The Hofburg ran an empire. From 1279 until 1918 this complex in the middle of the 1st district was the Habsburgs' winter residence, and each generation kept adding to it — the result is 18 wings, 19 courtyards and around 2,600 rooms spanning Gothic to late-19th-century historicism. It never stopped being a seat of power: the Austrian federal president works in the Leopoldine Wing today, which is why parts of the complex stay permanently closed to visitors.
The core visit is the combined Sisi Museum, Imperial Apartments and Silver Collection ticket (about €17.50), entered under the Michaelerkuppel dome: Franz Joseph's spartan iron bed and Empress Elisabeth's exercise room sit a few doors from state rooms dripping in Bohemian crystal. Three separate institutions inside the complex justify their own tickets — the Imperial Treasury with the 10th-century crown of the Holy Roman Empire, the Spanish Riding School, where the Lipizzaner stallions train most mornings (exercise tickets from about €16), and the Austrian National Library's State Hall, a 1726 baroque book cathedral of 200,000 leather-bound volumes.
Give the complex a half day and pick two of the paid interiors rather than attempting all of them. Entry points scatter around Michaelerplatz, In der Burg and Heldenplatz — the square where the Neue Burg's curved colonnade faces the equestrian statues of Prince Eugene and Archduke Charles. The Burggarten behind, with the Palm House café, is the spot to recover afterwards.
