall:
Lots and lots of portraits:
A dining room:
Glamorous ceilings with gold-plated designs:
The red wallpaper and carpet made this room extra luxurious!
The portrait of Empress Elisabeth (also known as Sisi) and her signature long hair!
Sisi’s desk:
This room’s design looked like the palaces in Germany.
This is the first time I have seen a “modern” looking tub in a palace and I love the flowery wallpaper.
We got out of the royal apartment and ended up at the back of Hofburg. The royal apartment was smaller than I thought, we went through all pretty fast – in around one hour. If just visit the Sisi Museum, I think the price was pretty steep at €20 so better value to get the Sisi Pass for €51. Kids under 6 are free!
The Hofburg:
The kids love the statue of the kids 😀
We walked to the back to the Burggarten where next to it is the Schmetterlinghaus (Butterfly Greenhouse). It’s €10 for admission and I read reviews that it wasn’t worth the price so we skipped that.
Continue with our walk, we passed the famous Vienna State Opera House! We didn’t visit it this time but I did the backstage tour years ago and I totally recommend that.
We walked to Karlskirche (St. Charles Church) for some photos of its beautiful exterior but the stage setup blocked the view partially:
Right next to the church has a huge playground and my kids couldn’t wait to go have some fun! It kept my kids entertained for an hour before we had lunch nearby, there are free public toilets there too, so very convenient!
More and more kids arrived at the park.
For lunch, we walked to Li’s Cooking where we had shrimp fried rice for the kids (it was flavorful and “wok” taste):
Their signature dishes were noodle soup, I got the golden beef noodle soup but I didn’t read carefully that the soup base is sour and spicy 🙁 It was still tasty but I don’t like the sour soup.
Jason’s beef noodle soup was much better.
The handmade dumplings were delicious and tasted homemade!
The lunch cost €60 without any discount but reasonable.
After lunch, we purchased the 72-hour transportation ticket (only €17.10, the best value) from the ticket machine at Karlsplatz metro station and took the train to Schönbrunn. Once again, kids under 6 are free on all modes of public transportation!
Once we arrived at Schönbrunn station, we followed the sign to Schönbrunn Palace, it was around a 10-min walk and a lot more tourists there. I booked the Children’s Museum at 1:30 PM. All the museums are free for kids under 6 in Vienna except for this. It was €12 for adults and kids 3-18. The entrance to the Children’s Museum is on the right side of the palace. We stored our backpack in the locker room, it requires a €1 coin to lock it. I was prepared for this so I had a few €1 coins with me.
Right after the ticket gate is this open area filled with Renaissance costumes for kids as well as adults to wear and take photos. My daughter was very excited to try on the princess dresses! There are also wigs, hats, fans, and accessories!
The costumes are sorted by age group; those two are for males.
My daughter loves long dresses that are floor-length, this was the first outfit she chose:
They have a backdrop and two throne seats for photos 😀
The guard station was my son’s hiding place haha!
After some photos, my daughter wanted to try another outfit, this one was her favorite! Those costumes are string-tie on the back so can fit many sizes and easy to put on!
She loves the fan too! Daddy and daughter photo 😀
My naughty son was in the mood for photos today; he usually makes funny faces when taking photos!
She went back for the 3rd outfit!
She picked an orange dress and we found a matching jacket for my son. Jason put a wig on our son and it only stayed on for one minute LOL!
Lastly, we found a matching daughter and mother dresses!
I had no idea what this is called in English….in ancient time, it is used to carry people:
We spent an hour trying on dresses hahaha. Unfortunately, the costumes are not allowed in the palace rooms. It would be cool if they let people walk around with the costumes to be more “back in time” when touring the rooms in the Children’s Museum. The Children’s Museum rooms were the actual apartment of one of their young prince.
They even have a slide (pretty sure this wasn’t from the old times) 😛
I told the kids we will come back to the slide later, let’s check out the rooms first. The first room showcased the beautiful wigs and hair accessories. They even provided brushes and toy models for the kids to comb and design the hairstyle.
