Schloss Sanssouci was the summer palace built by Friedrich the Great in 1745-1747. Surrounding the palace are the gardens of Schloss Sanssouci. The entire complex of the palace and the surrounding 300 acres of parklike gardens are inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The palace sits at the top of a terraced vineyard making use of the hill to capture maximum sunlight on the vines. Centred at the base of these terraces you find the main fountain of the park.
Getting to the Gardens of Schloss Sanssouci
We caught the train from Berlin to Potsdam, which takes around 30 minutes. From there we caught a bus out to the Schloss Sanssouci, which took less than 15 minutes. The bus was very crowded and we had to stand. I’m not sure if it is like that all the time, or if we were just unlucky on the day.
Entry to the Gardens
To visit the gardens of Schloss Sanssouci is free. However, if you want to see inside the palace you will need to buy tickets. These tickets are allocated in strict timeslots throughout the day. This means that you would need to be at the Schloss at a specific time. It is possible to purchase entry tickets online here.
Other palaces and buildings adjoin the gardens, which charge their own admission fees. These are available for you to explore if you are interested to do so. It would take an entire day, if not longer to thoroughly explore all the buildings and the gardens in the complex. On our visit, we chose to just walk around the gardens and enjoy the views for a few hours before heading back to Potsdam for lunch.
Let me take you on a photo walkthrough of a section of the gardens of Schloss Sanssouci.
The entry
From the bus stop, you walk up to the entrance to Schloss Sansouci. There at the top of the hill, where the palace sits, you have a panoramic view out over the terraced vineyards and down to the fountain.
The terraced hill perfectly captures the morning sun. Sitting on the stone benches around the fountain is a lovely place to soak in a little of this sunshine.
At the fountain
You will be able to admire the operation of the fountain, which is something that Friedrich the Great was not able to do. Apparently the engineers employed at the time were unable to master the hydraulics required to make the fountain operational.
Further into the gardens
Walking alongside a canal you take a peaceful avenue in the direction of the Chinesisches House (Chinese House).
There are many paths that you can choose to wander along, as you can see from the map below. Keep walking until either your feet hurt, or you start to feel hungry, or both.
The gardens of Schloss Sanssouci are a peaceful place to spend a few hours, or a full day, depending on your available time.
Where to stay
Why not stay in Berlin, and take a day trip out to see the gardens? Public transport makes it easy to do.
As always, thank you for reading. If you liked this article, please pin it or share it with your friends.
Leave a Reply