Castles · Tour

Private, Morning or Afternoon, and the Gardens Come Before the Palace

Half a day at Schönbrunn with a private guide, booked either in the morning or in the afternoon, and taken in the less usual order: the gardens first, the palace after. The park is on the UNESCO list and was built on the Baroque idea that planting and architecture belong to one design, which is easier to see walking it than reading about it. The Gloriette closes the view from its hill, above the Vienna woods. Maria Theresa reigned from 1740 to 1780, and it was under her that Schönbrunn became the centre of Austrian imperial policy and of court life; in 1779 the park was opened to the public and not only to the court. Inside, the rooms carry the marks of successive Habsburg generations. The dining room still has its tableware and its imperial napkins folded as a fleur de lys. The Hall of Ceremonies holds Martin van Meytens's paintings of Crown Prince Joseph's wedding. The Porcelain Room, Maria Theresa's own study, is painted throughout in imitation of china, with orientalist drawings by the imperial children. The Millions Room takes its name from what it cost in gold ducats.