Schönbrunn Palace Grand Tour: A Must-Do in Vienna, Austria
One of the absolute must-do stops in Vienna, Austria
is a tour of Schönbrunn Palace!
Schönbrunn Palace Basics
Schönbrunn Palace was once used as the Habsburg dynasty’s
summer residence, and it’s every bit as grand as you’d expect.
With its monumental Baroque architecture
and beautiful Rococo interiors,
it’s easily one of Vienna’s most iconic landmarks.
Out of all the places I visited in Vienna,
this was personally my favorite by far,
so I really recommend making time for the tour.
Opening hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.!
That said, closing time can shift a little by season—5:00, 5:30, or 6:00 p.m.—
so definitely check the official hours
for the exact date you plan to visit.
There are no regular closing days, and it’s open daily.
How to Get to Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria
If you’re joining a tour package,
your guide will take care of everything.
If you’re traveling independently, though, the subway is the easiest way to get there.
If you plug it into Google Maps, it’s honestly super easy.
We started from Karlsplatz Station
and after about 15 minutes, got off at Schönbrunn Station.
Even though it feels like one of the farther attractions from central Vienna,
it still only took about 20 minutes total, including walking.
From Schönbrunn Station, it’s about a 7-minute walk
to the main palace entrance.
The route is easy, and once you get off the train,
pretty much everyone is walking in the same direction,
so even if you’re terrible with directions, you can just follow the crowd.
Ta-da—those two tall columns mark the main entrance.
It was winter and the sky was pretty gray, so the colors don’t totally do it justice,
but Schönbrunn Palace is such a pretty soft yellow in person.
It’s an incredibly popular attraction,
and I’d heard it’s much less crowded if you go a little early,
so we arrived around 10:20 a.m.
By close to noon, the crowds really start picking up.
First things first: we took the classic souvenir photos with the palace in the background.
How to Book Schönbrunn Palace Tickets
At Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, you can’t just buy a basic entry ticket—
you need to book a tour, and the two main options are
the Grand Tour and the Imperial Tour.
The Grand Tour costs 32 euros for adults,
which is about $35, while the Imperial Tour is 27 euros,
or roughly $30.
The price difference isn’t huge,
but the difference in what you actually get to see is pretty noticeable,
so if you ask me, the Grand Tour is the better deal.
You can book directly on the official website.
If you want a full Korean-language
guide to the palace, you can check the PDF below.
Attachment
You can buy tickets on-site without a reservation, but…
entry is controlled by time slot,
so even if you arrive early in the morning,
the next available entry time might be 3 or 4 p.m.
Or it could be completely sold out and you’d have to come back the next day.
So yes—booking ahead is definitely the way to go.
Can You Use the Vienna Pass at Schönbrunn Palace?
If you bought the Vienna Pass,
which covers several attractions in Vienna,
you can use it at Schönbrunn Palace,
but it doesn’t include the Grand Tour or the Imperial Tour.
It only covers the State Apartments Tour, which normally costs 22 euros,
and if you want to upgrade to the Grand Tour,
you’ll need to pay an additional 10 euros on-site.
If you’re short on time, the 25-minute
apartments tour might be enough,
but personally, I loved the Grand Tour so much
that if you haven’t bought the Vienna Pass yet,
this is definitely something worth thinking about before you decide.
Also, even if you upgrade to the Grand Tour with the Vienna Pass,
if your preferred time slot is sold out, you’ll still end up waiting just like anyone buying on-site.
Definitely keep that in mind.
Entering the Palace
We booked the Grand Tour through the official website,
and the voucher came by email.
I wasn’t totally sure whether we needed to exchange it
for a paper ticket on-site,
so we stopped by the ticket center first.
But when we asked a staff member,
they told us we could just enter directly with the voucher
and didn’t need to exchange it for a physical ticket.
For reference, there’s also a souvenir shop inside the ticket center.
Schönbrunn Palace Grand Tour Review
Once you get close to the palace building, the entrance is clearly marked.
As soon as you go in, the bag check area is the first thing you’ll see.
Small mini bags are fine, but
if your bag is on the larger side,
you’ll need to leave it there before entering.
Next up: the audio guide rental.
The audio guide is available in multiple languages,
including Korean.
It’s free to borrow, so definitely pick one up.
This is what it looks like.
Right from the moment you enter, the ceiling paintings are stunning.
There are signs showing which passes can enter which sections
like this,
but with the Grand Tour, you don’t really need to worry about any of that—
you can basically just keep going all the way through.
Using the audio guide is simple:
just enter the number posted
at each room or location.
Super easy, right?
Then it plays the explanation for that specific room.
You’ll see everyone walking around with the guide pressed to one ear like this.
The commentary is actually pretty detailed and interesting,
so I definitely recommend listening to it.
There are so many mirrors inside the palace,
so we stopped for a few photos here and there too.
There are so many rooms, and every single one is decorated
with gorgeous, elaborate details, so it’s genuinely fun to explore.
We even got to see a few areas
that were under restoration along the way.
I listened so carefully to all the explanations,
and now I remember basically none of them—but it was fun.
As you continue through the palace in order,
you eventually reach the magnificent and lavish Great Gallery
in the center of the palace.
It’s the most dazzling and memorable space inside,
so a lot of people stop here for photos.
It’s a huge ceremonial hall, about 40 meters long
and 10 meters wide, with incredible frescoes on the ceiling.
We managed to snap our photos when there were a few fewer people around.
Even after the Great Gallery, there were still
quite a few more rooms left to see,
but it hadn’t even been an hour since we entered yet,
so it never felt boring.
Each room has a different concept,
and every one comes with its own story, so it was really enjoyable to go through them all.
Not a family photo—a family painting.
All the royal family members looked weirdly alike,
which, according to the guide, was because of intermarriage.
Anyway, that wrapped up the Grand Tour,
and then you come to the area where you return the audio guide.
Don’t toss it in—set it down nicely.
Right after you exit, there’s a souvenir shop.
Like basically every tourist spot in Vienna,
they sell Mozart chocolates and Manner wafers.
But both the chocolates and the Manner products
are cheaper at regular supermarkets,
so I wouldn’t bother buying them at tourist attractions.
There’s also a nice variety of decorative items and magnets.
I liked that snow globe magnet on the right,
so I bought one—and the magnet on the back is actually strong, which I appreciated.
After finishing the Schönbrunn Grand Tour,
we checked the map because we were heading to the café
up on Gloriette Hill.
From the mint-colored palace area to the red Gloriette marker,
it’s a full 20-minute walk…
It was windy and cold, but there was no way we were skipping it.
The back side of the palace was gorgeous too, so of course we stopped for more photos.
Then we kept walking straight through the gardens.
It was definitely winter, so the gardens weren’t at their prettiest and felt a little bare.
I’ve heard they’re much more beautiful in summer,
though the trade-off is that there’s no escaping the blazing sun and it gets really hot.
The palace grounds are huge, so if walking is tough for you,
you can take the Panorama Train instead.
It looks like this, and you can hop on and off
wherever you want while exploring the grounds.
It’s not very expensive either, so if your stamina isn’t great,
the Panorama Train is definitely worth considering.
I was 29 weeks pregnant, but I still powered my way up the hill.
Along the way, you can also spot Schönbrunn Zoo off to the side.
If you’re visiting with kids,
I’ve heard the zoo is large and really fun,
so it could be a great add-on to your day.
>Check Schönbrunn Zoo Tickets<
As for my review of the Gloriette Café,
I’ll save that for a separate post next time.