Castles in Austria to Visit
Thirty seven ticketed products and 15,299 reviews, all of them in Vienna: 30 or 42 EUR at the official door, 84 EUR median once a guide is attached.
Austria sells its palaces through two different kinds of institution, and the difference shows up at the door. Schönbrunn belongs to a state operating company, and it sells entry in fifteen minute slots that stop being valid if you arrive late. The Belvedere is a federal museum, so the slot there is an admission time and nothing else: once you are inside you can stay until closing. Thirty seven Austrian products are tracked in this catalogue, and every one of them hangs off one of those two palaces. The thing most people do not know before they book is narrower than the choice of palace, and it costs more. The two Schönbrunn ticket names still printed all over the web, Imperial Tour and Grand Tour, were withdrawn by the palace itself.
The perimeter is worth stating plainly, because the search results for castles in Austria never state it. This catalogue is imperial Vienna. There is no listing here for Hohensalzburg, the long white fortress on the ridge above the old town of Salzburg, and none for Hohenwerfen on its green knoll in the Salzach valley, which are the two buildings most people have in mind when they picture an Austrian castle. What there is instead is 37 ticketed products. Twenty nine of them declare a location at all, and all 29 of those are in Vienna. Not one listing is attached to the country or to the city as such: every single one belongs to a palace. If the trip is a drive through Salzburg and Carinthia, this is the wrong catalogue. If it is two days in Vienna, it is the whole question.
Once the palace is chosen, what remains to choose is an audioguide or a person. Schönbrunn's own products are self guided: the State Apartments and the Palace Ticket both include a free audioguide, and one ticket in the whole line-up, the 44 EUR Maria Theresia visit, comes with a human guide instead. The Belvedere requires no guide either, and what it offers a self guided visitor is an audio tour that runs on your own phone. Every other guide in Austrian palace listings comes from a reseller. That is the whole reason the median product in this catalogue costs 84 EUR while the most expensive official door in the country costs 42. Ten of the 37 listings are private tours, and a quarter of them cost more than 218.93 EUR.
Three sellers cover Austria in this catalogue: 26 listings from Viator, 8 from Tiqets and 3 from Civitatis, split 20 to Schönbrunn and 17 to the Belvedere. Every price here starts where the official ticket stops, and the distance between the two is what this page is about.
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Castles Experiences in Austria
Tram D to the Black Gate, and The Kiss Is Painted in Real Gold Leaf
The largest Klimt collection anywhere, plus van Gogh, Monet, Rodin and the Gothic winged altars, with a live guide. One minute from the tram stop.
Thirty Million Bricks in the Rathaus, and the Walking Done by Car
Three lengths, 3, 7 or 8 hours, with the transfers by car: Schönbrunn on the longer two, and Klimt's The Kiss at the Upper Belvedere on the longest.
A Great Gallery Forty Metres Long, the Blue China and Breakfast Rooms
Over twenty rooms in Rococo, among them the Blue China Room and the Breakfast Room, and a gallery 40 metres long. Two to two and a half hours.
Carlone Finished the Marble Hall Ceiling in 1723; Austria Signed Below It in 1955
An hour and a half to two hours taking in the gardens, Klimt's Sonja Knips beside The Kiss, and the Marble Hall where the State Treaty was signed.
The Room Where Mozart and Salieri Were Set Against Each Other
An hour and three quarters with a 15-minute interval, four ticket grades from C to VIP, and the Orangery garden open while the orchestra rests.
Figaro, Die Zauberflöte and Don Giovanni, Played Here Every Day
Overtures, arias and duets from Figaro, Die Zauberflöte and Don Giovanni, with waltzes and polkas, played daily. Cancel free up to the time slot.
Straight to the Door, No Guide: the Kiss and What Hangs Around It
Admission alone, walk straight in: Klimt's The Kiss, Schiele and Kokoschka, and the permanent collection that runs from Cranach to Lassnig.
The Hour That Never Goes Inside: Gardens, Angel Fountain, Gloriette
One hour in the Schlosspark with the palace seen only from outside, or two with 22 rooms added. Private guide, meeting in front of the Museum Shop.
One Mug, One Hot Drink and One Dish, Then the Orangery at 8:30
The voucher covers a mug, a hot drink and a dish at any food stand of the market, open 8 November to 6 January. Concert times shift over the holidays.
The Concert Ticket on Its Own, With Nothing Bundled Around It
The plain seat at the concert, without the palace tour or the market voucher other tickets attach. Booked for a fixed date and not cancellable.
Finished in 1716 to Hildebrandt's Plan, and Lived In, Not Displayed
The half Prince Eugene actually lived in, finished 1716 to Hildebrandt's design, with state rooms and the contemporary shows in the Orangery.
Temporary Shows, the Orangery and the Stables, and No Klimt Here
Temporary shows rather than the Klimt rooms, with the Orangery and the Palace Stables included, and a garden on three terraces between the two palaces.
The Palace After Closing Time, then Mozart Where He Played in 1786
Audio guide in 16 languages through a palace already shut to day visitors, meeting 6:45 pm, then the Orangery concert from 8:30 and out by 10:15.
Ratings collected by Viator, Tripadvisor, Civitatis and Tiqets