Belvedere Vienna visitor guide — everything you need to know before visiting

At a glance

What it is

Two Baroque palaces (Upper and Lower Belvedere) plus the Belvedere 21 modernist annex, run as the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere — Austria's national art museum.

Address — Upper Belvedere

Prinz-Eugen-Straße 27, 1030 Vienna, Austria

Address — Lower Belvedere

Rennweg 6, 1030 Vienna, Austria (10-minute walk through the gardens from Upper)

Address — Belvedere 21

Arsenalstraße 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria

Upper Belvedere hours

Monday to Sunday, 09:00–18:00

Lower Belvedere hours

Monday to Sunday, 10:00–18:00

Belvedere 21 hours

Tuesday to Sunday, 11:00–18:00; Thursdays late until 21:00; closed Mondays

Operator

Österreichische Galerie Belvedere (state-owned)

UNESCO

Part of the Historic Centre of Vienna, inscribed 2001

Built

Lower Belvedere 1712–1716; Upper Belvedere 1717–1723; architect Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt

Typical visit

1.5–2 hours for Upper Belvedere; add 1–1.5 hours for Lower; the gardens between are free

What to book in advance

A timed-entry slot for Upper Belvedere at peak season — the room holding The Kiss is the bottleneck

What is Schloss Belvedere?

Schloss Belvedere is a Baroque palace complex in Vienna's third district, built between 1712 and 1723 as the summer residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy. The architect Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt designed two palaces — the Lower Belvedere, completed around 1716 as Prince Eugene's living quarters, and the Upper Belvedere, finished in 1723 for state receptions and entertainment. Between them lies a formal French-style garden laid out by Dominique Girard, with tiered fountains, cascades, Baroque sculpture, and wrought-iron gates. After Eugene died childless in 1736 his niece inherited and later sold the estate; Empress Maria Theresa bought it for the Habsburg crown in November 1752, and from 1781 the imperial picture gallery was open to the public here — making Belvedere one of the world's first public museums. The complex is part of the Historic Centre of Vienna, inscribed by UNESCO in 2001.

Why is The Kiss by Klimt at Belvedere?

Gustav Klimt's The Kiss has been in the Belvedere collection since 1908, the year the Austrian state bought it directly from his easel — the painting was still unfinished when it was acquired during that summer's Kunstschau Vienna exhibition. It measures 180 by 180 centimetres, oil with gold leaf, silver and platinum on canvas, and belongs to Klimt's so-called Golden Period. The gold-ground technique was inspired by Byzantine mosaics he had seen in 1903 in the Church of San Vitale at Ravenna. Today The Kiss anchors the world's largest Klimt collection — 24 paintings in total, including Judith I (1901), the Sonja Knips portrait (1898), and works from every phase of his career. The Beethoven Frieze, often confused with the Belvedere's holdings, is not here — it is permanently installed at the Secession Building, a 15-minute walk away across the Karlsplatz.

What is the difference between Upper, Lower and Belvedere 21?

The three Belvedere sites show different collections in different settings. Upper Belvedere holds the permanent collection — Klimt's The Kiss and the rest of the gold-period galleries, the Schiele holdings, the Marble Hall, and roughly 800 years of Austrian art from the medieval period to the 20th century. This is the building that draws the queues. Lower Belvedere is Prince Eugene's actual living palace — the State Rooms, his private apartments, the gilded Hall of Grotesques and the Marble Gallery — and it is given over almost entirely to changing special exhibitions, often three or four a year on a single artist or theme. Belvedere 21, in a 1950s glass-and-steel pavilion ten minutes south, shows post-1945 and contemporary Austrian art and is closed Mondays. First-time visitors usually do Upper only; the 2-in-1 combo adds Lower and is the right call if a current exhibition appeals.

How does ticketing work at Belvedere?

Belvedere uses tiered single-site and combination tickets, with discounts for seniors over 65, students under 26, holders of the Vienna City Card, and disability-card holders. Children and young people under 19 enter free at every site, accompanied or unaccompanied. The two combination tickets are the 2-in-1, which covers the Upper and Lower Belvedere, and the 3-in-1, which adds the Belvedere 21 modernist annex; both combo tickets are valid for several days, so you can split the visit across a morning and an afternoon if you prefer. Tickets are timed-entry — you book a 30-minute arrival slot at the Upper Belvedere, and once inside you can stay as long as you like. Concierge-booked prices on this site are displayed inclusive of the service fee on the homepage ticket cards: the price you see is what you pay, in your local currency, with no hidden booking surcharges added at checkout. For direct booking the official site is belvedere.at.

When is the best time to visit Belvedere?

Book the first slot of the day — 09:00 — on a weekday for the calmest visit, especially in front of The Kiss. The Kiss has its own room and that room is the natural bottleneck of the Upper Belvedere; by mid-morning it routinely holds 30 or more people at a time, and in July and August the queue at the ticket office can run 45 to 60 minutes. The first hour after opening is the only window when you reliably get space to see the painting at its own scale. Friday evenings at the Lower Belvedere (open until 21:00 on selected late nights — confirm on the operator site) are another quiet pocket. Spring (April–May) and early autumn (September–early October) bring the best weather for the gardens between the two palaces, which are free to walk.

