Leisure

Vienna as a place, where people ought to live well and happily

In Vienna, all people ought to live well and happily. This is the standard that the city of Vienna sets for itself. To make this possible, it requires a reliable drinking water supply, enough affordable housing, socially fair and good educational institutions, a functioning wastewater disposal system, reliable waste management, and much more. However, the fact that a high-quality, affordable, and easily accessible range of leisure activities is also part of this is often overlooked.

Unusual for a large city, Vienna offers great hiking opportunities, as the city maintains 14 well-marked urban hiking trails across the city and its immediate surroundings. To enhance user-friendliness, all these hiking trails, whether they lead through the Vienna Woods or the city's vineyards, are easily accessible by public transport. Additionally, there are educational trails where one can always learn something new about Vienna's rich biodiversity, as well as a 120-kilometer hiking trail, which allows you to walk around Vienna's city limits in 24 stages.

Leisure and holiday activities for Vienna’s children

On Vienna’s playgrounds, there’s something for everyone. There are around 1,700 playgrounds across the city, including themed playgrounds such as forest playgrounds, water playgrounds, motor skills parks, climbing gardens, and specialized themed playgrounds like the pirate or firefighter playgrounds. These offer not only adventure, play, and fun but also variety.

Education and a sense of community are not only conveyed through classic learning aid projects and training programs. In Vienna, there is WIENXTRA, an organization for all children and young adults. At 11 locations throughout the city, not only is advice provided, one is also invited to play, experience new things together, or spend spare time together instead of being bored all alone. To ensure that all children and young adults can participate in the events organized by WIENXTRA, these are deliberately made affordable or even free-of-pay, as participation in culture, education, and joint activities is not seen as a privilege in Vienna but as something, that everyone ought to have access to. The city offers a broad range of leisure and holiday programs during the school holidays, giving parents peace of mind about quality care for their children during the summer months. The city's offerings range from summer and sports camps for children aged six and above, to Summer City Camps, and the so-called Holiday Game, which provides supervised, varied activities every day during the holiday period. Additionally, Vienna offers park supervision for children aged 6 to 13, where they have access to board games, craft materials, and sports equipment for free. To help low-income families go on vacation, the city also runs a grant program for children and families.

Out into the green: Vienna protects green spaces and ensures they remain open to the public

Green recreational areas are an essential part of the city's infrastructure. From both a social and ecological perspective, publicly accessible green spaces are vital for understanding the importance of unspoilt nature, as well as for the quality of life and leisure activities of the population. About half of Vienna's urban area consists of green spaces and bodies of water, making it one of the greenest metropolises in the world. A third of Vienna's area, including forests, meadows, and water bodies, is protected by law to stay green space. A likewise large area consists of green spaces open to the public, such as forests, meadows, bodies of water, and public parks. This makes Vienna self-sufficient in recreational areas, meaning that residents don't need to travel far to enjoy beautiful, unspoilt nature, instead the Viennese can find it within the city limits. The abundance of accessible green spaces also has a positive impact on one's individual well-being. Two-thirds of Vienna's residents live within 250 meters of the nearest green space, and about 80 % reach their next large recreational area in less than 15 minutes by public transport.

Vienna’s Municipal Department Parks and Gardens maintain over 1,000 parks, covering a total area of 13 square kilometers. The people of Vienna make frequent and enthusiastic use of these green spaces. Some of the most popular parks include:

Donaupark
Cemetery of St. Marx
Pötzleinsdorfer Schloßpark
The Prater
Rathauspark
Gardens of Neugebäude Palace
Stadtpark
Türkenschanzpark

Preserving urban forests and creating new recreational areas and green corridors, including new forests and meadows in expanding city areas, are key tasks managed by the city's Climate, Forestry, and Agricultural Department (MA 49). Popular recreational areas include:

Bisamberg
Dehnepark
Lobau with its Danube wetlands
Danube Island
Esslinger Furt
Kellerberg Liesing - Siebenhirten
Laarer Wald
Lainzer Zoo
Neue Lobau
Ottakringer Wald
Paradies Recreation Area
Schwarzenbergpark
Steinhofgründe
Sternwartepark
Wienerberg
Vienna Woods

Vienna and the Danube: A special relationship

Five percent of Vienna’s area consists of water bodies, more than any other Austrian state. To ensure safe swimming, the water quality in Vienna is regularly tested at 17 EU-designated bathing sites and 11 smaller sampling points. The result: year after year, most of Vienna’s swimming areas are awarded the highest rating for "excellent quality." In addition to free natural swimming spots along the Old Danube, New Danube, and Donauinsel, there are many smaller natural swimming spots and traditional beach baths managed by the city.

