Before You Book Schönbrunn Palace: Every Cost, and What's Worth It
By the BeatTheCrowd team · Prices last checked 2 November · 3 min read
Schönbrunn, the Habsburgs' summer palace, has renamed its tickets, which makes older guides confusing. There's the Palace Ticket, the shorter State Apartments ticket, the Classic Pass with the garden attractions, the Sisi Pass across Vienna, seasonal prices and a huge park that's free. Most of them sound worth paying for. You don't need the most expensive one to have a great visit. In this guide we walk through what each option costs, what you really get, and how to choose the right one, whether that's a quiet early slot or a packed midday.
At a glance
Palace Ticket (formerly Grand Tour)
€38 (summer price)
State Apartments (formerly Imperial Tour)
€28 (summer price)
Classic Pass (palace + garden sights)
€44, summer season
Sisi Pass
About €51-60
Park and gardens
Free
Under 6
Free; reduced rates for ages 6-18
Quietest
Opening, and from about 4 pm
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The real total: basic entry vs what most visitors pay
The park and gardens are free. Inside, the Palace Ticket (the old Grand Tour) cost €38 and the shorter State Apartments ticket (the old Imperial Tour) €28 in the summer season, according to Schönbrunn's official ticket folder. The Classic Pass adds the paid garden sights for €44. Summer prices ran until 2 November, so check the winter prices on the official site.
Visitor
What they buy
Price (summer)
Park only
Free
€0
Short visit
State Apartments
€28
Most visitors
Palace Ticket
€38
Palace + garden sights
Classic Pass
€44
Tickets: what each option gets you
Cost
Price (€)
Type
How to cut it
State Apartments
€28
≈ US$32
Optional
The main state rooms; shorter visit.
Palace Ticket
€38
≈ US$44
Unavoidable
The fuller route through the palace.
Classic Pass
€44
≈ US$51
Optional
Adds the Gloriette, Maze, Privy Garden and Orangery Garden; summer only.
Sisi Pass
About €51-60
≈ US$59-69
Optional
Adds the Hofburg and Furniture Museum.
Prices are the official summer rates; reduced rates apply to ages 6-18, and under-6s are free. Every palace ticket has a timed entry.
Palace Ticket or State Apartments?
The Palace Ticket costs €10 more and covers more rooms. Our verdict: for a first visit, the Palace Ticket; if you're short on time, the State Apartments cover the highlights.
Is the Classic Pass worth it?
In summer, the Classic Pass costs €6 more than the Palace Ticket and adds the Gloriette terrace, the Maze and the Privy Garden. Our verdict: worth it on a fine day, especially with children; the official site says it saves about 20% against single tickets.
Which ticket should you buy? Our verdict
First visit: the Palace Ticket, early slot.
Short on time: State Apartments.
Summer, with children: the Classic Pass.
Budget: the free park and gardens.
What visitors say
Visitors love the Great Gallery, the Hall of Mirrors and the view from the Gloriette over the palace and the city. The most common complaints are crowds in the state rooms and timed slots selling out at midday, so the advice is to book an early slot and walk up to the Gloriette afterwards.
Prices last checked: 2 November. Prices vary with the season, peak and off-peak dates and promotions, and we recheck them every month. Visitor-reported costs are marked as estimates, and US$ figures are rough conversions.
The crowd tax: what busy hours cost you
Our crowd data shows Schönbrunn moderate at opening, then busy from about 10 am until about 4 pm every day, and until 5 pm on weekends. The crowd tax is packed state rooms and sold-out slots, which push visitors to pricier guided tours.
When
Crowds (our data)
What to do
8-9 am
Moderate
Best time for the palace
About 10 am to 4 pm
Busy
Do the park and Gloriette
After about 4 pm
Moderate
A calmer late slot
Crowds by day and time
From the typical weekly visitor pattern for Schönbrunn Palace, based on Google’s popular-times data.
Quietest time
Monday, 8-9 am
Busiest time
Sunday, 10 am-5 pm
Guides and tours: official, licensed or touts?
Reseller tours add a guide at a higher price. Our verdict: book directly on schoenbrunn.at.
Short on time? What you'd regret missing
The Great Gallery.
The Hall of Mirrors.
The Gloriette, for the view.
The Neptune Fountain, in the free park.
Getting there
Take U-Bahn line U4 to Schönbrunn, a short walk from the palace.
Rules and closures
Palace entry is by timed slot. Some garden attractions are seasonal, and the Classic Pass is sold only in the summer season.
What can go wrong
You follow an old guide: the Grand Tour and Imperial Tour have been renamed.
Midday slots sell out: book ahead.
You expect the Classic Pass in winter: it's a summer ticket.
How we research: every guide is written by the BeatTheCrowd team from official sources and recent traveller reports, cross-checked against each other. Crowd figures come from our own crowd data. Prices last checked 2 November. Prices and rules change, so always confirm on the official site before you book.
When
What to expect
Verdict
Weekdays, 8-11 am
A steady flow of visitors, short waits at the main spots. Before the main crowds arrive.
Best
Weekdays, 11 am-3 pm
Peak crowds, queues at the entrance and main sights. Peak sightseeing hours, when most visitors are on site.
Worst
Weekdays, 3-6 pm
Peak crowds, queues at the entrance and main sights. A little calmer than midday, but still busy.
Worst
Saturday and Sunday
Peak crowds, queues at the entrance and main sights. Similar to weekdays.
Worst
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