HOFBURG, Imperial Apartments

The entrance to the Hofburg from Michaelerplatz is a large arched pavilion topped by a dome, which serves as a junction between the different tour options within the wings of the palace.

I suggest starting from the entrance to the imperial apartments, a sequence of rooms that were lived in by Franz Joseph and his wife Elizabeth of Bavaria, better known and loved as Sissi. The imperial couple were the very last occupants of the Hofburg.

Before you visit these rooms, let me tell you something about them.

Filled with furniture, mementos, objects,and portraits, the rooms were arranged in the late 19th century, maintaining some earlier elements, such as the large ceramic stoves and the 18th-century frescoed landscapes in the last two rooms of Sissi's apartment.

As you may already know, the two rulers had very different temperaments....