Belvedere consists of three museums :Upper Belvedere, Lower Belvedere and Belvedere 21. Each museum needs a separate ticket. In my opinion if you have time to visit only one museum in Vienna, make it Upper Belvedere. Upper Belvedere has large collection of impressionists and considered one of the most popular museums in Vienna. Klimt’s “ The Kiss” locates in Upper Belvedere. Lower Belvedere has a collection of Middle Age artifacts and Belvedere 21 is a contemporary Art museum. The walk from the entrance for Upper Belvedere to Lower Belvedere is about 10 minutes. Here is my basic Belvedere for First time Visitors guide.
Belvedere for First time Visitors
Tickets and entry time
Once you get to the museum head straight to the ticket building. It is located behind the entrance to the Upper Belvedere museum. All tickets issued for a specific entry time frame.
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The garden.
Once you purchase the ticket, head to Belvedere garden. Most likely you will have about 30-40 mins to explore the Belvedere garden before your ticket entry time. The garden located between Lower and Upper Belvedere. You will walk around beautifully kept sculptures and variety of plants; it looks like mini version of Versailles garden. The garden is free to visit for general public.
Avoid the crowds
The best time to avoid crowds is first couple of hours in the morning (9 am-11 am) and couple of hours before closing. The Museum has extended hours of operations every Friday.
Prepare for your visit
I suggest preparing for your Belvedere visit in advance. You can read about the museum’s history, gardens and architecture on Belvedere’s official site. The site also offers the virtual tour of the museum.
Main idea here is to create a plan that includes” must-see” and “good-to-see” lists. If you know in advance that you will be on a tight schedule, having a plan will allow you to see more of the museum during your visit.
Luggage and personal items
You will be requires to store large personal items such as large bags, and umbrellas in the museum’s cloakroom. Backpacks are not allowed in the museum regardless of the size.
Important: There is not large luggage storage area in Belvedere.
Time in the museum.
Plan to arrive to the museum entrance couple of minutes earlier than your entry time. You might need to wait in the line during the busy season. Once in the museum, head to cloakroom if you need to store large items. In not, start following the self-guided or audio tour. Cloakroom is located on the first floor in Upper Belvedere. Make sure to stop by the window on the second floor to admire the view of the garden again.
Final thoughts
Do online research and prepare for your visit in advance. Visit museum in the morning or couple of hours before the closing time. Belvedere is one of the most beautiful and nicely kept museum in the world. Hope you enjoy your visit to the museum as much as I did.
