Booking choice: The Albertina entry ticket, from $23 per person. Check dates Tour details
Most people arrive at the Albertina expecting one of two things: a famous painting they have seen on a poster, or a palace. They get both, under one ticket. The permanent display is Monet to Chagall, the Batliner Collection of modern painting. The palace part is the 20 Habsburg State Rooms. Everything else changes every few months.
Two things surprise first-timers. The Albertina's real treasure, over a million drawings and prints, is mostly in storage, because paper fades. And the most famous picture people ask for, Dürer's Hare, is usually a copy.
The quick answer
The famous paintings are in the Batliner Collection: Monet's Water Lily Pond, Chagall, Malevich, Degas, Toulouse-Lautrec and many Picassos. This season add Picasso - Bacon (until 31 January 2027). Plan 1.5 to 2 hours for the State Rooms and the collection, 2 to 3 hours with the shows.
What famous paintings are in the Albertina?
The best-known paintings belong to the Batliner Collection, on show as Monet to Chagall: Impressionists, German Expressionists, the Russian avant-garde and a deep run of Picasso.
Herbert Batliner, a Liechtenstein lawyer and collector, gave his collection to the Albertina as a permanent loan in 2007. It became the museum's first big collection on permanent view. The museum's own list of highlights from it reads like a textbook of modern art:
- Claude Monet: The Water Lily Pond (1917-1919) and View of Vétheuil (1881)
- Marc Chagall: The Kite (1926)
- Pablo Picasso: Woman in a Green Hat (1947) and Mediterranean Landscape (1952), plus Cubist and late works
- Edgar Degas: Two Dancers (1905), a pastel
- Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: the white horse Gazelle (1881)
- Kazimir Malevich: Man in a Suprematist Landscape (around 1930/31)
- Also: Signac, Renoir, Modigliani, Miró, Kirchner, Heckel, Kokoschka, Goncharova and Cézanne
Hangs change now and then, and pictures travel on loan, but the core stays. If you only see one room of paintings in Vienna outside the big imperial museums, this is a strong pick.
Is the Albertina's collection on permanent display?
Only part of it. The State Rooms and Monet to Chagall are always there; the graphic collection of over a million drawings and prints comes out in rotating exhibitions.
The Albertina began in 1776 as a collection of works on paper, and that is still its core: about 65,000 drawings and around a million old master prints, by the Wikipedia count. Paper and watercolour fade in light, so these sheets rest in the print rooms and appear in themed shows for a few months at a time. That is why the museum feels different every season.
What you can count on, any day of the year:
- The 20 Habsburg State Rooms on Level 1 (see the State Rooms guide)
- Monet to Chagall on Level 2
- Four or five temporary exhibitions, all on the same ticket
What exhibitions are on at the Albertina now?
Five shows run alongside the permanent collection this winter, with Picasso - Bacon as the big one. Arnulf Rainer opens on 12 November 2026.
The ticket covers every exhibition open on the day of your visit, so there is nothing extra to book. The levels below follow the museum's own floor plan.
| Exhibition | What it is | Level | On until |
|---|---|---|---|
| Picasso - Bacon. What It Feels Like to Be Human | About 70 key works by the two figurative painters, side by side | -1 | 31 January 2027 |
| Her Story. Women Artists of the Albertina | Five centuries of women artists from the collection, from early engravers to VALIE EXPORT | 1 | 14 February 2027 |
| Shara Hughes. Sink In | Dreamlike landscapes; the American painter's first solo museum show in Austria | 0 | 28 February 2027 |
| Otto Meets Albertina | The comedian Otto Waalkes riffs on masterpieces, inside the State Rooms | 1 | 10 January 2027 |
| Arnulf Rainer | About 70 works by the Austrian painter, from the overpaintings on | New | From 12 November 2026 |
One ticket, every show on the day, no time slot: walk in whenever you are ready.
Check dates for the Albertina entry ticketCan you see Dürer's Hare at the Albertina?
Usually you see a copy. The 1502 watercolour is kept in storage and shown only every few years; its last outing ended on 11 October 2026.
Albrecht Dürer's Young Hare is the Albertina's most famous sheet, and the most fragile. Light damages watercolour, so the museum keeps the original in the dark and brings it out for short shows. In the anniversary year it hung in Collecting for the Future, from 19 June to 11 October 2026. It is back in storage now.
A copy normally hangs near the end of the State Rooms route, among facsimiles of other famous sheets. It is a good copy, and most people take their photo there anyway. More on the anniversary year is in our 250 years post.
