Schönbrunn Palace: Exclusive After-Hours Royal Evening

It was a special evening and the whole event was great. There could've been some better signage to guide us to the tour location, as it's a very large place but we found it eventually. The operators were very nice and answered all of our questions.

Don't trust the instructions to find the starting point for the tour. The instructions might say to proceed to a building "inside the main gate" to meet. What they really mean to say is to do a 2 minute walk after entering the main gate, going past the first building inside the gate (which is the ticket office), and proceed to enter the main entrance of the Palace. Once in the entrance lobby of the main palace none of we tourist milling and asking each other for advise, could find any sign of a tour meeting place. Only around 5:30 pm - which was 15 minutes after the tour was to start, and 30 minutes after we were advised to arrive, did a pair of guides set-up a floor sign saying meeting point. Then the rest of the evening was fine. We did seem to be rushed a little on the palace tour (probably to get back on schedule.)

Having a combination audio tour of the palace followed by a concert met our needs and checked two “Vienna to do” boxes on our list. I highly recommend the after hours audio tour, for the simple fact that it amounts to a small group tour, ie NOT CROWDED!! The concert afterwards was fine, though not spectacular - mostly because the setting is more like a conference room than an auditorium. The orchestra was tight and skilled.

Great evening the tour, the meal and concert very enjoyable and memorable. Like everything in Vienna it pays to acquire context at the Vienna City Museum (free) beforehand. The apple strudel is much better than some of the historic cafes!

The palace is lovely and the after hours tour was nice. I'm assuming we skipped a long line. However the meeting place was not described well. Inside the gate to the left of a huge court yard a palace was a terrible way to describe the meeting point. We had to ask a few people where to go. Just a few more sentences about going through the gate, all the way through the courtyard, go inside the tour office which is on the left of the main building entrance.. etc. Also, we were told the tour started at 5. It started at 5:30, so we all just sat there waiting for 30 minutes for it to begin. But, the tour was lovely. As for the dinner, skip it! Find a restaurant near by. The service was nice, but it was just in the cafe at the museum. The food was mediocre. The music was by far the best part. A wonderful concert and in a beautiful part of the palace. The whole tour was disconnected.

It was a wonderful introduction to vienns.. The schonbrunn palace was amazing followed by dinner at gestner. We booked the VIP package and were seated in the first two rows which gave us wonderful seats to be entertained by the conductor and orchestra.. It was an enchanting evening.

We got to see the palace when it was empty. It was very nice to avoid the crowds. The dinner was very nice in an excellent restaurant on the palace grounds. The concert was the best.

What an experience! The tour of part of the palace after hours was relaxing because it wasn’t crowded. This was followed by a 3-course meal which, although a set menu, was delicious. The only criticism I would have is that there was a 2.90€ charge for tap water per carafe. We’ve never been charged for tap water before; our jaws dropped! The concert which followed was top class. The first half was my favourite: Mozart and Haydn. The second half comprised Strauss and other composers of the same genre ending with the Blue Danube. Great orchestra, exceptional solo singers in the operatic pieces, engaging conductor who involved the audience during the encore. We had VIP passes which meant that we skipped the queues and had front row seats. Apart from the charge for tap water this was an outstanding evening.

Let me start out with the positives about this evening. The concert itself and the venue were absolutely stunning. The talent displayed was just fantastic. We upgraded to VIP to sit in front row. I’ve read if you sit to far back it’s tough to see since the level of seating is flat. Another positive is you get access to to Palace after the crowds. It is a self guided informative tour with head set. Perhaps a slight negative is don’t expect much for the dinner. The restaurant is on the huge palace grounds so it is convenient. If you like Cracker Barrel, the roast beef is on par with that. Overall I recommend this highly if you want to kill a palace tour and concert. There is no other place to eat on the huge grounds.

Truly excellent concert. Great music including some humour. Was sorry when it finished. Dinner was average - set meal. The private tour of Schönbrunn was also excellent. Great guide and admin person - Paul.