Not one building but a district — courtyards you can walk through for nothing, and several separate museums inside that each sell their own ticket.
What it costs
The courtyards and the passages are public. You can walk through the whole complex, cross Heldenplatz and come out the other side without paying.
What is ticketed is what is inside, and it is not one ticket: the Imperial Apartments, the Sisi Museum and the Silver Collection are sold together; the Imperial Treasury is separate; the National Library’s State Hall is separate again; the Spanish Riding School is separate from all of them. Work out which you actually want before you arrive.
When to go
The courtyards are open at all hours and are worth walking after dark, when they are lit and empty. The museums keep normal hours and several close one day a week — check the one you want rather than assuming.
Getting there
Metro U3 to Herrengasse, or walk from Stephansplatz in about five minutes.
If you only have an hour
Walk it rather than pay for it: in at Michaelerplatz, through the courtyards, out across Heldenplatz into the Volksgarten. Free, ten minutes of actual walking, and it tells you more about the scale of the place than any one museum inside it.
What people get wrong
Visitors look for “the Hofburg” as a single attraction and find a walled quarter with a dozen entrances. It was the seat of the Habsburgs for six centuries and grew by accretion, which is why nothing about it is arranged conveniently. The Austrian president still works here.
Nearby
Ticketing arrangements and opening patterns as published for 2026 and checked on 4 September 2026. These change without much warning — confirm with the site itself before you travel. More sights, and how they fit together, in Landmarks & Sights.