Hofburg entry tickets: the self-guided route
Best valueVienna: New Hofburg Palace Audio-Guided Tour & Entry Ticket
Combo ticketVienna: Imperial Treasury & New Hofburg Palace Combo Ticket
Morning exerciseVienna: Spanish Riding School Training
The €23 Neue Burg audio ticket
About an hour with an audio guide through the Neue Burg on Heldenplatz: the Weltmuseum Wien, the Imperial Armoury and the old musical instruments, including a fortepiano Mozart played and the wax bust of Joseph Haydn taken from life. You collect the ticket at the Weltmuseum Wien desk. Audio comes in German, English, French, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Czech, and the building is wheelchair accessible — the only fully accessible option I list for the complex. Keith’s review is the driest I’ve read: “they said it would take an hour… it took 1 hour”. Melissa found the “voucher exchange easy” and thought “the armoury was brilliant”. My longer write-up is here.
The €34 Treasury combo
One ticket for the Imperial Treasury — the crowns, at the Schweizerhof entrance — plus the Neue Burg with its audio guide, valid for 10 days from first activation, so the two visits don’t have to share a day. The official page says it isn’t suitable for under-14s. Richard’s tip from the reviews is the one I’d repeat: collect your tickets at the Neue Burg desk first. Jaroslaw reckoned the “knight’s armor collection probably largest in world” — his words, and he may not be far off. Bought separately, the Treasury runs €16 online and the Neue Burg ticket €23, so the combo saves €5 if you were doing both anyway. Details in my combo review.
The €17 morning exercise
The cheapest ticket in the complex, and the most often misunderstood. This is the Lipizzaners’ morning training in the baroque Winter Riding School with classical music playing — real work between horse and rider, roughly an hour, and the famous school jumps (levade, courbette, capriole) are not practised every day. That gap between expectation and reality is the whole story behind its 3.9 rating; Petra valued the “deep insights into working with the Lipizzaners”, while people expecting a performance leave disappointed. Exchange your voucher at the entrance at least an hour before, and note the general ban on photo, video and audio recording inside. Training runs roughly Tuesday to Friday mornings in season and the horses take summer breaks, so check dates on the operator’s site when booking. My honest verdict is in the training review.
What about the Sisi Museum?
The apartments and Sisi Museum have no cheap bookable entry ticket here — the €20 gate is the budget route (fixed admission times; the official site recommends booking online), and the guided tours from €48 are the alternative. The full door-by-door price table is on the prices page, and the case for paying a guide on the guided tours page.
Side by side
| Vienna: New Hofburg Palace Audio-Guided Tour & Entry Ticket | Top pickVienna: Imperial Treasury & New Hofburg Palace Combo Ticket | Vienna: Spanish Riding School Training | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | €23 | €34 | €17 |
| Covers | Neue Burg museums | Treasury + Neue Burg | Morning exercise |
| Duration | About 1 h | Your pace, 10 days | About 1 h |
| Guide | Audio guide | Audio guides | None — you watch |
| Rating | 4.0 | 4.3 | 3.9 |
| View → | Book this → | View → |
The Treasury closes Tuesdays and is busiest Wednesday as a result. Book the Riding School for a Thursday or Friday and you can pair the exercise with a quiet Treasury slot the same morning.
Frequently asked questions
Can I visit the Hofburg without a guided tour?
Yes, and plenty of people should. Every attraction sells self-guided entry, and the audio guides at the Neue Burg and Treasury are genuinely serviceable. You lose the skipped queue and the live commentary, which matter most in July, August and December.
Is the €34 combo worth it over single tickets?
If you were doing both sites anyway, yes: €16 for the Treasury online plus €23 for the Neue Burg ticket is €39, so the combo saves €5 and stays valid for 10 days. If the crowns are all you want, buy the Treasury on its own.
Do entry tickets let me skip the line?
No — you use the normal entrances. From 1 April 2026 the Treasury moves to reserved online time slots for everyone, which settles the queue question there. Each door also keeps its own hours; see opening hours.
Are the Neue Burg museums good for children?
The Armoury usually lands well. The official page for the €34 combo says that ticket isn’t suitable for under-14s, so for younger children the €23 Neue Burg ticket on its own is the safer buy.