Sanssouci Park: the free part of the visit

The three entrances that matter

• Green Gate at Luisenplatz. The formal entrance at the eastern end, 100 m from the “Luisenplatz” stop for bus 605, 606 and tram 91. From here the main avenue leads to the Great Fountain and the terraces.
• Historic Windmill. The visitor centre on the north side at An der Orangerie 1, by the “Schloss Sanssouci” stop for bus 695 and X15, with the lockers, the same-day ticket counter and a café. Closed Mondays, like the palace. Car park P1 is here.
• New Palace end. A short walk from Potsdam Park Sanssouci regional station, with the second visitor centre at Am Neuen Palais 3, closed Tuesdays.

Which buildings need a ticket

Everything you can walk into. Sanssouci Palace (timed slot), the New Palace (1763 to 1769, Frederick’s “boast” after the Seven Years’ War), the Picture Gallery (1755 to 1764), the New Chambers (a former orangery converted into a guest house between 1768 and 1774), the Chinese House (1755 to 1764, the gilded pavilion), the Orangery Palace (1851 to 1864, built for Frederick William IV), Charlottenhof (Schinkel, 1826 to 1829), the Roman Baths, the working mill reconstruction at the Historic Windmill. The sanssouci+ day ticket covers all of them that are open on the day. Everything you look at from outside, including the terraces and the grave, is free.

A west-to-east walk, the way I do it

Most visitors enter at the Green Gate, climb to the palace and go home, which leaves the western two-thirds of the park almost empty. The better day runs the other way.

1. Potsdam Park Sanssouci station. Regional trains stop here. Walk to the New Palace, and if you have a day ticket with a New Palace slot, go inside first while you are fresh; it is the big one.
2. Charlottenhof and the Roman Baths. South of the main avenue, Schinkel’s small villa and the Italianate bath complex. Seasonal.
3. The Chinese House. Back towards the avenue, gilded figures under the roof. Seasonal, and the most photographed thing in the park after the terraces.
4. The Orangery Palace. Up on the ridge to the north, the long Italianate building of Frederick William IV. Seasonal.
5. Historic Windmill. Coffee at the visitor centre, lockers if you need them, and the walk round to the Ehrenhof for your Sanssouci slot.
6. Sanssouci Palace and the terraces. The interior in the last hour, then down the six vineyard terraces to the Great Fountain and out through the Green Gate to Luisenplatz for the bus or the walk into town.

Done this way the palace comes at the end, when the terrace steps are quiet and the light is on the façade. It also means you are walking towards the town for dinner rather than away from it. Time it with the full-day plan.

Coffee in the park: the Drachenhaus

There are two places to sit down with a coffee inside the park: the café at the Historic Windmill visitor centre, and the Drachenhaus, the Dragon House, a pagoda-style building north of the main avenue that has been a café for a long time. The Drachenhaus is the one I use, because it is on the way and it has a terrace. Lunch in town is on Brandenburger Straße; see where to eat.

Rules worth knowing

The park is a garden monument and a UNESCO site since 1990, and it is policed gently: keep to the paths, no bicycles on the garden paths near the terraces, dogs on leads. Picnics on the lawns away from the historic parterres are tolerated in the way German parks tolerate things, which is to say quietly. The gates close at dusk, which in December means mid afternoon.

The ticket that opens every building here

The sanssouci+ day ticket covers each open SPSG palace in the park that day. Check slots below and build the walk around them.

Frequently asked questions