Schönbrunn Palace Grand Tour, one of the absolute must-do experiences in Vienna, Austria
If you’re planning a trip to Vienna, Austria, the Schönbrunn Palace Grand Tour is one stop you really shouldn’t skip.
Out of all the places I visited in Vienna, this was hands-down my favorite.
Schönbrunn Palace Grand Tour Basics
Schönbrunn Palace was once the lavish summer residence of the Habsburg dynasty,
and it’s easily one of Vienna’s most iconic landmarks.
The palace is known for its grand Baroque architecture
and gorgeous Rococo interiors,
which make the whole place feel elegant from the moment you arrive.
Of all the attractions I visited in Vienna,
this was personally my absolute favorite,
so I really recommend making time for a tour.
Opening hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
That said, closing time can shift a little by season—sometimes 5:00, 5:30, or 6:00 p.m.—
so it’s worth checking the exact hours for your visit date
before you go.
There are no regular closing days, and it’s open daily.
How to Get to Schönbrunn Palace
If you’re joining a guided tour, your guide will handle everything for you.
If you’re visiting independently, though,
the subway is the easiest way to get there.
Just plug it into Google Maps and it’s incredibly easy.
We started from Karlsplatz station
and got off at Schönbrunn Station after about 15 minutes.
Even though it’s one of the farther attractions from central Vienna,
it still only took us around 20 minutes total, including walking.
From Schönbrunn Station, it’s about a 7-minute walk
to the main palace entrance.
The route is simple, and once you get off the train,
pretty much everyone is walking in the same direction,
so even if you’re terrible with directions, just follow the crowd.
That pair of tall columns marks the main entrance.
It was winter and the sky was overcast, so the colors didn’t totally pop,
but the soft yellow exterior of Schönbrunn Palace is still so pretty.
It’s such a popular attraction that
I’d heard it’s better to arrive a little early if you want a quieter visit,
so we got there around 10:20 a.m.
By close to noon, it gets noticeably more crowded.
First things first: we had to take a few souvenir photos with the palace in the background.
Schönbrunn Palace Tickets and Reservation Tips
At Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, you don’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, or about $35,
while the Imperial Tour is 27 euros, or roughly $29.
The price difference isn’t huge,
but the difference in how much you get to see is pretty significant,
so if you ask me, the Grand Tour is absolutely the better deal.
You can book directly through the official website.
If you want a full Korean-language guide to the palace,
you can check the PDF file below.
Attachment
You can buy tickets on-site without a reservation, but…
entry is controlled by timed slots,
so even if you arrive early in the morning, your actual entry time
could end up being 3:00 or 4:00 p.m.
Or tickets might be sold out entirely and you’d have to come back the next day.
So yes—booking ahead is definitely the smart move.
Can You Use the Vienna Pass?
If you bought the Vienna Pass, which covers several attractions in Vienna,
you can use it at Schönbrunn Palace,
but it does not include the Grand Tour or the Imperial Tour.
Instead, it only covers the State Apartments Tour,
which is the 22-euro option,
and if you want to upgrade to the Grand Tour,
you’ll need to pay an extra 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 one of the things worth thinking through before deciding.
Also, even if you upgrade to the Grand Tour with the Vienna Pass,
you can still end up waiting a long time if your preferred time slot is sold out—just like buying on-site.
Definitely keep that in mind.
Entering the Palace
We booked the Grand Tour through the official website,
and the voucher was sent 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 Experience
Once you get close to the palace building, the entrance is clearly marked.
As soon as you go in, you’ll first see the bag check area.
Small mini bags are fine,
but anything a bit larger has to be checked before entry.
Next up: the audio guide pickup.
The audio guide is available in multiple languages,
including Korean.
It’s free to borrow, so definitely grab one.
This is what it looks like.
Right from the entrance, the ceiling paintings are stunning.
You’ll also see signs showing which passes can enter which sections.
If you booked the Grand Tour, though,
you don’t really need to worry about that—
you can basically just keep going all the way through.
Using the audio guide is easy:
just enter the number posted at each room
into the device.
Super simple, right?
Then it plays the explanation for that specific room.
You’ll see everyone walking around with the guide pressed to one ear.
The commentary is detailed and actually pretty interesting,
so I definitely recommend listening to it.
There are so many mirrors inside the palace,
so it’s easy to sneak in a few photos here and there too.
There are so many rooms, and every single one is decorated so beautifully
with ornate details that make the whole tour fun to explore.
We even came across a few areas under restoration
along the way.
I listened carefully to all the explanations,
and now I barely remember any of them—but it was still really fun.
As you continue through the palace in order,
you eventually reach the magnificent and ornate Great Gallery in the center.
It’s the most dazzling and memorable room in the palace,
so it’s also where lots of people stop to take photos.
It’s a huge banquet hall measuring about 40 meters long
and 10 meters wide, with incredible frescoes across the ceiling.
We waited until there were fewer people and snapped our photos too.
Even after the Great Gallery, there were still quite a few rooms left to see,
but we’d been inside for less than an hour at that point,
so it never felt boring.
Each room has a different concept,
and every one comes with its own story, which made the whole visit really engaging.
Not a family photo—a family painting.
The royal family members all looked strangely alike,
which, according to the explanation, was due to intermarriage.
And with that, we wrapped up the Grand Tour.
At the end, you’ll come to the audio guide return area.
Don’t toss it in—set it down nicely.
Right after you exit, there’s a souvenir shop.
Like pretty much every tourist spot in Vienna,
they sell Mozart chocolates and Manner wafers here too.
But both the chocolates and Manner 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 surprisingly strong, which I appreciated.
After finishing the Schönbrunn Palace Grand Tour,
we checked the map because we wanted to head up to the café on Gloriette Hill.
From the mint-colored palace area to the red-marked Gloriette,
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 is gorgeous too, so of course we stopped for more photos.
We kept walking straight through the gardens,
and since it was winter, the grounds definitely looked a little bare and muted.
I’ve heard it’s much prettier in summer,
but then again, you also have to deal with intense heat and direct sun.
The palace grounds are huge, so if walking is difficult,
you can also take the panorama train.
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 you’re low on energy,
it’s definitely worth considering.
I was 29 weeks pregnant, but I still powered my way up the hill.
Along the way, you’ll also spot Schönbrunn Zoo off to the side.
If you’re traveling with kids,
I’ve heard the zoo is large and really fun,
so it could be a great add-on to your visit.
>Check Schönbrunn Zoo tickets<
As for my review of the Gloriette Café,
I’ll save that for a separate post next time.