Short info:
- Where is the Lainzer Tiergarten? To the west of Vienna, parts also belong to Lower Austria
- What animals can you see there? There are 800 to 1000 wild boars, 80 to 100 red deer, 200 to 250 fallow deer, countless roe deer and around 700 mouflon.
- Where is the entrance? There are 6 gates: Lainzer Tor, St. Veiter Tor, Gütenbachtor, Pulverstampftor, Laaber Tor and Nikolaitor
- Does it cost entry? Not the Lainzer Tiergarten. Here are the admission prices for the Hermesvilla.
- When is it open? All year round, you can find the exact times HERE.
Nikolaitor
The Nikolaitor is located just before the west exit of the Vienna motorway from the Hütteldorf U4 stop and can be reached on foot in about ten minutes. There is a small playground and a nature trail. The nature trail leads via the Nikolai chapel and the Hackinger Wiese to the Grünauer Teichwiese and along the Lainzer Tiergartenmauer back to the Nikolaitor. It offers an entertaining discovery tour for the whole family.
18 exciting adventure stations with display boards and interactive elements such as the treetop cinema or the animal jumping area invite nature lovers of all ages to get to know the secrets of the flora and fauna in the Lainzer Tiergarten in a playful way. Carpenter ants, nuthatch and common beech are just a few of the many animal and plant species presented on the information boards.
At each station, the mascot Susa – a small wild boar – has tips and hints for observations and experiments. A special extra: Young visitors to the Lainzer Tiergarten can pick up a quiz sheet from the porter of the Nikolaitor – whoever fills it out later and returns it gets a little surprise.
The entire route takes about an hour
The Lainzer Tiergarten in general
When you think of the Lainzer Tiergarten, you shouldn’t imagine a zoo like Schönbrunn or the Herberstein animal world. There are no exotic animals here. Instead, the wild boar, red deer, fallow deer, roe deer and mouflon live in the wild. Only if you’re lucky, a wild boar will cross your path – on other days you might only see ducks.
Nevertheless, the Lainzer Tiergarten is a very popular destination for the Viennese and Lower Austria, as you can walk and hike very relaxed in this primeval part of the Vienna Woods. Over 500,000 visitors come here every year. The area covers the entire area of 2,450 hectares – 1,945 hectares of which are forest areas. The entire area is surrounded by a 22 km long wall. This wall has a funny story to this day:
From 1782 to 1787, Emperor Josef II commissioned master mason Philipp Schlucker to build the wall. The price offered by Herr Schlucker was so low at the time that the people of Vienna feared that the master mason would become poor; although this fear did not materialize, the expression “poor sod” is still a common term today.
You can only get in through 6 gates. By the way, cycling is forbidden in the nature reserve (except for children under 6 years of age). Dogs are also not allowed in the Lainzer Tiergarten.
Plants and animals
Since 2008, the Lainzer Tiergarten has also been a European protected area. The zoo has a high biodiversity and has numerous endangered plant and animal species. A special feature of the zoo are its impressive beech and oak forests. Some of these have therefore been preserved for over 400 years.
Around 800 to 1000 wild boars, 80 to 100 red deer, 200 to 250 fallow deer, countless deer and around 700 moufflons live in the Lainzer Tiergarten.
The bird world of the Lainzer Tiergarten is particularly diverse. Over 94 different species can be found here. Numerous species of birds of prey live in the Tiergarten, as well as rare birds such as the white-backed woodpecker, the little and collared flycatcher, as well as the stock dove, the tawny owl and the black woodpecker.
15 species of reptiles and amphibians live here, such as the yellow-bellied toad, fire salamander, alpine newt, Alpine crested newt and European tree frog. There are also 39 different types of grasshoppers and countless butterflies in the Lainzer Tiergarten. If you are lucky, you can see one of the 13 species of bats.
Leisure offers
As already mentioned, the Tiergarten is particularly popular with hikers, runners, walkers and walkers. There are 6 children’s playgrounds for families, mostly located at the gates. Visitors will find various vantage points, camp meadows for picnics, jogging trails, a lookout point, the Nikolai chapel and places to stop for refreshments such as the Rohrhaus (+431 8041323), Hirschgstemm (+43 664 1572585) or the café-restaurant Hermesvilla (+43 676 3926140).
For visitors there is a forest trail at the Lainzer Tor and a nature trail at the Nikolaitor.
Forest playgrounds
- Lainzer Tor: This playground is 200 meters from the Lainzer Tor, on the left of the Kastanienallee, which leads to the Hermesvilla.
- Hermesvilla: This is a small playground, which is located in the Tiergarten on the path that leads from the Lainzer Tor in the direction of Hermesvilla, just before the villa on the left-hand side.
- Güterbachtal: This forest playground can be found about 100 meters from the Gütenbachtor in the Tiergarten on the left-hand side.
- Hirschgstemm: This playground is located at the corresponding inn directly in the Lainzer Tiergarten.
- Rohrhaus: This playground is located at the Gasthaus Rohrhaus.
- Nikolaiwiese: About 100 meters from the Nikolaitor in the Lainzer Tiergarten