Belvedere Palace Vienna Review: Upper Belvedere Tickets & Klimt’s The Kiss
If you’re only going to pick one museum on a trip to Vienna, Belvedere Palaceis the one I’d wholeheartedly recommend.
It’s home to one of the most famous paintings in the world, Gustav Klimt’s iconic masterpiece The Kiss— and the original is right here at Belvedere Palace in Vienna. On my last trip to Vienna, Austria, I visited in person and toured the Upper Belvedere galleries to see Klimt’s works for myself.
Belvedere Palace Upper Belvedereand Lower Belvedereare separate areas, so when you first start looking at tickets, it can be confusing to figure out which one to book and whether you need to see both.
To give you the short answer first: if your main goal is Klimt’s The Kiss, you only need to book an Upper Belvedere ticket.
Right now, MyRealTrip is also running a first-come, first-served Austria travel deal,so if you’re planning to book, make sure to check whether any coupons apply too.
Check the Austria limited-time travel deals
1. Belvedere Palace
Belvedere Palace is a Baroque palace complex with expansive gardens. It’s not just a museum building — the palace itself is part of the experience, so after seeing the art inside, it’s well worth stepping outside to walk through the grounds too.
It was seriously cold when I visited, so I loved that I could spend a good amount of time indoors looking at the collection.
Vienna can be freezing in winter and surprisingly hot in summer, so this is a great stop when you want an itinerary item that’s less affected by the weather and easy to enjoy for a couple of hours.
2. Upper Belvedere Tickets
When you search for Belvedere in Vienna, Austria, you’ll see names like Upper Belvedere and Lower Belvedere, which can make it seem like you need to reserve both.
Upper Belvedereis where you’ll find Klimt’s The Kiss along with many of the museum’s signature works. You can also see the Marble Hall and the palace interiors, so if it’s your first visit or you’re coming specifically for Klimt, Upper Belvedere should be your priority. Most visitors only do Upper Belvedere.
Lower Belvedere
On the other hand, Lower Belvederefocuses more on special exhibitions. The exhibitions are different from Upper Belvedere, and the ticket is separate, so you definitely don’t have to treat them as a package.
Especially if you’re on a short trip, I honestly think Upper Belvedere alone is enough. If you take your time there, plan about 1.5 to 2 hours, and a little over 2 hours if you want to include the gardens too.
If you want to see Lower Belvedere as well, I’d set aside at least 3 hours total including the time it takes to move between them.
Right now, Upper Belvedere uses timed entryso you need to enter at your selected time. The ticket I used allowed same-day booking and instant confirmation, and entry with a mobile voucher made everything super easy.
Reserve your Upper Belvedere ticket
3. Klimt and Other Masterpieces
And finally, I got to see Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss in person.
It’s such a famous painting that most people have probably seen it at least once somewhere before. But seeing the actual original while traveling is a completely different feeling from seeing it in a photo or in a book.
Because the painting is filled with luminous gold tones, it looks even more stunning in real life than it does on a screen.
Beyond The Kiss, the museum also holds the world’s largest Gustav Klimt collection, so you can see many of his other major works in the same visit.
Another famous piece here is Jacques-Louis David’s Napoleon Crossing the Alps.
It shows Napoleon riding a white horse across the Alps, and there was a crowd in front of that painting too. Seeing it in person made it feel even more grand and dramatic.
Upper Belvedere also has a wide-ranging collection spanning Medieval art, Baroque, Biedermeier, Impressionism, and Viennese fin-de-siècle art. So rather than rushing in just to snap a look at The Kiss and leave, I really recommend giving yourself 1 to 2 hours to explore properly.
4. My Visit: What It Was Actually Like
I’m already pretty interested in art, so of course I had a great time here. But even my husband — who’s barely into art and only recognizes a handful of famous works — kept stopping on his own in front of the better-known paintings and some of the larger pieces because they genuinely caught his attention.
And it’s not just Klimt. You’ll also find works by Egon Schiele, Claude Monet, and Vincent van Gogh, so it would be a shame to come all this way and leave after seeing only The Kiss.
One of the staff members also suggested a viewing route and told us it’s best to go in the order of first floor, second floor, then third floor.
On the way out, you naturally pass the gift shop, and I ended up browsing for quite a while because there were so many pretty things.
Just a heads-up: food, drinks, large bags, and suitcases are restricted, so it’s best to pack light or use the lockers.
5. How to Book and Enter
Upper Belvedere ticketsneed to be reserved with a specific entry time. Same-day booking is possible, and the ticket is confirmed instantly after purchase, which is perfect for travelers like me who don’t always plan every detail in advance.
Entry times can be selected every 15 minutes from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and if you can, I highly recommend choosing one of the earliest morning slots.
The official Belvedere guidance also says the busiest hours are between 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Since Upper Belvedere is such a popular attraction, entering around 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. gives you a much better chance of seeing it with slightly smaller crowds.
I’m usually the type to sleep in and take things slow when I travel, but even I got up pretty early that day and arrived around 10:00 a.m.
And even then, there was already a steady crowd gathered in front of The Kiss. Still, it felt manageable.
After booking, check your mobile voucher and arrive at the Upper Belvedere entrance about 15 minutes before your selected time. If you show up too early, the QR code on your ticket may not scan yet, so they usually can’t just wave you in early at staff discretion.
I also saw plenty of people say that being a little late was okay, but if you’re significantly late, some visitors said they weren’t allowed in. So if possible, plan to arrive about 10 minutes before your reserved timefor the smoothest entry.
Ticket prices are in the mid-$15 range,which feels very reasonable for the amount of art and the overall quality of the visit. And right now, MyRealTrip is running an Austria first-come, first-served promotion,so there are perks like a $1 coupon on popular tickets and additional payment discounts. If you’re planning a trip to Vienna, Austria, definitely take a look at the current deals before you book.
Check the Austria limited-time deals (click)