A Travel Adventure, With My Daughter

Walking tour of Old Town Vienna

There are a number of ways to approach this, and one can do a self-guided tour, or find a paid one that makes stops at all the highlights, telling you about the history and culture, and all that makes Vienna unique. Many cities like Vienna also offer free tours where the only cost is a tip for your guide. A walking tour lets you soak up the sites and provides a great overview of the city so you can pick out the places you want to revisit later on.

The best museums on one ticket

Make a visit to Schönbrunn Palace, the summer residence of the Habsburg Emperors and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Sisi Museum, containing personal items once belonging to the Empress Elizabeth of Austria, and the Imperial Apartments, home to Empress Elisabeth and Emperor Franz Joseph. Purchased as one ticket in advance, you are provided entry into Vienna’s past, while avoiding long wait times.

An evening of music

Although the building itself is magnificent, nothing beats a visit to the Vienna Opera House when it is in session. Tickets are in demand and must be purchased in advance. And if the opera is not in town, the Philharmonic Orchestra may be. Also housed in a beautiful building, the Philharmonic is a delight for the eyes and ears.

Fraulein Maria bike tour

When you are already in Salzburg and staying at the mansion, which served as the back of the Von Trapp family home in the Sound of Music, going on a tour of other sites from the film is a must. We could have hopped on a bus and seen the same places, but there is nothing more fun than imitating the Von Trapp children as they rode through the trees singing Do-Re-Mi!

Day trip to Hallstatt

This small town is considered one of the most beautiful lakeside villages in the world. With its row of pastel-colored houses and fairy-tale-like atmosphere. A trip here, which can be a ½ day round trip by bus, provides an enjoyable way to learn the history of the area and spend an afternoon.

Schloss Ambras Innsbruck

This museum, inside of a castle, is the first in the world and one of the most significant sights in all of Austria. The 1563-built Renaissance building teeters above the city at an altitude of 2,073 feet and houses a treasure trove of armor, weapons, and art. Be sure to stroll the gardens while there!

Take a ride on the Hungerburgbahn Funicular

Stop at a mountain plateau or keep going to the top for amazing views of all of Innsbruck and the surrounding areas.

Visit Dachau

One of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany—although not an uplifting experience, a trip to this camp, one of the longest-running, is truly moving. As one wanders through the location, it paints a much too accurate picture of the atrocities that happened there.

Stroll through the Englisher Garden

A park much like Central Park in New York, contains a picture-perfect Japanese Garden, a lake for boating, several kiosks to grab a bite to eat, the Seehaus Beer Garden where locals often flock, and an area where you can go watch the surfers taking advantage of the waves by a bridge at the park’s edge.

• Das Loft: This amazing restaurant, situated on the rooftop of a hotel, provides a panoramic view of the Vienna skyline combined with exceptional cuisine and iconic cocktails for an unforgettable dining experience.

• Figlmueller: Known for its world-famous schnitzel, this outstanding restaurant is around the corner from St Stephen’s Cathedral, and has been a landmark since 1905!

• Cafe Central: Thought of as a coffee and cake lovers paradise, the line to get in is worth waiting in. Famous for all of its Viennese cuisine, the cafe is also famous for its one time visitors (back in 1876), Freud, a psychoanalyst, Trotsky, a revolutionary, and several writers and poets including Polgar, Zweig, and Altenberg.

• Naschmarkt: This unique culinary marketplace infuses flavors from all over the world with delectable Austrian creations.

• Blaue Bar: This bar at the Hotel Sachar is touted as the best place for a fancy cocktail or extravagant meal.

• IMLAUER Sky: Located on top of the Imlauer Hotel Pitter Salzburg, the building lies between the Congress Center and the picturesque Mirabell Gardens, with the UNESCO Heritage City Center a short stroll away. Whether indoors or out, the food is incredible and the views, perfect.

• St. Peter’s Stiftskeller: Although hard to find, the trip here is well worth it. Nestled between history and the present, in the heart of Salzburg’s Old Town, this unique restaurant is the oldest in Europe. As the reviews state, it combines “fine dining with millennia-old tradition, Alpine lightness, and Mediterranean joie de vivre.”