# Schloss Hof and the Marchfeld Day trip from Vienna to Schloss Hof, Austria's largest country palace, with Baroque gardens, Niederweiden, Schloss Orth and the storks of Marchegg. Fuente: https://www.geocalia.com/en/austria/lower-austria/schloss-hof · Revisado: 2026-11-12 Schloss Hof is the largest country palace in Austria. Prince Eugene of Savoy, the general who defeated the Turks, made it his pleasure and hunting residence, with terraced Baroque gardens that run down to the River March, the border with Slovakia. It later belonged to Maria Theresa, who enlarged it. Today, restored, it is run by the same group as Schönbrunn: you can visit the state rooms, the imperial apartments and the gardens, with their fountains and stairways. Next door is Schloss Niederweiden, Fischer von Erlach's hunting lodge. Around it stretches the Marchfeld, the farming plain east of Vienna, between the Danube and the March, dotted with castles the Habsburgs used for hunting. It is a lesser-known excursion than the Wachau or Baden, and so a quieter one. ## How to get there from Vienna By car, about 50 minutes: the A4 from the airport to the Fischamend exit, the B9 towards Hainburg and the B49 to Schloss Hof. There is free parking for 545 cars. Without a car, all year round there is a direct regional bus, the 540, from Aspern Nord metro station (line U2) to the Schloßhof Prinz-Eugen-Straße stop. You can also take an ÖBB train from Wien Hauptbahnhof (it also stops at Simmering, Stadlau and Aspern Nord) to Schönfeld-Lassee and change there to the 540 bus. The U2 does not depend on the S-Bahn, so the closure of the central stretch until October 2027 does not affect you. ## What to do in a day Spend the morning at Schloss Hof: allow three hours for the palace and the garden terraces. Eat at the Restaurant Kräutergarten, inside the grounds, or at the Gasthof Prinz Eugen, at the entrance. In the afternoon, if you are driving, choose between two plans. To the west, along the Danube bank, Schloss Eckartsau and Schloss Orth, the centre of the Donau-Auen National Park, with its viewpoint and its nature island. To the north, from March to August, the storks of Marchegg nest in centuries-old oaks. In November and December the plan changes: the Schloss Hof Christmas market, at weekends, is one of the prettiest around Vienna. ## And for sleeping? There are few hotels in the Marchfeld and Schloss Hof works well as a day trip from Vienna. If you want to sleep nearby and combine the palace with the storks or with Carnuntum, you have three options. 7 km away, in Marchegg, the Bernstein-Motel is simple and cheap, with a garage for bikes and dogs welcome. In Hainburg, 13 km away over the Danube bridge, the Hotel Zum Goldenen Anker is an old house beside the river with a sauna and a bathing pond; the Hotel Altes Kloster is there too. With children or a taste for the countryside, the horse farm Hippo-Campus, in Deutsch-Haslau, has rooms, an apartment and riding lessons. Bratislava is half an hour away. ## Dónde está - Cerca: Carnuntum (a 12.6 km), Bratislava (a 15.2 km · Slovakia), Vienna (a 41.6 km), Lake Neusiedl (a 49.9 km) ## Qué hacer - **Schloss Hof Palace and Baroque Gardens** (3 h · All ages; the palace does not allow pushchairs in every room · €24; ages 6 to 18, €13.50; family, €61.50): The pleasure palace of Prince Eugene and later of Maria Theresa, on the banks of the March. The grounds ticket includes the state rooms and apartments, and the terraced Baroque gardens that descend towards the river, with the Neptune fountain. From 6 March to 2 November 2027 it is open daily from 10:00 to 18:00; in winter, from 10:00 to 16:00 (last entry half an hour before). The fountains run from April to October. Dogs are not allowed. Tickets are bought at the ticket office or online, in the Schönbrunn group's shop. - **Schloss Hof Christmas Market** (3 h · Families; biscuit workshops for children · Market only, €12; ages 6 to 18, €6; under 6, free. The grounds ticket (€24) includes it): On Advent weekends the courtyard and stables of Schloss Hof fill with stalls selling regional crafts and food, with music and workshops where children bake Christmas biscuits. It is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 14 November to 20 December 2026, and on 7 and 8 December, from 10:00 to 19:00. Entry to the market alone costs €12; with the grounds ticket (€24) you also see the palace. On weekdays, from 3 November to 23 December, the palace is open without the market from 10:00 to 16:00. - **Schloss Niederweiden, Fischer von Erlach's hunting lodge** (30 min · Adults and teenagers): A hunting lodge that Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, the architect of Schönbrunn, drew in 1693, playing with three shapes: the oval, the rectangle and the square. Prince Eugene bought it in 1726 and joined it to Schloss Hof; Maria Theresa remodelled it