Hofburg Palace

The Hofburg is not a palace but a district of palaces, and the Austrian president works in it.

Ottokar II of Bohemia built the first castle here in the thirteenth century, and the site has been the documented seat of government since 1279. Every dynasty that followed added a wing rather than starting again, which is why the complex has no single style and no single front.

The Swiss Wing holds the oldest fabric; the Amalienburg is Renaissance; the Leopoldine Wing dates from the 1660s; the Neue Burg, the great curved façade on Heldenplatz, was built between 1881 and 1913 and never finished as designed.

Since 1946 it has been the official residence and workplace of the president of Austria.

Half a dozen museums, a library, a riding school and a choir.

The Imperial Apartments, the Sisi Museum and the Silver Collection form the main visitor route. The Imperial Treasury holds the crown jewels of the Holy Roman Empire.

The Austrian National Library's Prunksaal, the State Hall, is one of the great Baroque interiors of Europe and is ticketed separately from everything else.

The Stallburg, the imperial mews, houses the Spanish Riding School and its Lipizzaners. The Vienna Boys' Choir sings in the Court Chapel.

The Neue Burg holds the Ephesos Museum and the arms and armour collection. The convention centre in the complex runs 300 to 350 events a year.

Half a day, and choose two things rather than attempting six.

The Imperial Apartments, Sisi Museum and Silver Collection together take two hours on one ticket. The Treasury is a separate hour and is the better of the two if only one is possible — the imperial crown of the Holy Roman Empire is in it.

The Prunksaal takes forty minutes and is a separate ticket again.

Walking through the courtyards costs nothing and takes twenty minutes; the complex is a public thoroughfare and the passage from Michaelerplatz through to Heldenplatz is the shortest route across this part of the city.

Morning for the Imperial Apartments, which fill from mid-morning with tour groups.

The Spanish Riding School's performances and morning training sessions are on published dates and sell out; the Lipizzaners also leave Vienna for part of the summer.

The Vienna Boys' Choir sings at Sunday mass in the Court Chapel during the season.

Heldenplatz and the courtyards are open at all hours and are at their best early, when the square is empty.

Nearly everything in the Hofburg is ticketed separately: the Imperial Apartments with the Sisi Museum and Silver Collection on one ticket, the Imperial Treasury on another, the Prunksaal on a third, the Spanish Riding School and the Court Chapel on their own.

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The courtyards, the passages and Heldenplatz are free and open.

A combined Sisi Ticket covering Schönbrunn and the Imperial Furniture Collection alongside the apartments is sold, and is worth checking against the itinerary before buying anything individually.

The Innere Stadt, between the Michaelerplatz and Heldenplatz, inside the Ring.

Herrengasse on U-Bahn line U3 comes up at the Michaelerplatz entrance. Volkstheater on the U2 and U3 is at the Heldenplatz end, and Stephansplatz on the U1 and U3 is a ten-minute walk through the Graben.

The U-Bahn has five lines and 109 stations over 83.9 km, running from about 05:00 to 01:00 and all night at weekends.

It is not one ticket. The single most common mistake here is buying for the Imperial Apartments and expecting it to cover the Treasury, the library or the riding school.

The complex is a working seat of government and parts of it are closed without explanation.

The Spanish Riding School's Lipizzaners are away for part of the summer.

Photography inside the Imperial Apartments is prohibited.

Heldenplatz is a political site with a heavy history and is used for demonstrations and state occasions, which close it.

The fiaker horse carriages waiting at Michaelerplatz are priced by the ride and the rate should be agreed before boarding.

The Michaelerplatz dome and its curved façade is the photograph of the Hofburg, and it takes morning light.

From Heldenplatz the Neue Burg's curve is best late in the afternoon, when the sun comes down the square from the Ring.

The courtyards — In der Burg with its Franz I monument, and the Swiss Court with its red gate — are shaded and even, and are the parts most photographers walk through without stopping.

Photography inside the Imperial Apartments is prohibited. The Prunksaal permits it without flash and is the best interior in the complex.