Hotels near Schonbrunn Palace Gardens

Schonbrunn Palace was the Habsburg summer residence and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, with 1,441 rooms of which about 40 are open. The autumn argument is the park rather than the apartments: 160 hectares of Baroque garden laid out in the 1700s, with clipped hornbeam avenues, the Neptune Fountain and the Gloriette on the hill behind, all turning through mid-October. Entry to the gardens is free.

The walk up to the Gloriette takes about 20 minutes and gives the standard view back down over the palace to the city beyond, which in autumn has the whole formal garden in colour between you and it. Palace tours are timed and the Grand Tour covers 40 rooms. Schonbrunn Zoo, founded in 1752 and the oldest still operating anywhere, sits inside the grounds.

Pro Tip: Enter by the Hietzing gate on the west side rather than the main gate at Schonbrunn U4. You walk into the gardens ahead of the coach flow, and the Gloriette climb comes at the start while you still have the legs for it.