Klemio
Upper Belvedere
People come to the Upper Belvedere for one painting, Klimt's 'The Kiss', and it delivers, but the building is a Baroque palace and the rest of the Klimt holdings are the largest anywhere. Here is the honest tip: 'The Kiss' room gets a wall of phones at midday, so aim for opening or the last couple of hours on a weekday and you can actually stand with it. Book online to skip the ticket-office queue.
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Worth it for the art, with one caveat about timing. 'The Kiss' is the reason to come and it holds up, but go on a weekday at opening or late and you trade a phone-jammed room for a quiet one. The wider Klimt and Schiele rooms and the Baroque palace make it more than a one-painting stop.
Worth it for
- Seeing 'The Kiss' in person
- The largest Klimt collection and strong Schiele rooms
- A Baroque palace and a free formal garden with a city view
You can skip if
- You are not interested in painting and only want the building
- You can only go at busy midday hours and would resent the crowd at 'The Kiss'
Tickets & tours for Upper Belvedere
Which ticket should you buy?
What it is
The Belvedere is two Baroque palaces, Upper and Lower, built for Prince Eugene of Savoy, set across a sloping formal garden. The Upper Belvedere is the grand one on the hill and now an art museum. Its headline holding is Austrian art around 1900, above all Gustav Klimt.
This is where 'The Kiss' lives, along with the broadest Klimt collection in the world and strong rooms of Egon Schiele and the Vienna Secession crowd. The Lower Belvedere down the slope hosts changing exhibitions and is a separate ticket.
What to see
'The Kiss' is the obvious target: gold leaf, two figures wrapped together, smaller in person than people expect but more luminous. Give it time when the room is calm. Around it, the Klimt rooms and the Schiele works are the real depth of the collection, so do not just photograph the one painting and leave.
The palace itself is part of the show: the ceremonial staircase, the Marble Hall with its frescoed ceiling and a view straight down the garden to the city skyline. The free garden between the two palaces is a fine walk on its own, especially with the fountains running.
Visiting and tickets
Buy a timed online ticket and you bypass the ticket-office line, which in high season is the difference between walking in and standing around. The Upper Belvedere has its own ticket; there is a combined option that adds the Lower Belvedere if you want the temporary shows too.
The crowd at 'The Kiss' is the only real friction. On a weekday before late morning or in the final hours before close, the room thins out. Midday in summer it is shoulder to shoulder with selfie sticks.
Getting there and timing
Tram D stops at Schloss Belvedere, right by the Upper Belvedere gate, which is the easiest approach. Tram 71 also serves the area, and from the main station (Hauptbahnhof, U1) it is a walk of roughly 10 to 15 minutes. Coming up through the garden from the Lower Belvedere gives you the palace reveal as you climb.
It is open daily, typically from around 9 to 6. An hour and a half to two hours covers the highlights comfortably. Pair it with a slow walk through the garden rather than rushing straight back out.
Upper Belvedere: FAQs
In the Upper Belvedere, not the Lower one. Make sure your ticket is for the Upper Belvedere. It hangs in the permanent Klimt rooms alongside the rest of the collection.
On a weekday, right at opening or in the last couple of hours before closing. Midday, especially in summer, the room fills with people and phones. Timing is everything here.
Only if you want the temporary exhibitions at the Lower Belvedere. For 'The Kiss' and the Klimt and Schiele collection, the Upper Belvedere ticket alone is enough.
Photography of the permanent collection is generally allowed without flash, which is part of why the room gets so busy. Be patient and let others get their shot too.
Yes, the formal garden between the Upper and Lower palaces is free to walk during opening hours. The palace interiors and collections are ticketed.
Around 90 minutes to two hours for the Upper Belvedere highlights, plus extra time if you walk the garden or add the Lower Belvedere exhibitions.
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