Kunsthistorisches Museum

The Kunsthistorisches Museum, the KHM, is the Habsburgs' art collection in the palace built to show it off. It opened in 1891 on the Ringstrasse, facing its twin, the Natural History Museum, across Maria-Theresien-Platz, and the building is half the experience: a sequence of marble staircases, gilded domes and ceiling paintings, with a young Gustav Klimt among the artists who decorated the main staircase. The collection was assembled over centuries by emperors and archdukes with deep pockets and good advisers, and its picture gallery is one of the best in the world. The highlight is the Bruegel room, with the largest collection of paintings by Pieter Bruegel the Elder anywhere, including The Tower of Babel, Hunters in the Snow and the Peasant Wedding. Around it are Vermeer's The Art of Painting, Raphael's Madonna of the Meadow, a deep run of Titian and the Venetians, Rubens' enormous canvases, Velazquez's portraits of the Spanish infantas, Durer, Caravaggio, Rembrandt and much more. The Kunstkammer, the cabinet of curiosities, holds the Habsburgs' treasures of gold, ivory and clockwork, starring Cellini's golden salt cellar, the Saliera, and on the ground floor are rich Egyptian and Greek and Roman collections. The museum is open daily, with late opening on Thursdays until 9pm. Adult tickets are just over 20 euros, a little cheaper online, and visitors under 19 are free. Since 8 September 2026, admission is by reserved time slot only, so book ahead. Under the central dome, the museum café is one of the most beautiful places in the city to have coffee and cake, and well worth a stop even mid-visit. For art lovers this is an essential half day; for everyone else, an hour for the Bruegels and the building alone is time well spent.

Navigating the picture gallery: the paintings are on the first floor, arranged in two wings, Italian, Spanish and French painting on one side and Netherlandish and German on the other. Head first to the Bruegel room in the Northern wing before it fills, then let the rest unfold: the Vermeer, a single small masterpiece that repays a long look; the Rubens rooms; the Titian and Tintoretto portraits; the Arcimboldo heads made of fruit and vegetables that children love. The Kunstkammer, with its automata, rock crystal and exotic curiosities, is a world of its own and needs at least an hour. Then sit under the dome. The museum regularly closes individual rooms for conservation or rehanging, so a specific painting may occasionally be off view.

What is changing: the KHM had a record year in 2025 and is preparing a major building project, with works starting in 2027, to make the building barrier-free by 2028 and spread visitor flows. In 2026 some big temporary exhibitions have moved to other KHM sites, such as the Neue Burg on Heldenplatz and the Theatre Museum in Palais Lobkowitz, so check where a show is held before buying. The new time-slot system introduced in September 2026 is designed to keep the galleries comfortable; slots are released online and on site, but busy weekends and Thursday evenings can sell out.

Practical details: the museum is on Maria-Theresien-Platz, between the Hofburg and the MuseumsQuartier, with the U2 and U3 at Volkstheater or Museumsquartier a few minutes away, and trams along the Ring. A combined ticket with the Imperial Treasury in the Hofburg is available, and the Vienna City Card and Vienna Pass offer reductions or inclusion. Bags above a small size must be left in the free cloakroom. The Thursday late opening, with fewer visitors and a different light, is a lovely way to see the Bruegels; pair it with dinner nearby.