Sanssouci Park & Palace

Location

Berlin
Germany
52° 24' 11.9988" N, 13° 2' 18.9996" E
DE
General info: 

Between 1745 and 1747 Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, built a German version of the Versailles to serve as his summer residence. The king wanted to get away from the Berlin hustle and located the palace a little further away from Berlin to get his needed peace. In fact the name of the palace comes from French phrase “sans souci private://that translates to “without concernsprivate://.

The rococo styled palace is amazing. But the park surrounding it does not lag behind at all. The 2,5 long park was initiated immediately after completion of the palace. A baroque flower garden with lawns, flower beds, hedges and trees was created. 3,000 fruit trees were planted in the park, and greenhouses and nurseries laid out, producing oranges, melons, peaches and bananas. Statuary and obelisks were also erected, with representations of the goddesses Flora and Pomona. Frederick had several temples and follies erected in the same rococo style as the palace itself.

Hint: Get there early: there is a 2000 person/day entry limit at the palace.

Getting there: 

Potsdam is about 45 minutes from Berlin by S-bahn. Bus 695 and 606 are running from Potsdam Hauptbahnhof (south side) to Sanssouci.

Costs: 

Entrance to the park is free.
Admission to the Palace:
1st Apr to 31st Oct: 12€, discounted 8€
1st Nov to 31st. Mar: 8€, discounted 5€

Interesting places nearby

At the foot of the Julier mountain pass and amidst an impressive alpine scenery of lakes you’ll find the Swiss ski resort Corvatsch – Sils – Silvaplana.

While skiing in Crans Montana Aminona you have an impressive view on the Matterhorn and the Mont Blanc. The Swiss ski resort is situated at 1,500 to 3,000 m above sea level and provides a variety of slopes of all difficulty levels.

The ski resort private://Czarna Góraprivate:// is one of most modern complex of lifts and slopes. Ski resort was built according to the best alpine standards. Trails are mostly artificially snowed. Snowboarders can use modern snowpark.

The villages Gosau, Russbach and Annaberg are located in the ski area Dachstein West Lammertal in the Dachstein Mountains. The ski area has slopes for all levels of difficulty available.

The Dachstein is actually better known in summer than in winter. No surprise being the first glacier in the eastern Alps.

The ski area Damüls is popular with families. The broad slopes range from easy to difficult and almost all of the pistes can be prepared with artificial snowmaking equipment.