Schönbrunn Palace Tickets 2026: Palace Ticket, State Apartments and Passes Explained

The short version

If you read an older guide, forget the Imperial Tour and the Grand Tour: those ticket names no longer exist at Schönbrunn. The palace now sells a Palace Ticket and a shorter State Apartments ticket, plus several combined passes. All prices below were checked in September 2026 on the official site, schoenbrunn.at; they usually change on 1 January, so re-check if you travel in 2027.

• Most visitors: the Palace Ticket, €42 — every room on the piano nobile, including the apartments of Franz Joseph and Sisi and Maria Theresa's chambers, with an audioguide, about 75 minutes.
• Short on time or budget: State Apartments, €30.
• You also plan the Hofburg: the Sisi Pass, €60, which combines Schönbrunn, the Sisi Museum and the Furniture Museum and is valid for a year.
• You want the extras (gardens, maze, Gloriette terrace, zoo): the Classic Pass (€49) or Classic Pass Plus (€81, including the zoo).
• Just the park: free, daily from 06:30.

Every palace ticket has a fixed entry time. In spring, summer and around Christmas the morning slots sell out, so book before you arrive in Vienna.

Buy only from the official shop

Schönbrunn states that genuine online tickets for the palace, the Sisi Museum at the Hofburg and the Furniture Museum are sold only through imperialtickets.com, the shop linked from schoenbrunn.at. Resellers and "skip-the-line" packages often cost more and sometimes simply bundle the same timed ticket with a guide. If a guided experience is what you want, compare it with the palace's own Guided Tour Maria Theresia (€44) first.

You can also buy at the ticket office on the day, but in high season the next free slot may be hours away. Our palaces page compares Schönbrunn with the Hofburg and the Belvedere if you are deciding which to prioritise.

What each ticket includes

Palace Ticket — €42

The full visit to the palace interiors: all the rooms on the main floor, from the private apartments of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth to the state rooms and the chambers of Maria Theresa, whose 18th-century rebuilding gave the palace its present look. It includes an audioguide and takes around 75 minutes. This is the ticket that tells the whole story — the Great Gallery, the Chinese cabinets, the Millions Room — and it is the one we recommend unless time is very tight.

State Apartments — €30

A shorter selection of rooms, also with a fixed time slot. It suits travellers with children, a tight schedule or a second visit. Check the room list on schoenbrunn.at when booking, since the selection can change with conservation work.

Guided Tour Maria Theresia — €44

A guided visit instead of an audioguide, built around the empress who shaped Schönbrunn. Worth it if you prefer a person to a headset and want the context behind the rooms.

Sisi Pass — €60

Schönbrunn, the Sisi Museum and Imperial Apartments at the Hofburg, and the Furniture Museum, valid for one year. Bought separately, the Sisi Museum alone costs €20 (sisimuseum-hofburg.at, checked September 2026), so if you plan both palaces the pass pays for itself.

Classic Pass — €49, and Classic Pass Plus — €81

The Classic Pass bundles the palace with five attractions in the grounds, the Plus version eight, including the zoo. The line-up of garden attractions (areas such as the Privy Garden, the Maze and the Gloriette terrace) varies by season, so check what is open on your dates before paying for a pass. Separately ticketed areas do not publish individual prices on the main page, so the pass is the easiest way to see several of them.

Exclusive Gardens — €16

Access to the separately ticketed garden areas without the palace interior — a good option on a second visit or for garden lovers.

The park, the Gloriette and the zoo

The palace park is free and open daily from 06:30 to 20:00 (summer hours as published in September 2026). That makes Schönbrunn one of the best free mornings in Vienna even without a ticket. Walk past the Neptune Fountain and up the hill to the Gloriette: the view back over the palace towards the city is the image everyone remembers. The Café Gloriette inside is a pleasant place to sit; the price of the view is a slightly tourist bill.

The Tiergarten Schönbrunn, founded in 1752 and the oldest zoo in the world, is in the park too. Adult tickets cost €29, ages 6–19 €17, under-6s free (zoovienna.at, checked September 2026). It opens at 09:00 and closes at 17:30 in October, earlier in winter, and at 18:30 from April to September; last entry is 30 minutes before closing. It is excellent, but it is half a day: add it only if you have children or a fourth day.

Also in the grounds: the glass Palm House, the Imperial Carriage Museum with the coronation coaches, and a children's museum.

Opening hours and timing

The palace is open daily from 08:30 to 17:30 (schoenbrunn.at, checked September 2026). The smartest plan:

1. Book the 08:30 or 09:00 slot. The first rooms of the day are the calmest.
2. After the palace, walk the park up to the Gloriette while the tour coaches are still arriving.
3. Lunch in Hietzing rather than in the grounds: Café Dommayer, where Johann Strauss the younger made his debut, is a few minutes from the Hietzing gate.
4. Be back in town by early afternoon for the next sight — our three days in Vienna itinerary shows how it fits.

Allow three hours for palace and park, five with the zoo.

Getting there

Take the U4 to Schönbrunn, then walk about five minutes to the main gate; the Hietzing stop is handy for the western side and the zoo. From Karlsplatz the ride is short and frequent. If you stay nearby, Hietzing is a quiet, leafy district, and the Parkhotel Schönbrunn faces the palace.

Christmas at Schönbrunn

In winter the forecourt hosts one of Vienna's most atmospheric markets: 6 November 2026 to 6 January 2027, daily 10:00–21:00, with shorter hours on 24 December and from 25 December (wien.info, checked September 2026). Combine a late-afternoon palace slot with the market after dark. All market dates are on our Christmas markets page.

Is Schönbrunn worth it?

Yes — if you pick one palace in Vienna, pick this one. The Hofburg is more central and the Sisi Museum tells the empress's story better, but nothing matches Schönbrunn's combination of state rooms, baroque gardens and the view from the Gloriette. Skip the zoo if you are short on time, never buy from unofficial resellers, and book the first slot of the day.