The two big ticket tourist destinations in Vienna are the imperial palaces of the Habsburgs, the Hofburg and Schloss Schönbrunn. We visited each palace complex multiple times. It is near impossible to see everything at each in one day.
The Hofburg, situated in Vienna’s city center, was the winter residence of the Habsburgs. Originally a 13th century castle, it was expanded over the centuries into a large palace complex. Now it houses countless museums. We went to several and skipped quite a few.
Sisi Museum is the most popular. It is basically three museums in one. First up is the Imperial Silver Collection, consisting of rooms full of china, platters, silverware, centerpieces, and specialty decor. Enough for 908,127 place settings, at least. I guess some people like this stuff? I couldn’t get through it fast enough.
Next up is the actual Sisi Museum, largely personal items of Empress Elisabeth (“Sisi”), the wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I, documenting her life in the 1800s. This portion of the tour is mildly interesting, making it a massive improvement over the silver collection.
The third and final museum is the Imperial Apartments, a tour through 18 rooms in the residential portion of the palace. The rooms are largely maintained as they existed in the 19th Century. This was, by far, the best part of the tour.
Photos and videos are not allowed, which was only mildly aggravating. Other than a few rooms in the Imperial Apartments, there is nothing worth photographing anyway. On the plus side, the absence of selfie-taking tourists sure speeds things along.
Schloss Schönbrunn, located out in the suburbs, was the summer residence of the Habsburgs. A massive complex, it includes a palace, large public gardens, fountains, a pool, carriage museum, heritage museum, mazes, and a zoo. In 1996 Schönbrunn was listed as a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.
Our day at Schönbrunn started with the Grand Tour of the palace, winding through 40 rooms, almost the entire second floor. The palace largely appears as it did during the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I (mid-1800s to early-1900s). The walls in the state rooms are off white with an incredible amount of gold accents and trim.
The Grand Tour (unlike the shorter Imperial Tour option) includes 18 rooms dating to the reign of Maria Theresia in the mid-1700s. Here the walls are covered with tapestries and extravagant wallpaper. The inlaid wood floors are some of the most intricate we’ve ever seen.
The tour was not crowded at all, and took us about 30 minutes. Admittedly we go pretty quick on self-guided tours. Like the Hofburg, photos and video are not allowed indoors.
Leaving the palace we spent the next few hours wandering around the gardens. Most of the gardens are free and popular with locals. Walkers and joggers are everywhere, as are parents with strollers and kids. We even saw a yoga class. Tall hedges throughout create a lot of semi-private areas.
Certain areas on the grounds are fee only – notably the landscaped mazes, Privy Garden, Orangery Garden, and roof of the Gloriette – all of which were included with our Classic Pass tickets.
On the roof of the Gloriette we had a great view of Vienna, and an even better cool breeze.
Several restaurants and cafés are onsite. Let’s just say they are overpriced with limited choices. Instead of breaking up our visit to Schönbrunn with lunch, or even a snack break, we powered through for almost four hours straight, walking over six miles (according to Stephanie’s step counter).
Before hopping on the U-Bahn (U4 metro line) for the return trip to our Airbnb, we walked down the street to Billa and bought two cokes and two bread rolls for €3.50. Best value in Vienna.
A free Summer Concert Night, performed by the Vienna Philharmonic, is hosted in the gardens at Schönbrunn each year. The stage, seating, and security measures were being set up during our visit. We decided to go to the show, scheduled for a few days after our visit, but late afternoon rains ruined our plans.
Tiergarten Schönbrunn is the world’s oldest zoo, and certainly on the short list for one of the best. A week after our visit to Schloss Schönbrunn we returned to go to the zoo.
The original layout of the zoo from the 1700s is still apparent. Several of the original exhibit cages remain intact, but are no longer used, such as the lion cage shown in the photo.
The animals at Tiergarten Schönbrunn are largely the same as you will find at most zoos in the United States, along with Giant Pandas. It’s just a much nicer setting. Updated and modern exhibits, with multiple viewing angles and raised platforms, set this zoo apart. The houses for the large mammals (such as giraffes and elephants) are the best we have seen.
Outside the zoo grounds, also within Schönbrunn, are the Palm House and Desert House, basically botanic gardens. The Palm House is a massive greenhouse full of varieties of palm trees, flowers, and similar plants. Think southern Florida and the tropics. The Desert House has cacti and other desert flora, along with a few small animal exhibits. It’s basically a slice of Arizona and Mexico.
Our half day at Tiergarten Schönbrunn, Palm House, and Desert House resulted in another six plus miles of walking and a trip to Billa for cokes and bread rolls before hopping on the metro to return to our Airbnb.
Neither the Palm House nor Desert House is anything special. But combo admission tickets are sold with the zoo, and each is nice enough to be worth forking over a few extra dollars while you are there.
Vienna loves selling combo admissions tickets. Almost every place offers some sort of combined ticket discount. We bought a few combo tickets, but not many. Most combo tickets include admission to lesser museums and places we were not interested in seeing.
In our next post we will wrap up our month in Vienna with still more museums.
Garrett and Stephanie
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