Rick Steves - Rick Steves Tour. Hofburg Imperial Apartments, Vienna

Rick Steves Walks and Tours eBooks are straightforward, self-guided walking tours throughsome of Europes most popular destinations, designed for easy reference on your mobile deviceor eReader. Tours and Walks are available for must-see locations throughout London, Paris,Rome, Florence, Venice, Amsterdam, Budapest, Vienna, Athens, and Istanbul.

Rick Steves Tour: British Library, London

Rick Steves Tour: British Museum, London

Rick Steves Tour: National Gallery, London

Rick Steves Tour: National Portrait Gallery, London

Rick Steves Tour: St. Pauls Cathedral, London

Rick Steves Tour: Tate Britain, London

Rick Steves Tour: Tate Modern, London

Rick Steves Tour: Tower of London

Rick Steves Tour: Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Rick Steves Tour: Westminster Abbey, London

Rick Steves Walk: Bankside, London

Rick Steves Walk: City of London

Rick Steves Walk: West End, London

Rick Steves Walk: Westminster & Whitehall, London

Rick Steves Tour: Carnavalet Museum, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Eiffel Tower, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Louvre Museum, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Orsay Museum, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Pere Lachaise Cemetery, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Pompidou Center, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Versailles

Rick Steves Walk: Champs-Elyses, Paris

Rick Steves Walk: Historic Paris

Rick Steves Walk: Left Bank, Paris

Rick Steves Walk: Marais District, Paris

Rick Steves Walk: Montmartre, Paris

Rick Steves Tour: Appian Way, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Borghese Gallery, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: National Museum of Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Palatine Hill, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Pantheon, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Pilgrims Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Roman Colosseum

Rick Steves Tour: Roman Forum

Rick Steves Tour: St. Peters Basilica, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Vatican Museum, Rome

Rick Steves Walk: Heart of Rome

Rick Steves Walk: Trastavere, Rome

Rick Steves Tour: Accademia, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Ca Rezzonico, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Correr Museum, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Doges Palace, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Frari Church, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Grand Canal Cruise, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: St. Marks Basilica, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: St. Marks Square, Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Venices Lagoon

Rick Steves Walk: Three Walks in Venice

Rick Steves Tour: Accademia, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Bargello Museum, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Duomo Museum, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Medici Chapels, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Museum of San Marco, Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Rick Steves Walk: Renaissance Florence

Rick Steves Tour: Anne Frank House, Amsterdam

Rick Steves Tour: Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Rick Steves Tour: Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

Rick Steves Walk: Amsterdam City Center

Rick Steves Walk: Jordaan District, Amsterdam

Rick Steves Walk: Red Light District, Amsterdam

Rick Steves Tour: Hofburg Imperial Apartments, Vienna

Rick Steves Tour: Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna

Rick Steves Tour: Ringstrasse Tram, Vienna

Rick Steves Tour: St. Stephens Cathedral, Vienna

Rick Steves Walk: Vienna City Center

Rick Steves Walk: The Castle Quarter, Prague

Rick Steves Tour: Athens Acropolis & Acropolis Museum

Rick Steves Tour: Ancient Agora, Athens

Rick Steves Tour: National Archaeological Museum, Athens

Rick Steves Walk: Athens City Center

Rick Steves Tour: Bosphorus Cruise, Istanbul

Rick Steves Tour: Chora Church, Istanbul

Rick Steves Tour: Grand Bazaar, Istanbul

Rick Steves Tour: Hagia Sophia, Istanbul

Rick Steves Tour: Istanbul Archaeological Museum

Rick Steves Tour: Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

Rick Steves Walk: Historic Core of Istanbul

Rick Steves Walk: Istanbul New District

Rick Steves Walk: Istanbul Old Town Backstreets

Silberkammer Sisi Museum Kaiserappartements

In this tour of the Hofburg Imperial Apartments, see the lavish, Versailles-like rooms that were home to the hardworking Emperor Franz Josef I and his reclusive, eccentric empress, known as Sisi. From here, the Habsburgs ruled their vast empire.

Franz Josef was (for all intents and purposes) the last of the Habsburg monarchs, and these apartments straddle the transition from old to new. Youll see chandeliered luxury alongside office furniture and electric lights.

Franz Josef and Sisi were also a study in contrasts. Where Franz was earnest, practical, and spartan, Sisi was poetic, high-strung, and luxury-loving. Together, they lived their lives in the cocoon of the Imperial Apartments, seemingly oblivious to how the world was changing around them.

Cost: 10.50, includes well-done audioguide; also covered by 23.50 Sisi Ticket, which includes the Schnbrunn Palace Grand Tour and the Imperial Furniture Collection.

Hours: Daily July-Aug 9:00-18:00, Sept-June 9:00-17:30, last entry one hour before closing.

Getting There: Enter under the rotunda at the Hofburg entrance between Michaelerplatz and the palaces central courtyard (In der Burg).

Information: Youll find some helpful posted information in English, and the included audioguide brings the exhibit to life. With those tools and this chapter, you wont need the 8 Imperial Apartments/Sisi Museum/Silver Collection guidebook. Tel. 01/533-7570, www.hofburg-wien.at .

Length of This Tour: If you listen to the entire audioguide, allow 40 minutes for the silver collection, 30 minutes for the Sisi Museum, and 40 minutes for the apartments.

Your ticket grants you admission to three separate exhibits, which youll visit on a pretty straightforward one-way route. The first floor holds a collection of precious porcelain and silver knickknacks (Silberkammer) . You then go upstairs to the Sisi Museum, which has displays about her life. This leads into the 20-odd rooms of Imperial Apartments (Kaiserappartements), starting in Franz Josefs rooms, then heading into the dozen rooms where his wife Sisi lived.