How do I get to Schloss Belvedere from central Vienna?

From central Vienna, the fastest route to the Upper Belvedere is by tram or on foot from Wien Hauptbahnhof. According to the operator, tram D stops directly outside at the stop Schloss Belvedere; trams 18 and O serve Quartier Belvedere, the S-Bahn and regional-train station that sits behind the palace and is roughly a five-minute walk through the rear gate. From Hauptbahnhof, take the U1 underground one stop to Südtiroler Platz / Hauptbahnhof and then walk about 15 minutes north-east to the main entrance on Prinz-Eugen-Straße. From the historic centre around Stephansplatz or Karlsplatz, allow 25–35 minutes by tram with one change, or about 25 minutes on foot through Schwarzenbergplatz. The Lower Belvedere on Rennweg has its own separate entrance — about ten minutes downhill through the gardens from the Upper — and tram 71 stops at Unteres Belvedere directly outside it. Belvedere 21 is a further ten minutes south by tram D.

What should I prioritise inside Belvedere?

Start with the Klimt galleries on the first floor of the Upper Belvedere and give The Kiss at least ten unhurried minutes — the gold leaf reads completely differently at one metre than at four. From there, the same floor holds Judith I (1901), Sonja Knips (1898), and a strong Egon Schiele room with the Family and Death and the Maiden. Walk through the Marble Hall on the upper level for the ceiling fresco and the panoramic view down the formal garden to St Stephen's Cathedral spire framed across the old town — this view is, by itself, one of Vienna's defining sights. Allow time on the ground floor for the medieval and Baroque rooms, including Maulbertsch and the Messerschmidt character heads. If a Lower Belvedere exhibition is on, plan that for a second visit slot rather than rushing it.

Is Belvedere accessible for visitors with mobility needs?

Yes — the Belvedere is broadly accessible across all three sites, though some specifics are worth confirming on the day of your visit. The operator states that wheelchairs are available free of charge at all locations, that companions of disability-card holders enter free when noted on the card, and that free lockers are provided at every site so mobility aids do not have to compete with bag storage. Lifts serve the upper floors of both Upper and Lower Belvedere, including the floor that holds The Kiss. The formal gardens between the two palaces are gravelled and have steps in places — for step-free transit, take tram 71 between the Schloss Belvedere and Unteres Belvedere stops rather than walking down the central axis of the gardens. Belvedere 21 is largely single-storey and step-free throughout. For specific room-by-room queries, the operator's accessibility statement and inclusion-museum pages document each site, and the visitor-services line is staffed in English.

Can I take photographs at Belvedere?

Yes, with limits. Per the official house rules, photographing and filming inside the museum is permitted for private, non-commercial purposes, but flash, tripods and selfie sticks are not allowed at any of the three Belvedere sites. Specific rooms or individual exhibits may be marked with a no-photography symbol — check signage at each doorway, particularly in temporary exhibitions at the Lower Belvedere where lender restrictions on contemporary loans often apply. Mobile phones are allowed for photos and notes, but the house rules ask for no phone calls and no loud conversation in the galleries. Commercial or academic photography, including any work intended for publication, requires written permission from the Belvedere's communications department in advance. The Marble Hall ceiling and the garden terrace looking down across the formal axis to St Stephen's spire are the two interior shots most visitors come away with — both work cleanly without flash given the light conditions on a normal day.

What else can I do near Belvedere on the same day?

Belvedere sits in Vienna's third district and pairs neatly with several nearby sights for a half- or full-day plan. Karlsplatz, fifteen minutes on foot or one tram stop away, brings you to Otto Wagner's Stadtbahn Pavilions, the Karlskirche, and the Secession Building — where Klimt's Beethoven Frieze (1902) is permanently installed in the basement, and which complements The Kiss directly. The MuseumsQuartier and the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Old Masters: Bruegel, Vermeer, Velázquez) are a further ten minutes north and make a natural full-day pairing if Belvedere is your morning. The Albertina, on the other side of the Hofburg, is the city's main graphic-arts collection and a sensible alternative for visitors more interested in Dürer prints and Monets than in Austrian gold-period painting. Schönbrunn Palace and gardens, Vienna's other major Habsburg residence, sits across the city and merits its own half-day.

Who built the Belvedere and why?

Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663–1736) commissioned the Belvedere as his private summer residence and as a public statement of his standing inside the Habsburg court. As field marshal he had defeated the Ottomans at Zenta in 1697, taken Belgrade in 1717, and become the wealthiest non-royal in the empire — wealth he chose to display in art, gardens and architecture rather than landed estates. Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt, Eugene's favoured architect, began the Lower Belvedere around 1712 as a working palace and followed with the Upper Belvedere from 1717 to 1723 as a Lustschloss for receptions and to crown the slope. Eugene died in 1736 with no direct heir; the estate passed to his niece Victoria, who sold it to Empress Maria Theresa in November 1752. From 1781 the imperial picture gallery opened in the Upper Belvedere — one of the first public art museums anywhere in Europe — and the building has functioned as a museum almost continuously since.

Frequently asked questions