Every Sanssouci ticket and tour, compared
What you are choosing between
I spent years behind a tourist-office desk explaining this, so let me put it plainly. Sanssouci Palace runs on timed entry. Every ticket carries a fixed admission time, the number sold per day is limited, and in July and August the midday slots go first. The park around the palace is free from 8 am every day; the terraces, the vineyard steps and Frederick’s grave need no ticket at all. So the only thing you actually have to secure is the slot for the ten rooms, which take about 40 minutes to walk through. Everything else on this page is a question of how you want to spend the rest of the day. How the slot system works is on the tickets page; how long each part takes is on how long to visit.
Which one is for you
You want the palace and you are happy on your own. Book the sanssouci+ day ticket. You pick a Sanssouci slot, meet at the Ehrenhof at that time, and the same ticket opens the New Palace, the Marble Palace and, in season, the Picture Gallery, the New Chambers, the Chinese House and the rest. The audio guide is the free SANSSOUCI app, in twelve languages. It is non-refundable, which is the main complaint in its reviews, so be sure of your date before you press the button.
You are staying in Berlin and do not want to think about trains. The four-hour coach tour leaves from Kurfürstendamm 216, drives you through Potsdam with a live guide, gets you into the palace on fast-lane entry for about 45 minutes with the audio tour, gives you about 20 minutes in the park, and brings you back. It is the least effort per palace room of anything here, and it has free cancellation. Compared side by side with the walking alternative on tours from Berlin.
You want Potsdam explained, not just Sanssouci. The three-hour City and Castles tour from Potsdam Hauptbahnhof is the most-reviewed Potsdam tour on GetYourGuide, with more than four thousand reviews. It covers the Baroque old town, the Dutch Quarter, the Glienicke Bridge, Cecilienhof from outside, Alexandrowka, the Sanssouci terraces and the New Palace. Palace interiors are not included; you can buy entry on the day if a slot is free. The City and Castles review goes through what that means in practice.
You would rather walk, and the Cold War interests you as much as the Rococo. The six-hour walking tour from Alexanderplatz travels by train with the guide and walks the Glienicke Bridge, the Cecilienhof gardens, the Marble Palace exterior, the Dutch Quarter and the park. It is a walking tour of Potsdam; the palace interior is not part of it. Not suitable for wheelchair users.
You are a family or a small group and want your own guide. The two-hour private walking tour meets you at Potsdam Hauptbahnhof with a name sign, walks the City Palace, the Dutch Quarter and Potsdam’s Brandenburg Gate, and finishes inside Sanssouci with the palace ticket and the audio-guided visit included. Priced per group.
All five, on cards
Ratings and review counts were read off the GetYourGuide listings in August 2026. The cards link straight to the listing, where the live calendar shows which days still have slots.
Palace ticketPotsdam: Sanssouci Palace and Prussian Palaces Entry Ticket
From BerlinFrom Berlin: Potsdam and Sanssouci Palace Tour with Entry
Most reviewedPotsdam: City and Castles Tour
Small groupFrom Berlin: Potsdam & Sanssouci Half-Day Walking Tour
PrivatePotsdam: Private Walking Tour of Potsdam and Sanssouci
Side by side
The three options that put you inside the palace rooms. The middle column is what I would book for a first visit from Berlin without a car.
| Potsdam: Sanssouci Palace and Prussian Palaces Entry Ticket | Easiest from BerlinFrom Berlin: Potsdam and Sanssouci Palace Tour with Entry | Potsdam: Private Walking Tour of Potsdam and Sanssouci | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Format | Timed day ticket | Coach tour, live guide | Private walking tour |
| Duration | Your own pace | 4 hours | 2 hours |
| Palace interior | Included, timed slot | Included, fast lane | Included, audio-guided |
| Other palaces | All open that day | No | No |
| Guide | Free app | Live, EN/DE | Private, EN or DE |
| Transport | Not included | From Berlin, return | Not included |
| Starts | Ehrenhof, Sanssouci | Kurfürstendamm 216 | Potsdam Hbf |
| Cancellation | Non-refundable | Free up to 24 h | Free up to 24 h |
| Rating | 4.5 (2,634) | 4.7 (1,310) | 4.9 (42) |
| View → | Book this → | View → |
Whichever you book, check the day of the week first. Sanssouci Palace is closed every Monday all year, and the New Palace is closed on Tuesdays. A coach tour still runs on a Monday, but the palace part of it cannot. The full table is on opening hours.
The two that do not include the palace
I list the City and Castles bus and the half-day walking tour here because people search for them, and because both are good at what they do. What they do is Potsdam. If you take one of them and want the palace rooms too, you have two choices: buy a same-day ticket at the Historic Windmill visitor centre if a slot is left, or book a slot online for a time after the tour ends. In summer the second is the safer plan.
Read the reviews before you book
I have written up all five: the day ticket review, the Berlin coach tour review, the City and Castles review, the walking tour review and the private tour review. The index is at reviews.
Can’t make these dates?
Browse more available Sanssouci Palace tickets and find one that fits your schedule — all with instant confirmation and free cancellation.
Still deciding whether to come at all? Is Sanssouci worth visiting is my honest answer, and best time to visit explains why I keep steering people towards May and September.
Frequently asked questions
Which option actually gets me inside Sanssouci Palace?
Three of the five: the sanssouci+ day ticket, the four-hour coach tour from Berlin and the private walking tour. The City and Castles bus and the half-day walking tour stop at the terraces and the park but do not include the rooms. See how the tickets work.
Do I need a ticket for the park?
No. Sanssouci Park is free and open daily from 8 am until dusk, and Frederick’s grave on the top terrace needs no ticket either. Only the palaces and museum buildings do. More on the park.
Can I just turn up and buy a ticket?
Same-day tickets are sold at the Historic Windmill visitor centre from 30 minutes before the palace opens, but the daily number is capped and the midday slots go first in summer. SPSG itself recommends booking online. In July and August I would book one to two weeks ahead.
Which tour is best from Berlin?
For the palace interior with the least effort, the four-hour coach tour. For a longer, slower day on foot with the Glienicke Bridge and Cecilienhof, the six-hour walking tour. Both are compared on tours from Berlin.
Is the palace open on Mondays?
No, Sanssouci Palace is closed every Monday all year. The park is open. If Monday is your only day in Potsdam, take the City and Castles tour or walk the park, and see opening hours for the rest of the calendar.