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Austria (Vienna) and Switzerland with a toddler

Austria (Vienna) and Switzerland with a toddler

Old Mar 28th, 2013, 02:37 AM
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Austria (Vienna) and Switzerland with a toddler

Hi Everyone,

I'll be travelling to Austria and Switzerland with my spouse and my 19 months old baby during the second week of May from 9th May to 18th May IA. I need to be in Vienna for the first two days. We are planning to travel to Switzerland on 11th and spend one week there, flying back to Vienna on 18th. I've put together a brief itinerary and will appreciate your suggestions considering we have a kid and would love beautiful natural scenery in addition to picturesque towns and kids friendly areas.

Day 1 (9th May) : Vienna (Schonbrunn palace and zoo Vienna: Our hotel is located walking distance to the palace).
Day 2 (10th May): Prater Vienna
Day 3 (11th May): Flight from Vienna to Zurich - Spend some time exploring Zurich
Day 4 (12th May): Visit Lucerne for the day (probably spend the night there or return to Zurich)
Day 5 - Day 7 (3 days): Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen if possible (Will it be too cold in Lauterbrunnen during mid May)
Day 8 (17 May) : Back in Zurich, visit Rhine falls or some other place
Day 9 (18th May) : Flight back to Vienna

I hope I came up with a practical plan given our limited mobility with a very active toddler but would welcome any suggestions. Additionally, is it possible to book hotel rooms on spot in the interlaken/ lauterbrunnen area or early booking is recommended.

Thank you so much in advance.
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Old Mar 28th, 2013, 03:42 AM
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I'm not familiar with Switzerland but have visited beautiful Vienna. We traveled to Italy last May with our then 19 month old son and had a great trip. A site like Schonbrunn with extensive gardens should work well, as your little one can burn off energy playing outside before and after you tour the palace interior. My husband and I occasionally took turns seeing the museum or palace on days where our son had limited patience, so that we each got to see everything but our toddler got to spend the entire time playing outdoors.
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Old Mar 28th, 2013, 04:01 AM
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Are you going by train or car? In Swsitzerland the places you are going are best IMO done by train - cars cannot even be driven in places above Grindelwald or Lauterbrunnen - trains goes everywhere. Investigate a Swiss Pass. For lots of great info on Swiss trains and passes and things like the Half-Fare Card I always spotlight these IMO fantastic sites - www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.swisstravelsystem.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Even if you drive to the Berner Oberland you may wsnt to investigate the Jungfraubahn Pass that lets you ride virtually any conveyance on days covered - sold locally.
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Old Mar 28th, 2013, 08:44 AM
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It will not be colder at Lauterbrunnen than anywhre else. Lauterbrunnen is not even 800 m above sea level. But what do you want to do there in mid May?

Rhine Falls - best visited together with the scenic medieval towns of Schaffhausen and Stein am Rhein (famous for their painted houses and for their castles) which are linked by Rhine river boats - are closer to Zurich airport than to Zurich town.

May is very low season: no need to book rooms in advance. In such cases, I usually have a look at http://www.booking.com/ and book a day or a few hours before my arrival. That enables me to compare prices and descriptions.

BTW: zurich zoo is famous for it's Masoala rain forest hall: http://www.zuerich.com/en/Visitor/Ex...Regenwald.html
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Old Mar 28th, 2013, 12:03 PM
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many gondolas and chair lifts often close for period in mid-May I believe because that is a real low season there for tourists and thus a good time to do needed repairs - ditto for a period in early November I believe.
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Old Mar 28th, 2013, 12:35 PM
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We took our 21 month and 3 year old to Berner Oberland summer before last and to Austria the following summer.

Vienna - we did a similar itin.
Palace - kids liked the zoo and tolerated the palace well enough. I have to say that I found the palace a bit claustrophobic as the passageways through the rooms were narrow and crowded (it was July) so we rushed a bit as my son was at risk of being trampled the whole time. We still enjoyed it and the gardens/zoo was nice and there was a restaurant with outdoor seating next to the zoo that had decent food for kids. The kids really liked this little train you could ride that circled the whole grounds and stopped on top of the hill overlooking the palace and you could get off and look around.

The next day we went to Prater and the kids LOVED it. We rented a 4 seat bike that the kids could sit in front and rode another little train that goes through the park (train crazy kids). They also had lots of random little vendors with old fashioned rides that would be suitable for a 19month. There is one little section tucked near the back of the main amusement park area next to a tall toboggan slide (shaped like a cone which our kids loved when they rode on our laps) that has a several rides with little cars, boats, etc that are good for toddlers. Bring lots of small bills for paying for these rides but we all had so much fun we went back the next day.

Switzerland - my only comment on Switzerland is that you seem to be moving around a lot which isn't always fun with a toddler. Do you need to be back in Zurich on 18th? I would give up that day or the Lucerne day for another day in Berner Oberland as it will be a good base and not so much moving around. We stayed in Interlaken (Unterseen area) in an apartment.

One day we took a ferry ride to Thun which was really fun and the scenery gorgeous. We got lucky as it was Swiss National Day - Aug 1 and were pleasantly surprised by hordes of Swiss people having cake and dancing on the boat with the band playing. Really fun and festive.

Another day we went to Murren via Lauterbrunnen and took the funicular up to Allmendhubel. There is a gorgeous view of the 3 peaks, a restaurant, and a playground with a really good slide built into the hill.

In the town of Interlaken, there is another funicular (actually two) but we took the one on the West side at the edge of town and there is a really nice view, a little restaurant, and another playground with a long slide built into the hill. This was a huge hit yet again and we got lots of exercise helping our 21 month up the steep stairs to go again and again and again. One other thing in Interlaken, we walked down to the open area across from the Victoria Grand Hotel (that area of Interlaken not our favorite as lots of tour buses etc so we mostly stayed in the lovely section of Unterseen)and our 21 month was completely enthralled by watching all the paragliders land in the field and when he wasn't doing that he was jumping in muddy puddles (ala Peppa pig for the Brits).

We did go to Ballenberg open air museum one day based on recommendations that it was good for kids. However, our kids were a bit too young and there is a lot of walking and they couldn't care less about seeing the traditional Swiss buildings,etc. My husband and I liked it ok but didn't love it so wouldn't do it again. We would have traded that day for another day up in the mountains or somewhere else.

We also went to Wengen on the day we attempted Jungfrau but it got socked in so we stopped in Wengen and waited to see if weather would clear so we could take the Mannlichen cable car instead. However, it poured rain on us so we donned the rain gear and guess what, played with the kids in the playground near the town center.

As you see, playgrounds were a strong feature of our holiday as we find our secret weapon is to let the kids run off energy in a playground and then they are more able to take the other sight-seeing that Mom and Dad want. Also, we seem to have a sixth sense for finding playgrounds in any country we visit so it has become a bit of a game for us and we have unofficially voted Switzerland as Country of Best Slides as they are all built into hills.

We had so much fun in Berner Oberland we are going back again this summer and will re-attempt Jungfrau!
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Old Mar 28th, 2013, 05:33 PM
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ttt
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Old Mar 30th, 2013, 11:19 PM
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Thanks so much for your valuable inputs.

@PalenQ We'll be travelling via train mainly. I'm exploring the Swiss pass option.
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