This place is a HUGE SCAM. I have visited almost a hundred of UNESCO sites and there was not a single one like this.

The palace itself is far from original, instead it is a later reconstruction filled by similar furnitures used by contemporaries. The outlook and the inner decoration are far from aesthetically exceptional, especially the latter one is just average Rococo furnishment not even comparable to Chateau de Fontainebleau or Schloss Brühl. Almost all except a handful of the rooms are completely without text introduction, and the audioguide is no more informative than Wikipedia. (For example, briefly introducing Franz Joseph I and Sisi's life or gossips while completely ignore how the interior designs were crafted) Furthermore, when another poor guy accidentally triggered the proximity alarm in room 4, the loud bell whistled for nearly 3 MINUTES and made everyone unable to immerse to the surrounding or focus on the audioguide. Come on, do you have to be so aggressive to protect your treasures that it was even worsening the already crowdy atmosphere?

I tried to asked a staff for a (maybe) more detailed printed guide, but was answered the texts are the same and I need to buy an art book at souvenir store to get to know more details... Oh, I have not mentioned that photography is forbidden all over the palaces. Excuse me? You sold a €24 euro ticket to a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site that should belong to all humans, provided only a scratchy intro, and BAN THE PHOTOGRAPHY, just to force the visitors to buy your art book? Not to mention that if you did not book a more expensive ticket as I did (Sisi ticket in my case), there would be almost half a palace (Maria Theresa Apartment) you are not allowed to visit and there is a security guy checking the ticket. Well, just as classist as old Habsburg aristocrats isn't it? What an authentic experience!

Besides the already annoying management, the most intolerable part is the horrible staff. Firstly, all the staff I met are cold & apathetic at best, (for example, I tried to purchase a souvenir medal but the machines were out of order, I tried to ask one staff in souvenir store whether I could got one on-site, he firstly asked me to go to the machines, and when I showed him the photo of broken machines, he bluntly told me that they were broken for 2 weeks as it was not his business,) if not being directly rude or unfriendly. A Korean guide I encountered is definitely one of the latter. He used his finger pointed at me and ordered me like he is my father when trying to stop me taking some photos (yes, pure rudeness without any reservation, I can tell), when I argued back he threatened to call the security, but finally backed down as he still have a bunch of Korean tourists to fool, and I have lost all my patience to keep enjoying these artificial spectacle. When I encountered him again outdoor I told him I am filling a complaint and ask him to go **** himself, and guess what? He just swore back! What a professional staff he is for such a noble cultural heritage!

At last, the only suggestion for improvement I could give to this completely joke is: Why not just putting a sign at the front door saying, "Dear tourists, today we are gonna rip you off because our bosses spent a lot securing the patent of this who-know-what heritage and they want it worths. Enjoy or go screw yourself. " The Austrian government should take back this property from the unscrupulous SCHÖN­BRUNN GROUP and run it as a national museum to educate and to entertain all, or it would keep being a scandal to such a beautiful and historically brilliant city.

If you want to have a good time in Vienna, go to other brilliant museums such as the newly opened Museum Wien Karlsplatz, House of Music, Military History Museum, or Belvedere, as you would know more about the beauty and glory of this capital of the old Europe with a much cheaper price. Even Zentralfriedhof is more fascinating than this rottening scam.

Oh, the Christmas Market is good BTW, but it's vendors' merit, not yours.