Schönbrunn Palace Tours and Activities

Schoenbrunn Palace featuring flowers, a garden and heritage architecture
Schoenbrunn Palace showing a castle and interior views
Schoenbrunn Palace showing a square or plaza, a city and landscape views
Schoenbrunn Palace featuring château or palace, interior views and heritage architecture
Schoenbrunn Palace featuring heritage architecture, a castle and a garden


The summer playground of the Habsburg emperors features landscaped gardens, beautiful ruins, an imperial zoo and a Baroque palace where Rococo runs riot.

The Hofburg Palace, in central Vienna, may have been the imperial showcase for the capital. But the imperial family's summer home of choice was the Schönbrunn Palace (Schloss Schönbrunn). It may be a little smaller – with a mere 1,400 rooms – but it certainly had the location. When first built, it sat in the rolling fields beyond the city, in its own vast island of formal gardens and idyllic parkland.

That endless open space, landscaped to perfection, remains popular to this day: Schönbrunn Palace is the most visited of all of Vienna's multi-faceted attractions. The palace started out as a hunting park for the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II, when he bought the land in 1569. But it wasn't until the reign of Empress Maria Theresa in the 1750s that the Baroque masterpiece seen today was finally completed.

Forty of its rooms are open to the public now, and they demonstrate the power and wealth of the Habsburg rulers. Most of the rooms are decorated in fine Rococo-lacquer, traced with copious amounts of gold-leaf. The finest Bohemian crystal chandeliers hang from rooms like the Round Chinese Room and the Hall of Mirrors, where a six-year-old boy named Mozart once gave a concert.

Much of the attraction here lies outside of such palatial splendour. The Schlosspark, as the parklands are called, stretch over 120 hectares. Close to the palace, they include formal French-style gardens and immense ponds, and further out, landscaped woodlands. The dominating feature of the gardens is the Gloriette, a glowing-white “temple” built on a hill rising south of the palace. Today, this houses a café and offers great views back over Vienna.

The Schlosspark is also home to the Schönbrunn Zoo, which claims to be the oldest-running zoo in the world. It started out as an Imperial menagerie in 1752, but is now a zoo that is well-respected for its conservation efforts – and its Giant Pandas. And there's more – a fabulous 19th-century Palm House, Roman ruins, the Neptune Fountain and a 300-year old hedge maze. More than enough to keep the most energetic emperor busy all summer long.

Tours & day trips

See all 478 activities

Private & custom tours

See all 193 activities

Food, drink & nightlife

See all 70 activities

Adventure & outdoor

See all 35 activities

Classes & workshops

See all 18 activities

Popular places to visit


Top Schönbrunn Palace Hotel & Accommodation Deals

Austria Trend Parkhotel Schönbrunn

Austria Trend Parkhotel Schönbrunn

4.5 out of 5
Hietzinger Hauptstrasse 10-14, Vienna, Vienna
Austria Trend Parkhotel Schönbrunn
H2 Hotel Wien Schönbrunn

H2 Hotel Wien Schönbrunn

3 out of 5
Rechte Wienzeile 223, Stiegenhaus 1, STGH A, Vienna
H2 Hotel Wien Schönbrunn
lyf Schönbrunn Vienna

lyf Schönbrunn Vienna

4 out of 5
Breitenfurter Strasse 12, Vienna
lyf Schönbrunn Vienna
Doubletree by Hilton Vienna Schonbrunn

Doubletree by Hilton Vienna Schonbrunn

4 out of 5
Schlossallee 8, Vienna, Vienna
Doubletree by Hilton Vienna Schonbrunn
Hampton By Hilton Vienna City West

Hampton By Hilton Vienna City West

3 out of 5
Diefenbachgasse 1-3, Vienna
Hampton By Hilton Vienna City West
Leonardo Hotel Vienna Schönbrunn

Leonardo Hotel Vienna Schönbrunn

4 out of 5
Linke Wienzeile 224, Vienna, Vienna
Leonardo Hotel Vienna Schönbrunn
Somerset Schönbrunn Vienna

Somerset Schönbrunn Vienna

4 out of 5
Breitenfurterstraße 10, Vienna
Somerset Schönbrunn Vienna
Austria Trend Hotel Maximilian

Austria Trend Hotel Maximilian

4 out of 5
Hietzinger Hauptstrasse 16, Vienna
Austria Trend Hotel Maximilian
Atik Hotel Vienna

Atik Hotel Vienna

3 out of 5
Gurkgasse, 11, Vienna, Wien
Atik Hotel Vienna
Lowest nightly price found within the past 24 hours based on a 1 night stay for 2 adults. Prices and availability subject to change. Additional terms may apply.