Amount of time in Hermitage on tours?

[drsb]

Hi,

 

I was looking at a couple of tours. SPB has three tours, one has 2.25 hr, one 2.5hr and one 3hr at the Hermitage. Both of Alla's tours have 2.5 hours.

 

Is all this time on your own in the museum or is it a guided tour? Is it better to have the extra time in the Hermitage and miss seeing Yosupav Palace or St Issacs Cathedral?

 

Also, some tours have half hour at church of the spilled blood and others 1 hour.

 

Do I cram more sites for shorter periods of time? Does the extra half hour really make it worth missing something?

 

Thanks for your input!

[Eboracum_d]

Much depends on how much of an art lover you are. You can get a reasonable flavour of thevHermitage as a building on the shorter tour -- our guide basically showed us the building and then took us to 5 particular paintings. She rushed us through the Picasso selection -- she told me she did not like Picasso.

 

We took the tour on offer from our ship. That had the advantage of being able to get intothe Hermitage an hour before it opened to the general public. There was one other ship also sending parties in at the same time.

 

We then went on a second tour in the afternoon of the tourist spots in St P.

 

I suspect that you can spend all of your time in the Hermitagecwithout doing more than scratch the surface of what it has to offer.

[John Bull]

The Hermitage tour is guided throughout, but using radio earphones so you don't have to follow like sheep, though best if you stay in the same or an immediately adjacent room to avoid getting split up.

With Alla, & probably with the other operators, we had mebbe half an hour unguided at the end, with an arrangement to go back to a meeting point. By this time we had the layout sussed, but again best not to stray too far. Because we were in half-an-hour or more before public opening, and because most folk follow the same route through the Hermitage, we small groups were pretty-well on our own throughout. It all works out very well.:)

 

I think half an hour at the Church on the Spilt Blood is fine, others may disagree. An hour would also give you time to wander stalls outside the place (euros & probably USD accepted), but there'll be similar opportunities elsewhere.

BTW due to the size of the place & its proximity to other buildings, it'd need a pretty expensive camera to get the whole of it in a photo. So walk down past the left side of the church to the canal tow-path, this will allow you to get far enough way for a great photo.

Sorry, not sufficiently computer-savvy to post a photo.:o

 

JB :)

[KirkNC]

Ours with SPB was guided with earphones. I can't over emphasis how crowded the Hermitage was on our visit. We have been to museums all over the world but never been packed in like we were at the Hermitage.

[TLCOhio]

Lots of good comments by excellent posters on this thread. Much depends on what type and style of private tour you have. Some of the companies in St. Petersburg put you in THEIR group of 10-25 people to follow THEIR schedule and plan. We had a group of just two couples, did an early admission to the Hermitage, did things at our pace and style, focused on our interests, etc. Our guide was not shouting out a memorized script to us. We had a "conversation" as we toured through, soaked up the beauty and history, got our questions answered, etc. It was super wonderful!!! Even for late July, things were not too crowded for us in the Hermitage as people spread out in such a large collection of buildings. Below are a few of my photo samples to give an idea on the variety and sights there.

 

This museum is really amazing even without the art item. It is so totally spectacular to see and explore. It is five different buildings. Don't miss the gift shop as you exit. You can find some decent quality items at fairly reasonable prices there.

 

KEY HERMITAGE BACKGROUND: YES, the Hermitage is enormous, like their vast empire. The Tzar ruled this space of 1057 rooms, 117 stairs and 1945 windows. The number of sculptures on the roof of the Winter Palace is 176, including its many vases. This main palace was built by more than 4000 builders, marble and sculpture specialists, parquet makers and artists. The palace was built in the period from 1754 to 1762. At that time it was the tallest dwelling house in St Petersburg. The Winter Palace was repainted several times in different colors. It was red, pink, and a few other colors. It acquired its green color in 1946. The Winter Palace was made to represent the power and glory of the Russian Empire, especially to impress those in western Europe. *The length of the main facade is 492 feet, the height is 98 feet.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Celebrity Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 131,454 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

 

Private, personal tours can be worth it, especially in St. Petersburg. Here our group of four, with our guide, Jane or Zhenya from Anastasia, we are viewing and learning more about one of the two da Vinci masterpieces (Madonna Litta or Madonna and Child) at the Hermitage after an early admission. There are only 14 such painting by this artist existing in the whole world. We did an early admission at the Hermitage, lessening the crowd battles and adding to the enjoyment in this spectacular place/set of five palaces AND museum. It is both! This Madonna and Child was probably painted in Milan, where the artist moved in 1482. The Madonna's tender gaze as she looks at her son, and the tranquillity of the distant mountainous landscape, reflect humanist dreams of Ideal Man and a Harmonious Life. Experts says the painting reveals great beauty in its coloring and composition. The painting came to the Czar's collection and museum in 1865 from the collection of Count Antonio Litta in Milan.:

 

 

 

