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Vienna: So many museums, so little time! How do I prioritize?

Posted by (Canada) on

Hello everyone.
I will be in Vienna from March 4th to March 6th. (And in Salzburg from February 28th to March 3rd).

I am planning the Vienna portion of my trip and overwhelmed with all the museum options (a good problem for the city of Vienna to have!). With only 3 days, I realize I won't be able to visit all of them, and so I'd like to pick the one that gives me the most 'bang for my buck'.

These are the museums I'm most interested in:
- Kunsthistorisches (for the Old Masters and the architecture of the building itself.. the rotunda looks beautiful)
- Albertina (for the impressionist art which I enjoy more than the Old Masters to be honest, but only 1/3rd of its collection is permanent)
- Upper Belvedere (for the famous 'Kiss' and for exploring the grounds.. although I am visiting in winter when the gardens are not yet in bloom and I'm already visiting Schonbrunn Palace)
- Haus Der Musik (looks really fun and interactive and closes much later at 10 PM)

for context, I'm already planning a visit to the Imperial Treasury and the Austrian National Library, although I don't think these have much overlap with the museums listed.

Thank you so much for your advice!

Posted by
652 posts

I’d prioritize the Kunsthistorische. So much to see and yes the museum itself is beautiful. Somehow the setting itself put me in an art appreciation mode.

Posted by
2 posts

Hi Jay,

Fellow Canadians here, also planning a Vienna-Salzburg trip. Scrolling through museum websites and surveying friends who often visit Vienna, we ended up with the exact same list (suprisingly, giving the abundance of outstanding options).
(Our stay is slightly longer, so we will also have time for Kunst Haus, Spittelau incinerator and Hundertwasser in general)

Posted by
395 posts

Last spring, we spent 8 nights in Vienna and could have spent more. This is a tough assignment. If I had to prioritize, I’d put the 4 museums you mention in this order:

Kunsthistorisches - has one of my favorite paintings: Vermeer’s “The Art of Painting”. Luminous!

Upper Belvedere - the Klimt‘s are iconic and you get a palace in the bargain. Be sure to get a timed entry in advance. We bought our tickets at the door and ended up waiting an hour in the gardens and lower palace for our entrance time.

Albertina - The Batliner Collection is a nice, compact cross-section of modern art. And, there’s Dürer’s “Rabbit”.

Haus der Musik - exceeded my expectations with the informative and engaging exhibits, but my priority is visual art so I would skip this if pressed for time and energy.

With limited time, unless it’s a bucket list experience for you, I might forgo Schönbrunn Palace. It could take up most of a day considering transportation time there and back and the sheer size of the palace and grounds.

Posted by
5151 posts

Kunsth #1 and be sure to eat lunch in their beautiful cafe
Haus Musik-I've never been to anything like it.
I did not go to the others on your list. If you are there on Sunday, the Augustiner Church in the Hofburg complex had wonderful music in their Sunday morning service. Rick mentioned it in his book.

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