Which Charlottenburg Palace ticket do you actually need, single building or charlottenburg+?
Charlottenburg Palace sits on Spandauer Damm in the west of the city, the largest surviving Hohenzollern palace in Berlin and the one place here where you can walk a Baroque state apartment and a Rococo gallery in the same hour. The ticketing trips people up, because the palace is two separate buildings with separate single tickets, and a combined ticket that also covers two garden buildings. It also runs on its own foundation, so the passes that work everywhere else in Berlin do not work here. This guide sorts out which ticket buys what, what is currently closed, and how much of the site you can see for nothing.
About This Experience
Spandauer Damm 10-22, 14059 Berlin, in Charlottenburg, with the palace forecourt opening off the street and the gardens running north behind the buildings towards the Spree.
Buses 109, 309 and M45 stop at Luisenplatz / Schloss Charlottenburg, about 300 metres and four minutes from the gates, and that is the quickest route from Zoologischer Garten. U7 to Richard-Wagner-Platz is the nearest U-Bahn at roughly 750 metres, a flat 10 minute walk north along Otto-Suhr-Allee. U2 Sophie-Charlotte-Platz is about a kilometre, and S-Bahn Westend on the S41, S42 and S46 is around 15 minutes on foot through the park side. Paid parking for cars and coaches is on site.
The Old Palace and the New Wing open Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:30 from April to October and 10:00 to 16:30 in November and December, with last admission 30 minutes before closing. Both buildings close every Monday. On 31 December the palace shuts at 14:00 with last admission at 13:30. The gardens are open daily, including Mondays, from 08:00 until dusk.
A single building ticket for either the Old Palace or the New Wing is 12.00 euros, 8.00 euros reduced, and covers that building only. The charlottenburg+ combined ticket is 19.00 euros, 14.00 euros reduced, valid the same day for the Palace, the New Pavilion and the Mausoleum. The family version is 45.00 euros for up to two adults and up to four children aged 18 or under, and under 7s are free. The bookable entry ticket online is $22.
Begun in 1695 by Johann Arnold Nering as Sophie Charlotte's summer house Lietzenburg, extended into a Baroque residence under Frederick I, then given its Rococo New Wing by Georg Wenzeslaus von Knobelsdorff for Frederick the Great from 1740. Bombing in 1943 gutted much of it and the rebuilding took decades, which the rooms are open about.
The mirrored Porcelain Cabinet, the Palace Chapel and Frederick I's bedchamber in the Old Palace; the Golden Gallery and the White Hall in the New Wing; one of the largest Watteau holdings outside France, including the Embarkation for Cythera; and in the garden the Mausoleum and Schinkel's New Pavilion.
Check Live Availability & Prices
Entry to the palace runs on timed slots, and summer weekends and December fill first. Live dates and prices are below.
Which Charlottenburg Palace Ticket to Pick
The Charlottenburg Palace Entry Ticket is $22 and rates 4.5 from 2,513 reviews, the largest review count of any palace ticket in the city. It gets you into the palace with a fixed entry time, which is the part that matters on a Saturday in July, when the counter queue in the forecourt is the slowest thing about the visit. At the door the equivalents are 12.00 euros for a single building, either the Old Palace or the New Wing but not both, or 19.00 euros for charlottenburg+, which officially covers the Palace, the New Pavilion and the Mausoleum on the same day.
Who it suits: anyone who wants the interiors rather than a walk in a park, and anyone travelling with children, since the family charlottenburg+ at 45.00 euros covers two adults and up to four under-18s and children under 7 pay nothing. If you can only pay for one building, most visitors put the New Wing ahead of the Old Palace, because the Golden Gallery and the French 18th century paintings are the rooms people remember. The audio guide comes with New Wing admission in several languages, including a children's version, and it is thorough enough to slow you down, so allow two to three hours inside.
What it does not cover is the part that catches people out. Charlottenburg belongs to the Stiftung Preussische Schloesser und Gaerten, not to the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, so the 3-day Museumspass Berlin and the Museum Island day ticket are both worthless at this gate. The Belvedere teahouse in the garden is closed until further notice, so do not build a day around it.