Here is the Grand Staircase at St. Petersburg’s Hermitage. It was restored after the fire of 1837. This white marble staircase is divided into two flights with ten solid columns of granite supporting the vaults of the staircase. Full of light and gleaming with gilding and mirrors, the staircase extends for the whole height of the Winter Palace. The painted ceiling is by 18th-century artist Diziano Gasparo representing the gods of Olympus Olympus. This gives an impression of an additional height to the staircase. The décor of the staircase includes monumental sculptures brought by Peter the Great from Italy. In the 18th century the staircase was known as the Ambassadorial Staircase because the envoys of foreign countries ascended it when going to the palace for official receptions.:

 

 

 

This is the Gallery of Generals celebrating Russia’s famed military history at the Hermitage. Military commanders of the War of 1812 look down on us from the portraits on the walls of this "War Gallery". The dark fabric of their uniforms sets off their bright military decorations and the irridescent moire of the ribbons of their orders. Emperor Alexander I personally approved the list of generals. Napoleon I failed to force Russia to surrender and it force his return to Paris in failure. The Overture of 1812 was written by famed Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1880 to commemorate Russia's defense of their fatherland against Napoleon's invading Grande Armée in 1812.:

 

 

 

Examining closely one of the highly-detailed tables in the vast Hermitage collection that includes much more than just paintings and sculptures. The Russian skills and craftsmanship for such details is amazing and must be seen “up close and personal”. You cannot just walk by quickly and appreciate fully the expert workmanship!:

 

 

 

At St. Petersburg’s Hermitage, here is just one of the many, many great galleries with so many different and great architecture details, soaring ceilings, dramatic floors, etc., in areas where the Czars entertained and impressed other Royals and nobility. Even without the art items, these five palaces are so spectacular! This room is adorned with 19th-century Russian lapidary works and feature Italian and Spanish canvases of the 16th-18th centuries, including Veronese, Tintoretto, Velázquez and Murillo.:

 

 

 

One of the two dozen or so paintings by Rembrandt inside the Hermitage. This is his famed Return of the Prodigal Son that was done shortly before his death in 1669. Our guide explained that this painting reflected his normal power of realism, but added more psychological insights and spiritual awareness at this late period period in his personal and artistic history.:

 

[scubacruiserx2]

With over 3 million works of art in the Hermitage , you are going to miss some. We suggest that you look at their excellent web site and concentrate on the highlights of your choosing, before you visit.

 

 

 

http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/03/hm3_0.html

 

 

We wish that we would have spent 1 hour at Spilled Blood on our first visit - but we didn't. The church marks the place where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated .

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Savior_on_Blood

 

 

Interior Mosaics

 

 

 

 

 

This quick video will show more of the interior

 

 

 

 

 

Buy the time we had photographed the interior , exterior and church tour , we had no time for the souvenir market picture to the right of the canal. It's more fun to bargain with the locals then a store with fixed prices.

 

 

 

 

You may want to visit our thread for a comprehensive treatment of this beautiful city.

 

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1775172

[Giantfan13]

We also toured with SBP Tours and we had the same 3 hours at the Hermitage and that really wasn't anywhere near enough. I feel 2 1/2 hours is really cutting it short.

 

On the other hand we only had 1/2 an hour at the Church of the Spilled Blood, but for us, that was sufficient. In fact, we left the inside part and opted to roam around outside for a bit, trying to get a better pix. John is correct, it is so huge, getting it all in one frame is a chore.

 

Here is a short video of what you can expect in the inside

http://s834.photobucket.com/user/Giantfan13/media/baltics/europemaster840.mp4.html

 

From the outside

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe764.jpg

 

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe647.jpg

 

Cheers

 

Len

[lost in translation]

We did the SPB deluxe tour. Not sure what our time frames were at these places (probably on the website) but we thought they were sufficient. I think all of the tours get you early entrance to Hermitage. One poster mentioned how crowded it was but we didn't experience that (mid May on a Sunday). Our guide showed us around then gave us time on our own to look at the impressionists. This was right by a gift shop so we had time to do some shopping too. As for Spilled Blood we walked out the back way and along the canal so we could get better pictures.

[NeoVega]

I was looking at a couple of tours. SPB has three tours, one has 2.25 hr, one 2.5hr and one 3hr at the Hermitage. Both of Alla's tours have 2.5 hours.

 

 

I had thought I had perhaps shortchanged myself by signing up for the budget-priced ($200) Highlights Tour with SPB-Tours. I was delighted to find that my budget-priced tour is the one offers a full 3 hours at the Hermitage!

 

I dislike being rushed anywhere, and am tickled to know I will be slightly less rushed at the Hermitage!

[EmJakeBubbie]

Moscow and St Petersburg are best seen by a land-stay because everything is so important and worth viewing. Have toured the Hermitage twice - it is too much for any quick tour - anything you see is important. If you took 365 days, 8 hours each day, you could not see all of it.

The pictures posted, here, bring back exquisite memories. Thank you.