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Schönbrunn Palace & Gardens Tour

Name: Schönbrunn Palace & Gardens Tour
Address: Austria

41 Reviews

Outdoor activities Tours Activities Guided tours Culture & history Small group activities Garden & Park Tours Private tours Castle & palace tours Rainy-day activities Sightseeing

Enjoy a 2.5-hour tour of Schönbrunn Palace and its magnificent gardens with a historian as your guide. Admire the Rococo ambiance of the majestic palace and the Baroque landscape principles of interlaced nature and architecture in the gardens.

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Highlights

Explore Schönbrunn's magnificent formal gardens designed on Baroque landscaping principles
See the Porcelain Room, which was the office of Maria Theresa
Marvel at the unique Rococo-era Millions Room

Description

The astonishing High Baroque Schönbrunn Palace was built to rival Versailles. Begin your 2.5-hour guided tour with a walk through the magnificent formal gardens, based on the Baroque landscaping principle of interlaced nature and architecture. Approaching the Gloriette, a huge triumphal arch situated on a hilltop with panoramic views of Vienna’s woods, your guide will tell you about the military victories that made Empress Maria Theresa’s reign (1740-1780) a highpoint in the Hapsburg Dynasty’s political and cultural dominance in Europe. The park was opened to the general public in 1779, a populist gesture that reveals Maria Theresa’s canny charm offensive. Indeed, it was under Maria Theresa’s direction that Schönbrunn Palace became the focal point of Austria’s imperial policy and the center of court life, in addition to functioning as the summer residence of a reigning family with 16 children! You’ll see that next generation of Hapsburg rulers also put their stamp on Schönbrunn. The Franz-Joseph and Elisabeth Apartments tell the story of a couple torn apart by the burdens of state. In 1854, Emperor Franz Joseph married the Bavarian princess known better under the affectionate nickname Sisi, who despised the rituals of court life and the ornate environment of the summer palace. She commissioned a spiral staircase leading from her official rooms to a private entry from which she could flee from the palace to the gardens. Visiting one lavish room after another will give you a sense of the opulence that the country girl Sisi fled. Marvel at the unique Millions Room that owes its name to its price. It features antique Indo-Persian miniatures in Rococo frames and wall hangings of carved rosewood from the Antilles that make the Millions Room one of the most accomplished combinations of Oriental and European decorative art from the Rococo era.

Includes

Guided tour Historian guide

Important Information

Your guide will help you purchase your tickets. Tour guides are professors, doctoral students, historians, journalists, art critics, and published authors.