after 1765, with rooms lined with Chinese paper and an oval room painted by Jean-Baptiste Pillement. It is about 3 km from Schloss Hof, among fields. Its café is closed for now: check the Schloss Hof website to see whether the interior is open on the day you go. - **Schloss Orth, the Donau-Auen National Park centre** (2 h · Families; the island has play areas and wildlife watching · €15; ages 6 to 19, €10; family (2 adults and 2 children), €30): A four-towered castle in Orth an der Donau, turned into the visitor centre of the Donau-Auen National Park, the floodplain forest that follows the Danube from Vienna to the Slovak border. Inside, the "Im Fluss" exhibition explains how the river lives, and the museumORTH tells the story of the village; from the viewing tower you can see the forest. Outside, the Schlossinsel island has walkways for watching riverside wildlife and play areas for children. It is open from 20 March to 1 November 2027, daily from 9:00 to 17:00; in winter it is closed. At weekends there are guided tours for a supplement. It is 25 km west of Schloss Hof. - **Schloss Eckartsau and its park in the Danube forest** (1 h · All ages; natural playground · Park free): The former imperial hunting lodge of Eckartsau stands in the middle of the floodplain forest of the Donau-Auen National Park, about 15 km west of Schloss Hof. Today it is the base of the Bundesforste in the park, with an information point and café, and guided historical tours. The castle park and its natural playground are free and open all year; the information point and café from 21 March to 1 November. The Danube cycle path, from Vienna to Bratislava, passes 750 metres away. - **The Marchegg stork colony** (1 h 30 · All ages; binoculars · Free): In the WWF floodplain reserve at Marchegg, on the banks of the March and 10 km north of Schloss Hof, white storks nest not on church towers but high in old oaks, as they did before there were villages. Others nest on the roof of Schloss Marchegg, beside the reserve entrance. They arrive in early March, breed from April and leave for Africa at the end of August. In 2020, 37 pairs bred on the lower March. Bring binoculars and stay on the marked paths. ## Dónde comer - **Restaurant Kräutergarten** (Restaurant, Schloßhof, €€). Qué pedir: the seasonal dish with vegetables from the palace garden. - **Gasthof Prinz Eugen** (Restaurant, Schloßhof, €€). Qué pedir: a seasonal dish on the terrace with a view of the palace courtyard. - **Café Arkadenhof** (Café, Schloßhof, €). Qué pedir: a strudel with coffee in the arcaded courtyard. ## As a family: A palace with farm, gardens and a Christmas market Schloss Hof is made for a family outing: besides the palace, which holds small children's attention only briefly, it has garden terraces to run around on. In Advent, the market has biscuit workshops. The family ticket costs €61.50 for two adults and up to three children. ### What works best The terraced gardens of Schloss Hof The Christmas market, with workshops for children The island at Schloss Orth, with walkways for watching wildlife and play areas The storks of Marchegg in spring, with binoculars The free natural playground at Eckartsau ### Where to stay Best in Vienna; or in Hainburg, at the Hotel Altes Kloster, with family rooms ### Where to eat Restaurant Kräutergarten, inside the grounds Café Arkadenhof, for the strudel ### Bear in mind Dogs cannot enter the palace or the gardens Schloss Orth is closed from November to March ### Qué hacer as a family - Schloss Hof Palace and Baroque Gardens - Schloss Hof Christmas Market - Schloss Orth, the Donau-Auen National Park centre - Schloss Eckartsau and its park in the Danube forest - The Marchegg stork colony ## Consejos ### No dogs Dogs are not allowed in either the palace or the gardens. ### The fountains, April to October From November to March they are switched off. ### Buy your ticket online at Christmas The market weekends are very busy. ## Preguntas frecuentes ### How do you get to Schloss Hof without a car? On regional bus 540 from Aspern Nord metro station (U2), all year. Or by train from Wien Hauptbahnhof to Schönfeld-Lassee and the same bus from there. ### How much does admission cost? €24 for adults, €13.50 for ages 6 to 18 and €61.50 for a family (two adults and up to three children). In the Christmas season it includes the market. ### Is it open in winter? Yes. From 7 January to 5 March 2027, 10:00 to 16:00; from 6 March to 2 November, daily from 10:00 to 18:00. ### How much time do you need? Half a day for Schloss Hof; the whole day if you add Niederweiden, Orth or Marchegg. ### Can you combine it with Carnuntum? Yes, by car: they are about 15 km apart over the Hainburg bridge. In one day, it is best to do one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. ### Can you bring dogs? No, neither to the palace nor to the gardens.