The Children’s Museum is very interactive and provides many hands-on activities for the kids to try out. This turning wheel has illustrations of a typical day:
More beautiful girl’s dresses!
The accessories like fans and an umbrella:
The toy room:
Days before the smartphone/tablet 😀
A doll house:
The vanity table and chair in this “green” bedroom to make you feel like you are in the forest!
The prince’s bed:
The next room has microscopes for the kids to see the microscopic world:
A map of the palace:
A lighted globe and world maps:
And lastly, a dining room with plates, utensils, and toy food that kids can arrange them. I don’t know why they use real plates instead of plastic/toy ones because those were heavy and I was afraid the kids would drop them. The most annoying thing was that a guy was sitting on the right side of the table playing with his phone!!! He’s a grown-up too! We waited for him but he didn’t show any sign of leaving anytime soon. I don’t get why people pay to go visit places but just sit there playing on their phone?
As promised, after the rooms, the kids went back to the slide to play for like 10 minutes before we continued to visit the rest of the palace.
The royal palace entrance is on the left side of the palace and a lot more tourists visit the palace. We stored our backpack at the storage room, it was free. Our Sisi Pass includes the “Palace Ticket”; there is another type of ticket called “State Apartments”. The difference was that the State Apartments ticket can access to fewer rooms.
The massive ceiling painting:
Every palace has beautiful chandeliers to make the room look grand!
The pool table room:
The royal office:
A bedroom with blue wallpaper. The double twin beds here looked more modern-sized; usually, the beds back then were small and short! Of course, the furniture and even the duvet cover are a matching set with the wallpaper!
Sisi’s portrait!
This must be a queen’s room; the flowery curtains with matching wallpaper and furniture!
Another Sisi’s portrait and her beautiful gown!
The dining table:
Tea room:
Another living room:
The crowd wasn’t too bad at 3 PM!
This is the most impressive room of the palace! The huge chandeliers and the vivid painting on the ceiling outlined by gold-plated details. This was another time that I wish I had a wider-angle lens!!!
The room after that was quite different in dark color and really stand out too!
After touring the palace rooms, we walked out to the huge royal garden!
The other end of the huge garden is the Gloriette Schönbrunn, we didn’t hike up…no way with the kids!
What I don’t like about royal gardens is the ground filled with little rocks, my kids love to play with that and get their feet/shoes dusty!
A quick family photo of us 😀
We didn’t stay at the garden for long as the kids were already tired after a full day of sightseeing and playing at the playground. We took the train back to the hotel, it is right next to the Stadtpark metro station so it was super convenient! We had a little rest before heading out for dinner at Yu Noodles & Hotpot which I made the reservation at 5:45 via TheFork with 50%. The restaurant wasn’t close to any train station so we took the train to Karlsplatz and then still had to walk for 10 minutes.
Their all-you-can-eat hot pot was excluded from the 50% discount so it wasn’t worth the €32. We did a la carte instead. We ordered a few dishes to share but mostly spicy. Their version of mapo tofu was really tasty and spicy, very authentic!
The beef with stringbeans was very good too!
For the kids, we ordered the noodle soup with chicken; we asked for no spicy.
To take advantage of the 50% discount, we ordered shaved ice for dessert! The matcha shaved ice was good but they were stingy on the fruits.
The grass jelly was good too and again, stingy on the fruits.
With 50% discount, the dinner was only €46.04!!!
We really enjoyed our full day of sightseeing in Vienna, it was very kid-friendly with playgrounds and public restrooms. The Sisi Museum was okay, we liked the Schönbrunn Palace better. Especially the Children’s Museum, I think it was worth the extra admission ticket; the kids had a blast in there with lots of interactive activities and costumes to try out! The Schönbrunn Palace is magnificent, and now they allow photos, so another plus!
