Café Gloriette Review: Schönbrunn Palace View Café in Vienna, Austria

Café Gloriette Review: Schönbrunn Palace View Café in Vienna, Austria

If Schönbrunn Palace is on your Vienna, Austria itinerary,

don’t end your visit the second the palace tour is over.

If you can, make time for the Schönbrunn Palace view café too.

That place is Café Gloriette, and this Vienna palace view café is absolutely worth the climb.

Café Gloriette

^{You can check the palace tour info here}

Café Gloriette sits behind the palace,

all the way up on top of the hill.

From the palace grounds to Gloriette Hill,

it takes about 20 minutes to walk up.

It’s a bit of a climb, but once you make it up there,

you get this incredible natural lookout

over Schönbrunn Palace and the city of Vienna

all at once.

Before going inside the café,

I sat on a bench for a while, took in the view,

and snapped a few photos.

Then it was finally time to head into the café.

Isn’t the Gloriette building gorgeous?

The café entrance is on the left side

when you’re facing the building.

I went around to the other side first, hit a dead end, and had to come back.

The café name is written very faintly,

and the opening hours are daily from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

Inside!

You wait briefly at the entrance until someone shows you to your table.

I got there around noon on a weekday,

and there were still quite a few seats available.

But after lunch, during afternoon coffee time,

there can be a wait, so it’s worth timing your visit carefully.

The windows are tall and wide, so the natural light is beautiful,

and the interior is seriously stunning.

Such a lovely café in Vienna, Austria.

The window seats are the most popular because of the view,

and when I visited, those were already taken.

Still, even sitting in the middle of the room felt nice.

Here’s a look at the Café Gloriette menu at Schönbrunn Palace.

The text is tiny, so here are a few of the signature items

written out more clearly.

There are also light meal options like sandwiches,

but for those, you’ll have to zoom in on the menu photos a bit.

Besides the Sachertorte I listed above,

there were lots of other cake slices too,

and you can choose by looking at the display case in person.

Every café I visited in Vienna had elegant, delicious desserts,

and this place looked no different.

I ordered something else here,

but all the cakes looked beautiful and seriously tempting.

What we ordered was hot Americano, decaf hot Americano,

and apple strudel with vanilla sauce and whipped cream.

Apple strudel, or Apfelstrudel,

is one of Austria’s most iconic desserts.

It’s made with thin layers of pastry wrapped around

apples, sugar, cinnamon, and other fillings, then baked.

A local friend told me I absolutely had to try it at least once.

You can order it on its own,

but it’s usually served with warm vanilla sauce and whipped cream,

so that’s how I went for it.

Coffee is good pretty much everywhere in Austria,

and it was good at Gloriette too.

The apple strudel was sweet and tasty,

but also kind of what I expected.

It wasn’t mind-blowingly special or unforgettable,

but I was still glad I tried it once.

The restroom was downstairs in the basement,

and even that space was clean, pretty, and well kept.

It was a cloudy day, so even after editing the photos,

this was about as bright as I could get them.

I can only imagine how much prettier this place would be in good weather.

Honestly, the atmosphere at this Vienna palace view café felt even better

than many of the cafés I visited in central Vienna.

So if you’re going to Schönbrunn Palace,

I really recommend making the extra stop at Gloriette.

After a nice break, it was time to head back down toward Schönbrunn station.