And the gardens themselves need no ticket at all, which is worth knowing before you pay for anything. For where the palace sits among Berlin's palaces and museums, start with the main guide.
Book Charlottenburg Palace Entry
One ticket, one timed slot, straight past the counter queue in the forecourt.
from $22 Charlottenburg Palace Entry Ticket
- Baroque state apartments
- The Porcelain Cabinet
- Free palace park
What You'll See
The Old Palace holds the Baroque core: the Palace Chapel, the bedchamber of Frederick I, and the Porcelain Cabinet, a mirrored room stacked floor to ceiling with Chinese and Japanese blue and white export porcelain. Knobelsdorff's New Wing next door is a different century and a different temperature altogether, with the Golden Gallery and the White Hall among the most extravagant Rococo interiors anywhere in Europe. The New Wing also holds the French 18th century paintings, one of the largest groups of Watteau outside France, with the Embarkation for Cythera at its centre.
The garden is the half most visitors underrate. It runs as a French Baroque parterre next to the palace and then dissolves into English landscape park along the Spree, and it is free to walk from 08:00 until dusk every day, Mondays included. The Mausoleum holds the tombs of Queen Luise and Friedrich Wilhelm III, later joined by Kaiser Wilhelm I and Augusta.
Schinkel's New Pavilion of 1824 is an Italianate villa now hung with Schinkel himself, Caspar David Friedrich and Berlin Biedermeier work. Langhans built the Belvedere teahouse in 1788, and it holds the world's largest KPM porcelain collection, but it is closed to visitors for now; you can still see it from the path.
How a Visit Flows
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Before you go
Decide one building or all of it
Single building at 12.00 euros covers the Old Palace or the New Wing, not both. The 19.00 euro charlottenburg+ adds the New Pavilion and the Mausoleum in the garden. Booking online fixes your palace entry time, which is the real saving on a busy day.
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Getting there
Bus rather than U-Bahn
From Zoologischer Garten take the M45 or the 109 to Luisenplatz and you are four minutes from the gates. The U7 leaves you a 10 minute walk up Otto-Suhr-Allee, which is flat but dull.
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Arrival
Bags and prams
Large bags and rucksacks go into the cloakroom or lockers before you reach the state rooms, and that is not optional. Prams are not allowed in the exhibition rooms for conservation reasons, so bring a baby carrier if you need one.
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First 90 minutes
The interiors
Work through the state apartments with the audio guide running. Two to three hours is realistic for the palace buildings, and the guide is detailed enough that most people take longer than they planned.
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Afternoon
Out into the garden
Cross the parterre to the Mausoleum and the New Pavilion. Allow another hour or two if you want the landscape park along the Spree as well. The Belvedere is shut, so admire it from outside and keep walking.
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Before closing
Watch the last admission
Last entry is 30 minutes before the buildings close, 17:30 from April to October and 16:30 in November and December. The gardens carry on until dusk, so finish out there rather than rushing the rooms.
Know Before You Go
Not suitable for
- Monday visits to the interiors, when both the Old Palace and the New Wing are closed
- Anyone counting on a Museumspass Berlin or a Museum Island ticket, neither of which is valid here
- Families who need a pram inside, since prams are barred from the exhibition rooms
What to bring
- A baby carrier instead of a pram if you are visiting the state rooms with a small child
- Headphones and a little patience for the audio guide, which is included with New Wing admission
- Proof of age for reduced entry, 8.00 euros on a single building and 14.00 euros on charlottenburg+
- Shoes for the park, since the garden walk to the Mausoleum and the Spree adds a couple of kilometres
Not allowed
- Large bags and rucksacks in the state rooms, which must go to the cloakroom or lockers first
- Prams and strollers in the exhibition rooms, for conservation reasons
- Entry to the Belvedere in the garden, which is closed until further notice
Insider Tips
Six things that change how much this visit costs and how long it takes.
