Day 15: Make the Most of the Hermitage Museum

ST. PETERSBURG — On our second day in St. Petersburg, we headed for the State Hermitage Museum, Russia’s most important museum dedicated to non-Russian art. In size and scope, the Hermitage rivals the Metropolitan Museum of Art or the Louvre. On top of that, the gallery is housed in the czars’ former Winter Palace, which could be a museum in its own right. There’s so much to see that you have to be strategic if you want to get the most out of a one-day visit. (And most of these tips are equally applicable to the Met or the Louvre or the British Museum.)

4 Tips For Enjoying the Hermitage Museum

1. Get in line early

One of the biggest surprises we’ve had in Russia has been the general lateness with which things get going in the morning. The Hermitage is no exception, as the doors don’t open till 10:30. But once it’s open, the line of visitors is lo-o-o-ong. We didn’t want to waste precious sightseeing hours waiting in line, so we joined the early-morning line a little after 9:30. We were inside the museum by 10:40 and managed to see a few galleries before they got too crowded. Bonus tip: No matter what time of day you get there, wear sunscreen and/or bring an umbrella to shield yourself from the sun while you wait in line.

Lining up in this midday sun is no treat.

2. Buy a guidebook (or take a tour)

As with the Met or the Louvre, there is much more to see than you can absorb in one day. If you don’t have art history expertise, it’s hard to know where to focus. Aside from work titles and artist names, the museum doesn’t have much English signage. A museum guidebook would have helped me understand what I was looking at. I’m not normally a fan of guided tours, but in retrospect, I might have taken one here. The museum offers tours in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, which you can book by phone at (812) 571-84-46.

3. Follow the art, not the State Rooms

I’m a sucker for palaces (a vestige of that kings-and-queens obsession), so I wanted to make sure we saw all of the “State Rooms” from when the Hermitage building was used as the czars’ Winter Palace. They’re specially marked, so I insisted that we go see them first. That turned out to be unnecessary, as moving naturally through the art exhibits will take you to almost all of the State Rooms anyway and avoids unnecessary backtracking. Focus on seeing the art that you want to see, taking note of the State Rooms you pass along the way, and then fill in the gaps before you leave.

The beautiful Pavilion Room is now home to Catherine the Great's Peacock clock.

4. Use your camera sparingly

Is there anything more annoying than the museum guest who insists on snapping a photo of every painting and sculpture? Or worse, videotaping their own progress through the museum? Not only is this very distracting for your fellow guests, but it’s easy to get too focused on your viewfinder rather than examining the details of the art you are there to see. At the Hermitage, I took a few photos of the palace rooms, but otherwise I kept my camera in its case. (I like to buy a couple of postcards of my favorite pieces instead.) I’m posting every day during my journey along the Trans-Mongolian Railway! See previous posts in my Trans-Mongolian Diary or subscribe to my RSS feed to follow along.

Related posts:

1. Day 20: Trans-Mongolian Finale
2. Day 16: Peterhof, Playground of the Czars
3. Day 18: Iconic Moscow
4. Spotlight on: Shanghai Museum
5. Day 17: Russia’s Churches

Tagged as: blogsherpa, museum, Russia, St. Petersburg, State Hermitage Museum, Trans-Mongolian Diary