OK we’ll admit it – we really do love museums. We understand that they are not for everyone – but we really think they should be. Museums are designed to store many of the greatest achievements of humankind, and we think, approached properly, are an essential part of experiencing the world and the wonders of travel. But it is easy to get bored or overwhelmed. Especially in large museums you need a strategy and a game plan. The Louvre, for example is so large that if you spent just one minute on every piece of art in the museum it would take you 64 days to get through it. The Met boasts more than 600,000 square feet with 2 million pieces of art. How do you avoid massive sensory overload and actually enjoy your museum experience?
Here are some tried and tested tips:
- Have a plan to avoid the lines. Many of the most popular museums are plagued by massive numbers of visitors and even more massive lines. Using our same examples from earlier, the Louvre and the Met get 7 million visitors each per year each. It sort of kills the enthusiasm if you need to stand in line for an hour just to get in. In some cases advance tickets can get you in much faster. Check our website and the websites for the museum you are planning to visit for tips on skipping the lines. Visits are also variable based on time and days of the week – usually you are safer going earlier (ie as soon as they open). If you are in a town with several major museums many are often closed on Mondays. The one that IS open on Monday may therefore be mobbed, so pick a day when multiple museums may be open.
- Make sure your museum is open. There is no more assured way to hate museums than to show up with a whole day planned to see one and you didn’t know it was always closed that day of the week. Look ahead of time which day a museum is closed (typically Monday or Tuesday). Be sure to plan your trip accordingly.
- Don’t miss the combo ticket. Sometimes a ticket to one museum in town gets you into others. A ticket at The Met in NYC also gets your into the Met Cloisters (well worth the visit). City passes often include multiple museums and may be a cheaper way to experience all the art a city has to offer. Research (or read our itineraries) to find out if a combo pass is available or might be worth it. You need to know what you’re going to want to see. They aren’t always a good deal (if you only want to hit 2 museums out of the 4 it grants you access to, it may not make sense), but often are.
- Have a game plan. Large museums cannot be fully seen in a day (or even in a week)…Furthermore not everything needs to be seen. Get a map when you get your ticket and focus on highlights and things you are most interested in or what the museum is especially known for. The Met has an amazing collection of Egyptian art and medieval armor. The Louvre has some top attractions including Venus de Milo and the mobbed and overrated Mona Lisa. The British Museum has incredible near-eastern temples and the friezes from the Parthenon. Check out the museum’s map suggestions and highlights – the pamphlet usually gets you to the “must see” items. Use this as the anchor for your wandering.
- Plan on a couple of hours. By experience we have found that more than about two hours starts to lead to fatigue and boredom – you can only take in so much. If you want to spend more time you will need a break. Museums often have great places – quiet, clean, often reasonably priced – take a meal break. Remember you can’t see everything.
- Don’t read everything. In small museums it may be possible, in large ones your will get exhausted and never make it through. We have found that wandering through galleries and just looking and appreciating the art, then stopping and reading the descriptions of things that capture your particular fancy is a much better way to glean the highlights. This takes some practice and self-resistance, but it works very well.
- Audioguides are not always your friend. Sometimes they’re great (and if we especially liked it at a museum we’ll tell you), but more often than not we don’t like them. Why? They are usually long, keeping you in the museum well past a few hours, and very saturated with details. If you choose to eschew the audioguide, stand and watch the folks that have them – like lemmings they march en mass from one picture to the next in lock step. In some museums (particularly those without many descriptions, or those without descriptions in your language) they can be helpful, but the best are ones that let you skip from section to section, allowing you to choose what to focus on.
- Wear comfortable shoes. You will probably put in several miles and spend several hours standing – plan accordingly.
- Don’t balk at the price. We know people who went to a city and skipped the iconic museum because they were on a budget and did not want to spend the money. Seeing the sights is why you are here! If it still seems too much, consider that you are paying to preserve centuries of art and history, and it’s really a donation to a good cause. Scrimp on meals or lodging but just accept and pay the admission fee at attractions.
- Bigger is not always better. Some of the coolest pieces may be found in smaller museums – in which case the building itself may be part of the attraction. The Rodin Museum is in a house Rodin lived and worked in, the Musee Marmottan in Paris is the museum of Monet’s work, and the Vatican museums are as notable for their architecture as the art. We think it’s worth seeking out some of the less well-known ones as you will be less overwhelmed, fight fewer crowds, and still see famous pieces.