Is an audio guide included at the Hofburg, and in which languages?
Updated September 18, 2026
Quick answer
Yes. The operator's own audio guide page states that audio guides are available free of charge in fourteen languages: Chinese, German, English, French, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Czech, Hungarian and Ukrainian.
The audio guide is the standard way to see the Imperial Apartments, the Sisi Museum and the Silver Collection — the commentary is what turns a sequence of furnished rooms into a route with an argument. It is not an upsell: the operator lists it as included rather than as an extra. A live guided tour is a separate, paid product.
What is included with the ticket
The operator's audio guide page describes the guides as available free of charge, which makes the standard adult day ticket — EUR 20 for the Sisi Museum, Imperial Apartments and Silver Collection — an all-in price for the self-guided visit. That is unusual: at a good many European palaces the audio guide is a separate three to six euros. One caveat worth repeating, because it is on the operator's own page: at the time of reading on 18 September 2026 the audio guides were 'currently not available on the website due to a revision', so the detail of what is issued on the day may change. The languages list below was published on the same page.
The fourteen languages
Named on the operator's page, in the order it gives them: Chinese, German, English, French, Italian, Japanese, Dutch, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Czech, Hungarian and Ukrainian. That is a wider spread than most Vienna museums manage, and it covers the four Central European languages — Polish, Czech, Hungarian and Ukrainian — that a Habsburg site arguably owes its visitors.
Guided tours, and what they add
A live tour is a different ticket. The palace sells a day ticket with a guided tour at EUR 25 for an adult, EUR 23 for a student aged 19 to 25 and EUR 17 for a child aged 6 to 18 — five euros more than the self-guided equivalent. The operator advertises tours in English of the Sisi Museum and the residential and state apartments, and sells private and evening tours as separate offers. It does not publish a public timetable of tour departure times on its guided-tour page, so the times that matter are the ones shown at the point of booking.
Practicalities
Collect the guide when you collect your ticket, at the entrance under the Michaelerplatz dome. You do not need your own headphones — the palace issues handsets — but if you are sensitive about shared earpieces, a pair of wired earbuds with a standard jack is worth having in a pocket. Allow the full running time: the commentary is the reason the operator's own estimate for the route is well over an hour, and the last admission at 16:30 leaves exactly enough time to hear all of it before the Sisi Museum clears at 17:00.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Hofburg audio guide cost extra?
No. The operator's audio guide page states the guides are available free of charge with admission.
Is the audio guide available in English?
Yes. English is one of the fourteen languages named on the operator's page.
Is there an app instead of a handset?
The operator's page does not mention an app. It describes audio guides, and handsets are issued at the entrance.
How much more is a guided tour?
Five euros. The day ticket with a guided tour is EUR 25 for an adult against EUR 20 self-guided.
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