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The Other Palaces of Vienna: The Hofburg and The Belvedere

| Austria, Destinations, Europe, Sunday Traveler

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Vienna is a city of music. It is also a city of palaces. There are so many of them around the city, many of which, I’ve never even heard of. Many visitors flock to the beautiful and famous Schonbrunn Palace and I’m no different. I adore the gardens and exploring the grounds, but there are plenty of other palaces to discover in the city. While many are privately owned, there are a few that open to the public. The most famous ones being the Hofburg Palace and the Upper and Lower Palaces of the Belvedere.

The Hofburg

The Hofburg Palace was the winter palace of the Habsburg family until the end of their rule. The palace was built specifically for the Habsburg family in the thirteenth century. This massive palace is located right in the centre of Vienna. You can’t miss it. Even if you weren’t looking for it, you’ll eventually stumble upon it.

The Hofberg Palace | Vienna, Austria

Entrance to the Hofburg Palace, the St. Michael’s Wing

The building sits among all the other buildings in central Vienna. With its many wings and expansions, it is hard to tell what is part of the palace and what isn’t. Today the palace is the official residence of the President of Austria as well as home to a convention centre and numerous museums and art collections.

The Hofburg Palace Vienna

There are many ways to enjoy the palace. For some, it is fulfilling to just wander around the massive building discovering the different wings of the building. For others, there are museums and areas opened to the public inside.

The Hofberg Palace | Vienna, Austria

In der Berg – the largest enclosed square of the palace complex featuring a statue of Emperor Franz

There are three areas that you can explore inside: The Imperial Apartments, The Sisi Museum and the Silver Collection. I skipped going inside as I was content with exploring the massive building from the outside. I did, however, wander into the Austrian National Library for a quick peek inside. There wasn’t too much to see without paying for a tour. The Spanish Riding School is also located here which hopefully one day I can go check out.

Hofburg | Vienna, Austria

The Austrian National Library is located inside.

The whole building is full of interesting architecture and I spent more time look up than I did at watching where I was going. It is incredible the amount of detail that went into making the building what it is.

The Hofberg Palace | Vienna, Austria

Look at that detailing!

Whether you decide to go and explore the inside or just wander around the outside of the building, the Hofburg Palace is a dominating feature in the Vienna cityscape. You can only imagine what a presence it had during the Habsburg’s rule.

The Hofburg Palace
Michaelerkuppel, 1010 Wien, Austria
September to June: 9.00 am to 5.30 pm
July and August: 9.00 am to 6.00 pm

Good to Know

Admission: The one price (Adults € 11,50) includes access to Imperial Apartments, The Sisi Museum and the Silver Collection with an audio guide. Skip the line for the audio guide and download it onto your own player.

If you’re thinking of touring the Hofburg Palace and Schonbrunn Palace, you should definitely consider the Sisi Ticket which gets you a reduced entry.

The Belvedere

The Belvedere consists of two Baroque palaces, an Orangery and a Palace Stable. Originally the complex was built as a summer residence for France’s Prince Eugene of Savoy. After his death, the property was purchased from his heir by Maria Theresa of the Habsburgs. While they never lived there, they used the property to store and display art. The Upper Belvedere was home to the Imperial Picture Gallery which was opened to the public – making it one of the first public museums in the world. The Lower Belvedere was used by royal family members escaping from the French Revolution.

Upper Belvedere | Vienna, Austria

Wandering the gardens looking towards the Upper Belvedere

Today, you are free to wander the beautiful gardens. The Upper Belvedere is home to the world’s largest collection of paintings by Klimt, including his famous painting “The Kiss.” Prior to my visit, I didn’t even know who he was, but a friend of mine was a fan and took me to see his exhibits. This was the only building that I explored.

Upper Belvedere in Vienna | packmeto.com

Such interesting statues around the gardens

In the Lower Belvedere, you can see the apartments and staterooms of Prince Eugene. You can also see the Belvedere’s medieval collection in the Palace Stables.

Lower Belvedere | Vienna, Austria

The Lower Belvedere

Wandering the gardens was enough for me. While they’re not as extensive as the gardens in Schonbrunn, these gardens were definitely grand. You could see some resemblance in the overall design of the gardens, but both have their own unique take.

Upper Belvedere | Vienna, Austria

Looking up at the Upper Belvedere from the gardens. Doesn’t the water feature make it magical?

The most notable distinction is the use of water fountains and ponds throughout the gardens of the Belvedere. It added something interesting to look at.

Upper Belvedere | Vienna, Austria

The front of the Upper Belvedere

The gardens are set on a gentle gradient with beautiful Baroque sculptures of mythical creatures throughout. The sphinx, symbolizing strength and intelligence, was a common theme found throughout the upper levels of the garden. The view from the top of the sloping garden towards the Lower Belvedere is where the complex gets its name. Belvedere is Italian for “beautiful view”.

