Klimt & Secessionist Vienna

Day 1: Fly at approx. 8.50am from London Heathrow to Vienna. Drive straight to the Gallery of Austrian Art in the Baroque magnificence of the Belvedere Palace to see the collection of paintings by Gustav Klimt - the world's largest, including The Kiss -, Schiele, Kokoschka and their contemporaries. All four nights are spent in Vienna.

Day 2: The Museum of Applied Arts has excellent collections, strikingly displayed, of work by Hoffmann, Moser and other designers of the Wiener Werkstätte, as well as by the Scotsman C.R. Mackintosh. There is an exhibition of Klimt's drawings for the Palais Stoclet. Drive to the outskirts to see buildings by Otto Wagner, the richly decorated apartment blocks in the Linke Wienzeile, the emperor's personal railway station at Schönbrunn and the recently restored Kirche am Steinhof, a hospital church of refulgent beauty incorporating many arts by many artists.

Day 3: The Museum of the History of Vienna, a fascinating survey whose collections are particularly rich in turn-of-the-century art and artefacts. For the first time, all their holdings of Klimt, including 400 works on paper as well as oils, will be on show. See also the decommissioned railway station pavilions by Wagner and Olbrich and the exhibition hall (the ‘Golden Cabbage') designed in 1898 by Olbrich as an exhibition hall for the Secession. Klimt's 34-metre long Beethoven Frieze is here. The afternoon is free, with the option of a tour with a local guide of Vienna's inner city.

Day 4: A walk to see Secessionist designs by Otto Wagner, Max Fabiani, Josip Plecnik and Adolf Loos (including a public lavatory and a menswear shop) finishes at the Albertina, one of the world's greatest collections of drawings. Here is an exhibition of its drawings by Klimt augmented by loans. The Burgtheater, pre-eminent theatre in the German speaking world, has a ceiling partly painted by Klimt and recently discovered sketches for the project. The Leopold Collection, opened in 2001, is an excellent collection of works by Secessionist artists, especially Schiele. There is a special Klimt exhibition focusing on his travels.

Day 5: The Theatre Museum in the Lobkowitz Palace has an exhibition around Klimt's painting Nuda Veritas. From there, walk to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, one of the world's greatest art galleries. There are paintings by Klimt as part of the decorative scheme of the stairhall. Time for independent exploration of the permanent collection, before the flight back to Heathrow which arrives at approx. 6.45pm.