- If palace interiors are not your thing, walk the gardens and pay nothing; plenty of visitors rate them the better half of the site anyway
- Paying for one building only, take the New Wing over the Old Palace, because the Golden Gallery and the Watteau rooms are the showstoppers
- Allow more time than you think, since the included audio guide is detailed and slows almost everyone down
- Ride the M45 or 109 from Zoologischer Garten to Luisenplatz rather than taking the U-Bahn, and save yourself the walk from Richard-Wagner-Platz
- Do not buy a Museumspass Berlin for this one; it covers the state museums, and the palace belongs to a separate foundation with its own annual pass
- Come in spring or early summer for the parterre in flower, or in December for the Christmas market in the forecourt
Where You're Headed
Charlottenburg Palace Tickets FAQ
How much are Charlottenburg Palace tickets in 2026?
A single building ticket for the Old Palace or the New Wing is 12.00 euros, or 8.00 euros reduced. The charlottenburg+ combined ticket is 19.00 euros, 14.00 euros reduced, and the family version is 45.00 euros for up to two adults and up to four children aged 18 or under. Children under 7 enter free. The bookable online entry ticket is $22 and comes with a fixed entry slot.
What is the difference between the single ticket and the charlottenburg+ combined ticket?
The single ticket at 12.00 euros admits you to one building only, either the Old Palace or the New Wing. The charlottenburg+ ticket at 19.00 euros is valid the same day for the Palace, the New Pavilion and the Mausoleum in the palace gardens. Booking charlottenburg+ online also assigns a fixed entry time for the palace itself, which is how you get past the counter queue.
Is Charlottenburg Palace included in the Berlin Museum Pass?
No. Charlottenburg is run by the Stiftung Preussische Schloesser und Gaerten, not by the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, so neither the 3-day Museumspass Berlin nor the Museum Island day ticket is valid here. It has its own ticket system and its own annual pass. Berlin's free-first-Sunday scheme no longer exists either; the last edition was on 1 December 2024.
Are the Charlottenburg Palace gardens free to enter?
Yes. The gardens are open daily from 08:00 until dusk, including Mondays when the palace buildings are shut, and cost nothing. You can see the Mausoleum, the New Pavilion and the Belvedere from outside without a ticket, and walk the Baroque parterre and the landscape park along the Spree.
What time does Charlottenburg Palace open and is it closed on Mondays?
The Old Palace and the New Wing open Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00, closing at 17:30 between April and October and at 16:30 in November and December, with last admission 30 minutes before. Both are closed every Monday. On 31 December the palace closes at 14:00, with last admission at 13:30.
How long do you need at Charlottenburg Palace?
Two to three hours for the palace interiors, and another hour or two on top if you want to walk the gardens properly rather than crossing them. The audio guide included with New Wing admission is thorough, and it is the main reason people overrun their plan.
Should you visit the Old Palace or the New Wing?
If you are only paying for one, most visitors choose the New Wing. Knobelsdorff's Golden Gallery, the White Hall and the French 18th century paintings, including the Embarkation for Cythera, carry more weight than the Baroque rooms next door. The Old Palace has the counter argument: the Palace Chapel, Frederick I's bedchamber and the mirrored Porcelain Cabinet.
How do you get to Charlottenburg Palace from central Berlin?
The fastest approach is bus M45, 109 or 309 to Luisenplatz / Schloss Charlottenburg, about 300 metres from the gates, which runs from Zoologischer Garten. U7 to Richard-Wagner-Platz is a flat 10 minute walk, U2 Sophie-Charlotte-Platz around 14 minutes, and S-Bahn Westend roughly 15 minutes through the park side. Paid parking is available on site.
What Visitors Say
We paid the 19 euro combined ticket and used all of it, palace first, then the Mausoleum and the New Pavilion after lunch. The audio guide in the New Wing ran far longer than I expected and we were inside nearly three hours. The Porcelain Cabinet alone justified the trip out west.
Turned up on a Monday without checking and the buildings were shut. We walked the gardens instead, which cost nothing and took two very pleasant hours down to the river. Came back on the Wednesday for the New Wing. Take the bus from Zoo station, not the U-Bahn.
I had assumed my Berlin museum pass would cover this and it does not, which cost me twelve euros I had not budgeted for at the desk. Worth it in the end for the Golden Gallery, but check before you travel. Buy the timed ticket online in summer, the forecourt queue was long by eleven.