From a controversial flood protection project to a popular recreation area

A metropolis with 42 kilometers of beach and pure nature: Vienna's Danube Island is not only part of the city's flood protection network, as a sideeffect it offers so much more to humans, animals, and plants. On weekends, up to 300,000 people flock to one of Vienna's most remarkable landmarks. We're talking about Vienna's Danube Island, the 21-kilometer-long and up to 250-meter-wide artificial inland island between the Danube and the New Danube. In 1969, the Viennese city government decided to create the Danube Island by constructing the New Danube, an auxiliary channel, to protect the city from Danube floods. Initially, the mega-project was highly controversial, but by the record flood of 2002, it proved invaluable: while many other cities along the Danube suffered severe flooding and devastation, Vienna emerged unscathed. In the last two decades alone, the New Danube has already saved the city from two "century floods." Even before that, Viennese citizens had embraced the Danube Island. It separates the New Danube from the Danube and was constructed between 1972 and 1988. The city deliberately decided to develop the island into a recreational area with plenty of greenery, barbecue, and swimming spots. Since its opening in 1983, it's hard to imagine Vienna without "the island", as its affectionately called by the Viennese public.

Recreational Activities for Every Taste

In addition to countless bathing bays, Danube Island boasts a 250-meter-long family beach for young and old alike.
A favorite among locals are the two barbecue zones and 15 grilling spots, perfect for celebrating together outdoors, as well as the diverse culinary scene.
Sports enthusiasts are drawn not only to the extensive 135-kilometer network of trails for hiking, jogging, cycling, and inline skating but also to a variety of sports facilities, including volleyball courts.
Those looking for more thrills can enjoy water skiing, sailing, surfing, or working out in the street workout station or any of the numerous free sports facilities on the island.
Close to the Reichsbrücke and easily accessible by subway, a 5,000 m² water playground invites children to splash around and have fun.
Ideal for kids and school groups, the Nature Adventure Trail features seven stations where they can learn interesting facts about the animal and plant life.
Nearby, adrenaline junkies will enjoy the world's largest floating trampoline park. Right next to the Danube Island, in the Gänsehäufel Bath, a high-ropes course offers not only fun and excitement but also stunning views over the Old Danube.
The southern part of Danube Island has become a hotspot for water sports enthusiasts of all kinds. In addition to the Rowing Performance Center, the Vienna Watersports Arena has also found its home there. The white-water channel provides top-notch training opportunities for rafting and kayaking fans, appreciated even by the Austrian national team.

Hard to imagine today: At one point, there were plans to turn Danube Island into a densely built-up residential area. The construction of a marshalling yard was also under discussion. Since 1984, for one weekend each year, Danube Island has been transformed into the venue for Europe's largest open-air festival. With up to three million visitors annually, it has long been a staple in Vienna's cultural scene. Whether you visit the Danube Island to exercise, stroll, swim, splash around, meet friends, or attend a festival, the island offers something for everyone.

Sports Are a Big Deal in Vienna

A top-notch sports offering is just as integral to Vienna's recreational activities as the wide range of entertainment and care services for students or the many publicly accessible green spaces. The city's commitment to physical fitness is evident in the fact that all of Vienna’s sports facilities, totaling around 10 million m², are collectively larger than the area of the city’s five smallest districts combined. The city of Vienna alone directly manages more than 50 sports facilities. Young sports enthusiasts in Vienna have plenty of opportunities to stay active: the city offers swimming and ice-skating courses for children and adolescents – with a strong emphasis on ensuring that every child learns how to swim – and provides opportunities for indoor fun even in bad weather. So-called Sport & Fun Halls invite people to play badminton, beach volleyball, indoor climbing, football, table football, and table tennis.

Further information about recreational activities and opportunities in Vienna can be found at:

City of Vienna. Environment and Leisure. https://www.wien.gv.at/english/environment-leisure/

City of Vienna. Hiking in and around Vienna. https://www.wien.gv.at/english/leisure/hiking/index.html

Wienxtra. Tips for kids in Vienna. https://www.wienxtra.at/kinderaktiv/infos-a-z/tips-for-kids-in-vienna-english/

City of Vienna. Parks and gardens in Vienna. https://www.wien.gv.at/english/environment/parks/

City of Vienna. Bodies of water in Vienna. https://www.wien.gv.at/english/environment/waterbodies/

City of Vienna. Danube Island. https://www.wien.gv.at/english/environment/waterbodies/danube-island/index.html

City of Vienna. Sports in Vienna. https://www.wien.gv.at/english/environment-leisure/sports/

City of Vienna. Public baths in Vienna. https://www.wien.gv.at/english/leisure/bath/