Vienna is a magical city, from the old medieval ring street, the Hapsburg palaces (many which are now museums), and the numerous historic coffeehouses that you can while away the hours in. Art in all its forms can be found all over the city, so to help narrow down a visit there, let’s look at what we think might be the top ten best places to visit. Also, while in Vienna, don’t miss the open air Naschmarkt with over 100 food vendors and mini-restaurants. Confession: We ate there every day.
10. Hotel Sacher – While not art in the traditional sense, Hotel Sacher is a 5-star hotel founded in the late 1800s, where you can sample the famous Sachertorte, named after this hotel. Sachertorte is a chocolate sponge cake with apricot is one of the most famous foods of Vienna, a culinary work of art. Perfect with Viennese coffee. We like Julius Meinl and Austria is its home.
9. KunstHausWien – For art a little closer to modern day, KunstHausWien (Art House Vienna) is a private museum and exhibition space with rotating exhibitions. The building itself is a work of art, refurbished by visual artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser.
8. Vienna Secession – The exhibition home of the Vienna Secession, who brought the works of Klimt, Wagner, and Hoffman. There’s always something new being exhibited, but it’s worth a visit for Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze located within.
7. Karlskirche – A beautiful example of Baroque architecture made to honor St. Charles Borromeo for ending a plague. This is a pristine white church with two large columns referring back to the columns outside the Temple of Jerusalem. Inside is a dazzling display of painting and sculpture, leading to a magnificent gold and white altarpiece depicting the ascension of the saint.
6. Schönbrunn Palace – The summer home of the Hapsburgs of the Holy Roman Empire, this massive palatial estate is a wonder of architecture, opulence, and gardening. One of the best examples of Rococo architecture you can see in the world, make sure to plan a day just to walk its extensive gardens. Hidden within are faux-Roman ruins that were actually made in 1778 to appear as a romantic horticultural scene.
5. Leopold Museum – The Leopold Museum has a truly massive collection of 100,00 artworks, but is perhaps most famous for its unparalleled collection of works from Egon Schiele, whose self portraits are often seen as strange or disturbing. Schiele’s work is captivating, grotesque, sexual, and helped to push art into new spaces.
4. Naturhistorisches Museum – One of the oldest, largest, and most important natural history Museums in the world. While not the traditional purview of “art” some of the most beautiful and rare gemstones, fossils, and meteorites can be found here. The artistic showstopper here however is the Venus of Willendorf, one of the oldest pieces of sculpture known to humanity, dating back almost 25,000 years, while small, it’s worth the trip all on it’s own.
3. Belvedere – A museum located within a palace of Prince Eugene, this is where you can see the famous The Kiss by Klimt. But once you are done admiring it, make sure to see the world-class collection of paintings and artworks housed within its palatial halls.
2. Albertina Museum – The Albertina Museum holds an amazing collection of Modern and Contemporary Works, ranging from Impressionism to Expressionism, to Pop Art. It also houses one of the largest collections of prints in the world. All of this is housed within a grand Hapsburg palace with some of the state rooms still intact to visit.
1.Kunsthistorische Museum – The main art museum of Vienna, it has massive collection of masters and artifacts from across history. Some must-sees include works by Bruegel, Raphael, Rubens, Rembrandt, and Veermer. My favorite piece in the whole collection is Pieter Breugel’s Hunters in the Snow (Winter), a starkly beautiful scene of white, nature, and civilization interwoven with one another. While gazing at all the amazing art, don’t miss the wall murals painted by Klimt in the main stairway.
Kunsthistorische Museum
