The Belvedere Palace times are designed to accommodate visitors throughout the week, with varying hours for different parts of the complex. Knowing the opening times in advance can help you plan your visit effectively.
| Location | Days Open | Regular Hours | Last Admission |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Belvedere | Monday – Sunday | 09:00 – 18:00 | 17:30 |
| Lower Belvedere | Monday – Sunday | 10:00 – 18:00 | 17:30 |
| Belvedere 21 | Tuesday – Sunday | 11:00 – 18:00 | 17:30 |
| Belvedere 21 | Thursday (Late Night) | 11:00 – 21:00 | 20:30 |
| Belvedere 21 | Monday | Closed* | N/A |
Note: Opening hours may vary during special events or holidays. It’s recommended to check for updates before your visit.
Before you plan your visit, there’s something you need to know that could save your trip: the Belvedere enforces a strict 30-minute cutoff before closing time. This isn’t just a suggestion, it’s a firm policy across all three museum locations.
What this means for you is simple. If the Upper Belvedere closes at 18:00, you won’t get past the entrance desk at 17:31. The doors effectively close at 17:30 sharp. The museum staff begins clearing the exhibition halls right at the official closing time, so arriving in those final minutes won’t give you any meaningful time to explore.
The same rule applies to Belvedere 21 on its late-night Thursdays. Even though it stays open until 21:00, your last chance to enter is 20:30. Don’t let a misunderstanding about this policy turn your visit into a wasted trip across Vienna.
Belvedere gardens are completely free to access and operate on a totally different schedule from the museums themselves.
The baroque gardens connecting the Upper and Lower Belvedere open early, really early. You can stroll through them from approximately 06:30 or 07:00 in the morning, long before the museum doors even unlock.
| Month(s) | Opening Hours |
|---|---|
| March | 7 am to 7 pm |
| April | 6:30 am to 8 pm |
| May to July | 6:30 am to 9 pm |
| August to September | 6:30 am to 8 pm |
| October | 6:30 am to 7 pm |
| November to February | 7 am to 5:30 pm |
Timing your visit right can make the difference between a peaceful art experience and a shoulder-to-shoulder shuffle past Klimt’s masterpieces. Let me break down what actually works.
Early morning on weekdays is your golden window. The Upper Belvedere opens at 09:00, and that first hour (09:00 to 10:00) tends to be relatively quiet. Most tour groups don’t arrive until mid-morning, and independent travelers often sleep in after late Viennese dinners. You’ll have a much better shot at viewing “The Kiss” without a crowd three deep in front of you.
If you’re specifically interested in contemporary art at Belvedere 21, Thursday evenings are criminally underutilized. The late-night hours (18:00 to 21:00) attract a completely different, smaller crowd. Many tourists don’t even realize this option exists, so you’ll often find yourself with plenty of breathing room.
Seasonally speaking, shoulder seasons (April-May and September-October) offer the sweet spot. You avoid the summer crush of tour groups while still getting decent weather for the gardens. Winter has its own charm with fewer visitors, though you’ll sacrifice garden time due to early closings.
Here’s something most guidebooks won’t tell you: avoid Tuesday through Thursday mornings if possible. These are prime days for organized tour groups, especially at the Upper Belvedere. Weekends can be busy but tend to have a more relaxed, mixed crowd of locals and tourists rather than the regimented tour group waves.
There’s no formal dress code at the Belvedere. You won’t find bouncers checking whether your outfit meets some arbitrary standard. The official house rules list dozens of prohibitions (don’t touch the art, no smoking, no loud phone calls in the galleries), but dress code? Not mentioned anywhere.
But here’s what actually matters, and this catches almost everyone off-guard: the mandatory coat check rule. This is the real “dress code” you need to worry about, and ignoring it will cost you time.
You are absolutely required to deposit the following items in the free cloakroom before entering the exhibition halls:
This isn’t a suggestion. Security won’t let you past the checkpoint with these items. The museum provides free lockers for storage (though you might need a 2 EUR coin as a deposit for the key, which you get back). One critical limitation it’s that they don’t accept suitcases, so if you’re traveling with luggage, use the lockers at the main train station before heading over.
Summer months see the worst overall crowds, but that three-hour midday window (11:00 to 14:00) is reliably packed year-round. During high season, the ticket office queue can stretch beyond 30 to 60 minutes. Not the entrance queue, mind you. The ticket buying queue.
You should know that if you show up without a pre-purchased ticket and try to buy one at the ticket office during peak hours, not only will you face a long wait to purchase it, but you will probably only get a time slot for 4:00 p.m. or 5:00 p.m. on the same day. So you wait in line for 45 minutes, finally buy your ticket, and then discover that you can’t even enter the museum until late afternoon. Your morning has been ruined.
Upper Belvedere opens at 09:00, but crowds don’t peak until 11:00. That creates a two-hour golden window. The congestion isn’t just at the entrance, it concentrates inside, specifically in the Vienna 1900 gallery where “The Kiss” hangs.
No, and this deserves clarification because it’s a surprisingly common question. The Belvedere Palace in Vienna has no tower open to the public. Not for climbing, not for views, not at all.
The confusion stems from the name “Belvedere” itself, which appears on multiple tourist attractions across Europe that aren’t related to the Vienna palace. There’s a Belvedere Tower in Bregaglia, Switzerland. Another in Aachen, Germany (the Drehturm Belvedere). One in Oranjewoud, Netherlands. The Belvedere Pfingstberg in Potsdam, Germany. All completely different places that just happen to share the name.
Admission to the palace’s main gardens is completely free; no ticket is required.
This main garden (called the Schlossgarten) spreads across three grand terraces between the Upper and Lower Belvedere, featuring symmetric parterres, water basins, manicured hedges, and those famous reflecting pools that create a mirror image of the palace facade. The gardens open much earlier than the museums (as early as 06:30 in summer) and close at dusk, which varies seasonally from 17:30 in winter to 21:00 in peak summer.
But there’s one exception, the Kammergarten (Private Garden). This smaller, secluded garden adjacent to the Lower Belvedere was historically “for the prince’s exclusive use.” Access to this particular garden isn’t free, it’s included with paid admission to the Lower Belvedere.
BELVEDERE PALACE TICKETS
Entrance tickets to Belvedere Palace grant access to its renowned art exhibitions and beautiful gardens. The palace is divided into two main… see more
TRAVELER INFORMATION
The Belvedere Palace is located in the Landstraße district of Vienna, making it easy to reach from various parts of the city. It’s centrally… see more
BELVEDERE PALACE INFORMATION
The Belvedere Palace complex is more than just two palaces; it is a cultural treasure trove that offers a comprehensive look into Vienna’s… see more
