GoTourist
The Upper Belvedere reflected in its pool at dusk, Vienna

No. 46 Top 100 Most Visited Art Museums 2025 · 1,556,000 visitors in 2025

Upper Belvedere

Vienna, Austria · City guide: Vienna

A Baroque palace in Vienna holding the world's largest collection of Klimt paintings, including The Kiss.

Open in Maps Apple Maps

Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Overview

The Upper Belvedere is No. 46 in The Art Newspaper's survey of the world's most visited art museums, with 1,556,000 visitors in 2025, up 5% on 2024 (a figure that covers more than one building). The Baroque palace was built for Prince Eugene of Savoy by Johann Lukas von Hildebrandt and completed in 1723.

It houses Austrian art from the Middle Ages to the present, with the world's largest collection of paintings by Gustav Klimt. Formal gardens link it with the Lower Belvedere, and the Belvedere 21 shows contemporary art.

The Upper Belvedere seen across its garden pool, Vienna
The Upper Belvedere seen across its garden pool, Vienna. Photo: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0, source

Best time to visit

Arrive at opening time or late in the day to see The Kiss with fewer people. Book a timed ticket in advance.

Highlights & collections

  • 1

    The Kiss

    Gustav Klimt's golden masterpiece of 1908–09.

  • 2

    Judith

    Klimt's gilded portrait of the biblical heroine.

  • 3

    Vienna 1900

    Works by Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka.

  • 4

    Marble Hall

    The palace's grand, frescoed central hall with views over the gardens to the city.

  • 5

    Character heads

    Franz Xaver Messerschmidt's strange 18th-century sculpted heads with extreme expressions.

Getting there

The Upper Belvedere is at Prinz-Eugen-Strasse 27. Tram D stops at Schloss Belvedere, and Wien Hauptbahnhof is about a 10-minute walk away.

Visiting tips

Tickets & hours
Buy timed tickets online. Combined tickets cover the Lower Belvedere. The gardens are free. Check the official website for prices and hours.
Time needed
Two to three hours.
Currency
Euro (EUR). Cards, including contactless, are accepted almost everywhere.
Visa & entry
Austria is in the Schengen Area. Many visitors, including citizens of the US, Canada, the UK and Australia, can stay up to 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa. The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) now records non-EU travellers' entries and exits at the border, and the ETIAS travel authorisation is due to follow. Check the official EU site travel-europe.europa.eu and your own government's travel advice before you go.

Official information: Belvedere (official website). Check opening hours, prices and entry rules there before you go.

Map

Open in Maps View larger map Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors