Hofburg vs Schonbrunn

We easily did both in one busy day. Hofburgh in the morning and Schonbrunn in the afternoon. The gardens at the latter are really worth the extra time to explore.

You don't have to see every attraction at either palace. At the Hofburg, I wish we had skipped the "Sisi" Museum, but loved the Treasury. We also watched the morning exercises at the Spanish Riding School. By the time we made it to Schonbrunn, neither my husband nor I could stomach the interior of another lavish palace, but very much enjoyed the grounds and the zoo.

When we visited Vienna in October 2015, everything mentioned above was covered by the Vienna Pass.

I think they are both worth doing, but I wouldn't put them on the same day as that would be a pretty repetitive day with two lavish palaces. I personally love the interiors of both, and as others mention, they each have other aspects that make them even more worth visiting (the grounds at Schonbrunn, the Treasury at the Hofburg...when I went to the Hofburg, they had a beautiful exhibition of porcelain as well that I really loved).

Schonbrunn! Then, if you have time, the Treasury and/or the Spanish Riding School at the HOfburg. I went to the Hofburg the day after the Schonbrunn - the route was through the porcelain and Sisi museums and then the rooms of the palace. There were way too many rooms of porcelain (and silver too), the Sisi artifacts were not very interesting and there was much more detail of her life than I really needed/wanted to know. The rooms of the royal couple were very similar to those at the Schonbrunn, just not as many.

I liked them both. Schonbrunn is more about Maria Therese and the Hofburg more about Franz Joseph and Sisi. I think each takes about a half day. The Schonbrunn gardens are lovely, FYI. I would suggest getting to Schonbrunn a bit before opening and would go there second. You can get a combo ticket at the Hofburg which saves money and eliminates ticket lines at Schonbrunn. Neither allows photos of the interior but the gift shops sell post cards and CDs of images relatively inexpensively. I agree with Chani that the porcelain and silver collection is quite extensive, I enjoyed it and hence took my time and still finished the hofburg in half a day. If you don't like the silver collection just walk thru it. Also within the Hofburg buildings is Michaelskirche which is interesting and worth a few minutes. I absolutely LOVE the national library, often considered one of the ten most beautiful libraries in the world. The Albertina combines art and some Habsburg rooms as it was on one time the residence of part of the royal family. On my first trip to Vienna, I toured the incredible treasury with artifacts/crowns from the Holy Roman Empire. It can be extensive for some people, though I enjoyed it, I did not visit it on my return trip. Also in Vienna, I consider St. Stephans and St. Peters "must stops".

We didn't go to the Hofburg except for the treasury which I highly recommend. Schonnbrunn and the gardens were wonderful so I would recommend that.

The gardens at Schoenbrunn are wonderful; we did not go inside there. We did go in the Hofburg and loved the Treasury, but not as keen on the Sisi Museum. But you can go through it as quickly as you want or you can take your time over each exhibit.

I started with just Schonbrunn--solo, so I moved through it fairly briskly--but became so intrigued by Sisi that I ended up at the Hofburg, too, because there was a special exhibit going on of a large amount of her personal items (this was 2014). As others suggest, you don't have to see everything at each location--I recall a never-ending and, to me, rather dull, display of room after room of porcelain and silverware at the Hofburg that I zipped through.