The Belvedere Gardens in Vienna | packmeto.com

You can see the gentle slope downwards

Surrounding the entire complex are hedges with majestic wrought iron gates.

Gates of the Belvedere in Vienna | packmeto.com

Look at these beautiful gates. I wouldn’t mind some of these leading into my house!

I really enjoyed exploring the gardens of the Belvedere and especially marveling at the different waterscapes and interesting sculptures.

Upper Belvedere
Daily 10 am to 6 pm

Lower Belvedere, Orangery
Daily 10 am to 6 pm
Wednesday 10 am to 9 pm

Good to Know

Getting There: I’ve always entered the gardens on by the Lower Belvedere at Rennweg 6. Take Tram 71 from Schwarzenbergplatz (Schubertring) on the ring and get off on the 3rd stop (Unteres Belvedere)

Admission: There are a number of different tour packages to see what is inside the museums. Honestly, I would just skip them all and wander around the gardens.

Do you like looking at old buildings? Have you explored these (and other) palaces in Vienna? What did you think?

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Comments

  2. The gardens at the Belvedere look gorgeous! I love wandering around places like that – I could spend all day. Must go to Vienna sometime!

  3. Vienna is definitely one of my favourite European cities, it’s just so beautiful. If you like palaces you can’t really go wrong can you? 😀

    • Definitely not! I adored all the beautiful and elaborate buildings. It didn’t feel real at all. One of my favourite cities as well.

  4. What a great day you got for these crisp photos of Belvedere – the buildings look gorgeous under the blue sky. Walking under the gate with Hofburg’s immensity popping up next to you is an unforgettable experience.

    • Yes! The weather was gorgeous when I went to the Belvedere. Secret: the photos are from 2 separate visits to Vienna. One time in the summer and another in the winter. I’ll leave it up to you to decide which was what 😉

  5. This is awesome, my son has a week long basketball tournament in Vienna next week and I was struggling with how to fill my days (outside of basketball) since we go every year! I will really use this and go see your great places! Awesome Thanks so much for sharing its always fun to find new places that not everyone knows about!

  7. I ADORE the Belvedere and spent a brilliant afternoon there a few years ago. The palace and grounds are stunning, and I also love it as it’s the place where I fell in love with the works of Klimt and Schiele. I’ve gone to so many museums afterwards just because of what I saw at the Belvedere.

    • Yes! It really is a great place to wander around. And agreed, the museum is a good introduction to the works of Klimt.

  8. Adelina, you are really turning classy. Last week with Mozart, now with palaces. Is that the same girl who dressed up in a garbage bag after few shots of pálinka?! Kidding! Love the palaces. Especially Belvedere.

  10. Those gardens look absolutely beautiful! I would love to travel to Austria someday, so I am saving all of your blog posts for future reference! With the history and the music and the beauty, it is a perfect place!

    • Thanks Lauren! Vienna is so beautiful I really hope you get a chance to visit. There is just so much to do and see.

  11. It’s been forever since I visited Austria, but my teen just suggested it as a potential holiday destination for our summer vacation. I’ve been to Schonbrunn, but I don’t think I’ve visited either Hofburg or Belvedere. Imagine buying a palace just to store and display your art collection! I guess that’s what you get to do if you’re old-time royalty. Your photos of the exterior and gardens are so pretty, I want to see what the inside looks like.

    • Thanks Michele. I can’t imagine having all that money or power at all. Austria in the summer would be a fantastic destination. Just be warned, it gets really really hot. The day I was wandering around at the Belvedere it was 30 degrees out and with minimal shade! But maybe that is normal for you coming from Malaysia.

  13. Gorgeous photos! We loved walking around Hofburg Palace. Although we didn’t go it the palace’s exterior is stunning 🙂

  16. Lovely photos! Those palaces always put me in awe. The care and detail (and cost!) that went into building and furnishing them is sometimes a little hard to comprehend, especially when so many poor lived around them, but they’re so beautiful it’s hard not to have some appreciation for them. They look like great places to visit. Thanks for sharing!

    • Yes! I completely agree with you. It is so astounding how elaborate these buildings considering the time they were being built.

  17. Beautiful photos of the palaces and gardens. I admit I’ve only known about Schonbrunn Palace and I would love to see these other two. We love visiting European palaces and I’m adding these when we make it to Vienna one of these days. You certainly got lucky with the weather and lack of crowds.

    • Thanks Mary! I was so surprised there was no one at the Belvedere. I was there in high season too. Everyone was probably out enjoying Schonbrunn.

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