Vienna’s Belvedere Palace is one of the City’s most well known and most visited museums. It contains an extensive range of artefacts, including the world’s largest collection of Gustav Klimt paintings. Gustav was a prominent Austrian painter.
After seeing the Belvedere Palace on television prior to our trip, we wasted no time in adding it to the list of sights we would visit when we visited Vienna in 2019. This trip was our last overseas holiday before Covid struck and put the brakes on international travel.
We actually visited the Belvedere twice. Once to enter the Museum to explore and view its collection of art, and a second time on a sunnier day to explore and take photos of the building and gardens.
Everything we are describing and showing below is from the ‘Upper Belvedere’. There is also a ‘Lower Belvedere’, which unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to see while we were in Vienna.
Getting There
The Belvedere is an easy tram ride from Vienna’s centre. We were staying at the SO Sofitel so for us it was a 4 minute walk across the Schwedenbrücke bridge where we caught the number 1 tram, followed by an easy swap to the D tram which passes right by the Museum. The Schloss Belvedere tram stop is a few steps from the gate. The tram trip itself is quite scenic! You pass by some very beautiful buildings.
We purchased 24 hour tram tickets from a ‘Tabaki’ (which is a small tobacco, lotto, newspaper and metro ticket shop or booth) as we were going to continue to use the tram to return to the city centre, and for further sightseeing across the rest of the day and into the evening.
The Building Exterior and Gardens
You can thoroughly enjoy yourself without even entering the Museum if you like well manicured gardens and impressive architecture. There is plenty to see and photograph if you are capturing your trip with your camera or on your phone.
The building itself is Baroque style and very ornate. The palace complex was built as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy. There are amazing statues lining the top, with the impressive Crest of Prince Eugene of Savoy, complete with lions and a crown as a feature above the rear windows.
The front (city facing side) of the Belvedere overlooks the Belvedere Schlossgarten. The Schlossgarten is a beautifully manicured hedged garden, complete with fountains, which rolls down the hill towards the city. You can get a great photo of this garden from a more elevated position inside the Belvedere.
Check out the Rococo Sphinx (half winged lion and half woman) at the top of the Schlossgarten.
These horse statues at the rear of the Belvedere make for a great photo! The sun is shining on these statues in the morning.
The Belvedere Lake can be used to create some lovely photos. We saw some little ramps along the lake edge to help ducks or tortoises to get in and out of the water.
These elaborate wrought iron gates with the lions and crowns are also very attractive. The Crest of Prince Eugene of Savoy features here too.
This soldier and cherubs are positioned along the wall around the rear gardens.
I mentioned we visited the Belvedere Palace Museum twice. On the second visit, I had forgotten to check my camera’s memory card and only had room for 10 photos. As a result I had to spend 15 minutes standing in the shade reviewing other photos I had taken on my small camera screen and deleting any I could do without. Not only was this a waste of time, it also forced me to make some hurried and unnecessary photo decisions.
Entering the Belvedere
We bought our tickets online (you can buy tickets at the Museum, but they are €3 more expensive as of 2022, and you may not get a timeslot you prefer). We actually waited until we were in Vienna, and purchased our tickets when we saw the following day was going to be cloudy. Doing inside activities when the weather is overcast or wet, and outdoor activities when it’s sunny, is our preferred approach. The staff at the Sofitel were happy to print our tickets for us.
The entrance is on the side of the Belvedere which faces the Schlossgarten
We had heard that the queues to see the works of Gustav Klimt get long quickly, and that the Museum will control the number of people able to enter the room where his works are predominantly displayed. It is best to go first thing in the morning to avoid the line up. So we had booked our tickets for 10.30am, shortly after the 10.00am opening time.
On the Inside
The Belvedere’s collection is extensive and includes pieces from a range of periods such as Classicism, Impressionism, Baroque and more, including some modern art. Once inside, the first thing you see is the amazing white lobby staircase.
Make sure you see the works of Gustav Klimt. The first thing we did was head up to level one to see these works ahead of the crowds. One of his most well known works is Der Kuss (The Kiss), 1908. We were surprised that we could walk right up to it. It wasn’t cordoned off, like the Mona Lisa and other very famous works we have seen.
The frescoes in some of the rooms are as delightful as some of the actual paintings on display. The second photo below shows The Abtenau Alter, consisting of (left to right) St Rupert, St Blaise and St. Maximilian, by Andreas Lackner
There are sculptures and ceramic pieces, in addition to the paintings. The first picture features the Late Gothic panels of the Salzburg Altarpiece by Austrian painter Rueland Frueauf the Elder. The second picture shows Uli Aigner’s One Million – Item 2361, which is a large porcelain vessel. The busts are (left to right) The Noble One, A Strong Worker and Old Age. All by Franz Xavier Messerschmidt.
We saw the famous Napoleon am Großen St. Bernhard (Napoleon on the St Bernard Pass), 1801, see this picture below.
We stopped in the gift shop on our way out, and bought a Belvedere Gallery Guide book to take home.
The Wrap Up
Though it is a little out of the old centre of Vienna, the Belvedere is well worth a visit. As mentioned above, it is an easy and scenic tram trip. Staff at your accommodation could also give you a rough indication of taxi costs if you preferred.
If you want to find out more about the Upper Belvedere, or research the Lower Belvedere, the official website is quite informative: https://www.belvedere.at/en. You can also purchase entry tickets online from this site (as we did).
On the tram route there are other worthwhile sites, so get a 24 hour ticket and on your way back into the city centre hop off at the Karlskirche (a church with a fabulous exterior and an even more impressive interior) and the Secession Art Museum (for the incredible gold dome). Just make sure your camera (or phone) is fully charged and has plenty of free storage.
