St Petersburg's two great art museums stand ten minutes apart, and on a short trip you have to choose between them. The difference is not size or prestige — it is subject matter.
The Hermitage is about world art inside an imperial palace. The Russian Museum is about Russian art, and only that.
What each one actually is
The Hermitage gives you two experiences at once. First the Winter Palace itself: state staircases, throne rooms, parquet and gilding — the imperial residence as an exhibit in its own right. Second the collection: Italians, Dutch, Spanish masters, antiquity, Egypt, and across the square in the General Staff Building, the Impressionists along with Matisse and Picasso.
Which brings us to the Hermitage's defining quality: it is vast and exhausting. Something like a mile and a half of state rooms, and after two hours the eye stops distinguishing one painting from another. This is not a museum you finish — it is one you pick a route through.
The Russian Museum holds the largest collection of Russian art anywhere, from icons to the avant-garde. Here hang the paintings every Russian grows up knowing: Bryullov's "The Last Day of Pompeii", Aivazovsky's "The Ninth Wave", Repin's "Barge Haulers on the Volga". Its main building, the Mikhailovsky Palace, is handsome too, but it does not overwhelm you: the rooms are human-sized, the route is legible, and the crowds are far thinner.
Like the Hermitage, the Russian Museum occupies several buildings — besides the Mikhailovsky Palace there are the Marble Palace, the Stroganov Palace and St Michael's Castle. Tickets are separate, so check which address you actually want before setting out.
Which one suits you
First time in St Petersburg, one museum for the whole trip. The Hermitage — not because it is better, but because it is palace and museum at once, two essential Petersburg experiences in one building.
You have already done the Louvre, the Prado, the National Gallery. Then the Russian Museum. You have seen European painting; you almost certainly have not seen Bryullov or Repin.
Travelling with children. The Russian Museum. It is smaller, calmer, and narrative paintings like "The Last Day of Pompeii" hold attention far better than an enfilade of golden halls.
You dislike crowds. The Russian Museum, without hesitation. In season the Hermitage funnels a dense stream of visitors along one and the same ceremonial route.
You came for the Impressionists. The Hermitage — but the General Staff Building across Palace Square, not the Winter Palace. It is also quieter and more comfortable than the main building.
How much time to allow
- Hermitage, Winter Palace: three hours minimum, realistically four or five. Two hours buys you the state rooms and a couple of collections, no more.
- General Staff Building: another two hours, separately.
- Russian Museum, Mikhailovsky Palace: two and a half to three hours, and that is genuinely enough.
Doing both in one day is a bad idea. That is six or seven hours of painting, and the second half will not register. If you have several days, separate them and put a walk in between.
Surviving the Hermitage
Since most people choose it, a few things that make the visit markedly easier:
- Arrive at opening. The first hour is the calm one; the flow builds steadily after that.
- Pick two or three interests in advance and walk to them, taking in whatever you pass on the way. Trying to see everything ends with remembering nothing.
- Do not skip the palace itself. The Jordan Staircase, the Armorial and St George's halls, the Peacock Clock in the Pavilion Hall — people come for these as much as for the paintings.
- Allow time for the cloakroom in winter; the queue in and out takes longer than you expect.
What is nearby
The Hermitage opens onto Palace Square with the Alexander Column, the Neva embankment and the Admiralty a few steps away. From here it is natural to walk on to St Isaac's, or across the Palace Bridge to the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island.
The Russian Museum stands on Arts Square, next to the Mikhailovsky Garden, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood and the Griboyedov Canal. The walk afterwards is noticeably nicer: you step straight out into the most photogenic part of the city.
Opening hours, prices and closing days change with the season, and individual buildings shut for restoration. Check the official sites before you go: the Hermitage at
hermitagemuseum.org, the Russian Museum atrusmuseum.ru. For weekend visits to the Hermitage, buy ahead.
