Castles · Tour

One Hour Outside, Ninety Minutes Inside, and the Ticket Is Yours to Buy

Two and a half hours at the Belvedere with a scholar guide, split into two clear halves: an hour on the grounds and the two palaces, then an hour and a half inside the museum on the highlights of the collection. The complex was built in the first decades of the 18th century as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy, commander-in-chief of the Austrian army and one of the more effective military commanders in modern European history. The Upper Belvedere is among the significant buildings of its century, and the formal gardens around it were laid out on classical models. The museum came later, and its founding idea was unusual: to open the imperial collection to the general public, which made the Belvedere one of the first public museums anywhere. What hangs there now runs from the Middle Ages to the present, Austrian and international, with the Austrian National Gallery inside it. The Klimt rooms hold work from the golden period, The Kiss and Judith, the Attersee landscapes, and the portraits of Viennese society women. One practical point: the entrance fee is not part of the price. The guide will help you buy the ticket, which is why the meeting time is set early.