What it is
The museum opened in 1891 as the counterpart of the identical Natural History Museum across Maria-Theresien-Platz, both designed by Gottfried Semper and Carl von Hasenauer. The picture gallery holds works by Bruegel, Vermeer, Rubens, Rembrandt, Titian, Raphael and Velázquez; the Kunstkammer displays the Habsburgs' treasures, including Cellini's golden salt cellar, and there are Egyptian, Greek and Roman collections and a coin cabinet.
The grand staircase, decorated with paintings by the young Gustav Klimt among others, and the café in the domed hall are worth a look in themselves.
Getting there by bus
Trams 1, 2, 71 and D stop at Burgring directly in front of the museum, and bus 57A stops there too. U2 Museumsquartier and U2/U3 Volkstheater are each a few minutes' walk away on the other side of Maria-Theresien-Platz.
The Hofburg and Heldenplatz lie just across the Ring.