Are there Klimt paintings at the Albertina?
No. The Albertina's Klimt holdings are drawings, kept in storage like most of its works on paper. The Kiss hangs in the Upper Belvedere.
This catches a lot of people out. Klimt's golden paintings, The Kiss included, belong to the Belvedere, a ride on tram D from the Opera. The Upper Belvedere needs a timed ticket, EUR 23 at the palace in 2026. Both museums fit in one day: the Albertina in the morning, the Belvedere after lunch. The route is in Albertina vs Belvedere.
Klimt's The Kiss and the largest Klimt collection anywhere, in the Upper Belvedere. Choose a time slot and arrive 15 minutes before it.
Explore the Upper Belvedere ticket Tour detailsHow long do you need at the Albertina?
Plan 1.5 to 2 hours for the State Rooms and Monet to Chagall, and 2 to 3 hours if you add the temporary exhibitions.
The State Rooms take 30 to 40 minutes at an easy pace. Monet to Chagall takes about as long again. Each exhibition adds half an hour to an hour, and Picasso - Bacon deserves the full hour. Add Albertina Modern, a ten-minute walk away in the Künstlerhaus, and the day grows to 3.5 to 4 hours. That building needs its own ticket or the combined one; see Albertina vs Albertina Modern.
Bags first: backpacks and umbrellas are not allowed in the galleries. The free lockers are on Level -1, the same floor as Picasso - Bacon.
What is a good 2-hour route through the Albertina?
Lockers, then the State Rooms on Level 1, Monet to Chagall on Level 2, and one exhibition to finish. Pick the show before you go.
- Level -1, 5 minutes. Drop your bag and coat in the free lockers.
- Level 1, 35 minutes. The State Rooms, from the Hall of the Muses to the Gold Cabinet. Otto Waalkes's pictures sit among them until 10 January 2027, and the Hare copy waits near the end.
- Level 2, 40 minutes. Monet to Chagall. Start with the Impressionists and keep going until the Picassos.
- Back to Level -1, 35 minutes. Picasso - Bacon, or swap in Her Story on Level 1 if drawings and prints interest you more.
- Out on the terrace, 5 minutes. The view across Albertinaplatz to the State Opera.
The café and shop are on Level 0, and the DO&CO restaurant is open without a ticket.
Entry to all four levels, State Rooms included, on one open-dated ticket.
Check dates for the Albertina entry ticketWhen is the best time to visit the Albertina?
Wednesday or Friday evening, when it stays open until 9 p.m. The museum itself suggests weekday early afternoons or after 5 p.m.
The Albertina opens daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and until 9 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays. Its own advice for a calm visit: early afternoon on weekdays or after 5 p.m.; on weekends and holidays, between 1 and 3 p.m. or in the evening. Online tickets have no time slot, but there can still be a short queue outside at busy times.
Want the stories told as you walk? The museum's smartphone guide costs EUR 5. Or book the ticket with an app audio tour, which bundles entry and a narrated tour.
Entry plus a self-guided audio tour in the WeGoTrip app, with maps and photos. Bring headphones and a charged phone.
Explore the Albertina ticket with audio tour Tour detailsFrequently asked questions
What is the most famous painting in the Albertina?
Among the paintings, Monet's The Water Lily Pond and the Picassos of the Batliner Collection. The most famous work overall is Dürer's Young Hare, a watercolour shown only every few years; a copy usually hangs in the State Rooms.
Is the Albertina worth visiting?
Yes, if you want Habsburg rooms and modern masters under one roof. One ticket covers the State Rooms, Monet to Chagall and every exhibition that day.
Does the Albertina have The Kiss?
No. Klimt's The Kiss is in the Upper Belvedere. The Albertina holds Klimt drawings, mostly in storage.
Which floor is Monet to Chagall on?
Level 2. The State Rooms are on Level 1 and Picasso - Bacon on Level -1, next to the free lockers.
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Free cancellation up to 24 hours before on every option. Prices are from-prices in USD and move with the season.
Albertina Museum Entry Ticket
- One entry to the Albertina, no time slot
- The 20 Habsburg State Rooms
- Monet to Chagall: the Batliner Collection
Albertina Ticket & App Audio Tour
- Entry ticket in the WeGoTrip app
- Self-guided audio tour with maps and photos
- State Rooms and current exhibitions
Upper Belvedere Entry Ticket
Klimt's The Kiss and the world's largest Klimt collection
