If you have one Hermitage visit, the answer depends on what you came for. For the state rooms, Rembrandt, Leonardo, the Egyptian hall and the feeling of «I have been to the Hermitage» — the Winter Palace, which is the Main Museum Complex. For the Impressionists, Matisse, Picasso and quiet — the General Staff Building across the square. They are two museums with two entrances and two tickets, and «a quick look at both» in one day usually means the second is forgotten.
This is an editorial judgement. Facts about entrances, tickets and rules are from the Hermitage's Visitor Rules and its site on 7 October 2026; we give no prices or hours, which change by museum order. How to get in without queuing is in our no-queue guide.
How the collections differ
The Main Museum Complex is the Winter Palace with the Small, Old and New Hermitage along the Neva: the Jordan Staircase and state rooms, the Malachite Room, the Pavilion Hall with the Peacock Clock, antiquity and Egypt, the Italian Renaissance with Leonardo's two Madonnas, Rembrandt, the Dutch and Flemish rooms, the Knights' Hall.
The General Staff Building is the east wing of Rossi's building opposite, at Palace Square 6/8: courtyards under glass roofs and the 19th–20th-century collection — the Impressionists and Post-Impressionists from the Shchukin and Morozov collections, Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Matisse, Picasso, Kandinsky.
Who should go where
- First time in St Petersburg — the Winter Palace.
- With children — the Winter Palace: Egypt, knights, the Peacock Clock and the staircases hold attention better than Cézanne. The General Staff is easier with a pushchair and has fewer crowds.
- For the Impressionists — only the General Staff; there are none in the Winter Palace.
- Second or third visit, or a rainy day with no energy for crowds — the General Staff. More ideas for rain are collected separately.
How much time to allow
The Main Complex cannot be seen whole in a day. A sensible plan is half a day on one route: the state rooms plus the Italians and Rembrandt, or antiquity and Egypt plus the state rooms. The General Staff takes two to three hours for the Impressionists, half a day with temporary exhibitions.
