Gerstner offers a seat by the palace exit; Café Gloriette adds the climb and a view across the gardens.

Where should you have coffee after Schönbrunn: beside the palace or up at the Gloriette?

A visit to Schönbrunn need not end when you leave the imperial apartments. The park opens behind the palace, and a climb leads to the Gloriette, the landmark that frames the Baroque axis from above. Between those two ends of the grounds are two ways to take a Viennese break: Gerstner serves melange and strudel beside the courtyard; Café Gloriette asks you to keep walking before sitting down to face the palace and gardens. The choice concerns time, effort and landscape, not just which cake looks best in a photograph.

Separate the park from the palace

Entry to the park is free during opening hours, while the palace interior and some special attractions require tickets. The Gloriette viewing terrace has its own opening times and admission; sitting in the café and going up to that terrace are different activities. Schönbrunn lists a 19:00 park closing time in October, and the café says it closes an hour before the grounds. If your palace visit ends near dusk, check that you really have time to cross the park and climb.

A nearby table or a panoramic climb

Gerstner K. u. K. Hofzuckerbäcker Schloss Schönbrunn is at Kavalierstrakt 52 beside the courtyard. It serves coffee, cakes, strudel and hot dishes from 10:00 to 20:00. The confectioner demonstration runs four times a day and needs a separate ticket: watching the pastry being made is not automatically included with a café order. If you have energy for the walk, Café Gloriette Schönbrunn lets you look back from the hill. It opens from 09:00; its Sisi buffet is a Saturday, Sunday and public-holiday morning event requiring a confirmed booking.

Choose according to your visit time

Accounts from customers at both cafés mix praise for the setting with warnings about waits and tourist-site prices. Do not race uphill solely for a drink or assume a window table will be available in a busy room. If the gardens themselves interest you, the climb makes Gloriette worthwhile. If you have just left the palace rooms and plan to return to town, Gerstner saves steps. In either case, check park hours and your palace entry time before building the day around a coffee stop.

Bottom line

Choose Gerstner after the palace rooms or for the strudel show; climb to Gloriette when the view is part of the visit.

Editorial selection

Cafés to compare

Compare menus, hours and recent reviews before choosing a café.

01

Viennese café-restaurant and confectioner

Gerstner K. u. K. Hofzuckerbäcker Schloss Schönbrunn

Schloss Schönbrunn, Kavalierstrakt 52, 1130 Wien, Austria

4.4 /5 2,018 reviews

Gerstner occupies Kavalierstrakt 52 at Schönbrunn, beside the courtyard reached after leaving the palace rooms. The Viennese company began as a confectioner in 1847 and now runs this café-restaurant at a different address from its Kärntner Straße branch. That distinction prevents the experience or r

Why it made the selection

Melange, strudel and meals beside the palace courtyard

Hours: Café-restaurant daily 10:00–20:00; strudel demonstration at 11:00, 12:00, 15:00 and 16:00, with a separate ticket. Verified: October 11, 2026

View Maskay profile → Official website ↗

02

Historic café in Schönbrunn Park

Café Gloriette Schönbrunn

Schlosspark Schönbrunn, 1130 Wien, Austria

4.4 /5 10,887 reviews

Café Gloriette crowns the rise in Schönbrunn Park. Its windows look down the line of the gardens towards the palace: here the walk is part of the appeal of the cup. The historic building was conceived as a monumental finish to the Baroque landscape, while today's café has a bright dining room and ou

Why it made the selection

Coffee overlooking the palace from the Gloriette hill

Hours: Daily from 09:00 until dusk; the 2026 menu specifies closing one hour before the park. Sisi buffet Saturday, Sunday and public holidays 09:00–11:30 with a confirmed booking. Verified: October 11, 2026

View Maskay profile → Official website ↗

Verification

Sources & references

Sources for the information and reporting discussed in this guide.

Official website of Gerstner K. u. K. Hofzuckerbäcker Schloss Schönbrunn ↗ Primary source Gerstner · Accessed October 11, 2026
Primary source for identity, concept, menu, and contact details.
Official website of Gerstner K. u. K. Hofzuckerbäcker Schloss Schönbrunn ↗ Primary source Palacio de Schönbrunn · Accessed October 11, 2026
Primary source for identity, concept, menu, and contact details.
Official website of Café Gloriette Schönbrunn ↗ Primary source Café Gloriette · Accessed October 11, 2026
Primary source for identity, concept, menu, and contact details.
Official website of Café Gloriette Schönbrunn ↗ Primary source Café Gloriette · Accessed October 11, 2026
Primary source for identity, concept, menu, and contact details.
Official website of Café Gloriette Schönbrunn ↗ Primary source Café Gloriette · Accessed October 11, 2026
Primary source for identity, concept, menu, and contact details.
Official website ↗ Primary source Palacio de Schönbrunn · Accessed October 11, 2026
Primary source for identity, concept, menu, and contact details.
Official website ↗ Primary source Gerstner · Accessed October 11, 2026
Primary source for identity, concept, menu, and contact details.
Official website ↗ Primary source Café Gloriette · Accessed October 11, 2026
Primary source for identity, concept, menu, and contact details.
Valoración de Gerstner Schönbrunn ↗ Secondary source Restaurant Guru · Accessed October 11, 2026
Google 4.4/5, 2018 reseñas de esta sede, consultado 11/10/2026.
Valoración de Café Gloriette ↗ Secondary source Restaurant Guru · Accessed October 11, 2026
Google 4.4/5, 10887 reseñas, consultado 11/10/2026.