Are you burnt out maybe done visiting museums?

AI, I find this topic relevant cause I was just stating this after our last trip this April - Paris and London. We like art, but our experiences in the Lourve and British Museum were a big turn off. In the Lourve we had a tour guide so we got to see the highlights. We were going to stay after the tour ended but it was too crowded and people just too pushy. At the Le Orangerie there were so many young girls posing in front of the water Lilies for social media it was distracting. As soon as one finished, another popped up. They took forever. At the British Museum. We used Rick’s audio app. But couldn’t wait to get out.

On the other hand, while in Paris we visited the Cluny, the decorative arts, Picasso, the Carnavalet - all practically empty and very much enjoyable. Same in London - the Imperial War Museum was not crowded at all nor the V&A and Charles Dickens House.

Of course, if these subjects don’t interest you they won’t work. But we find art even in the smallest, quirkiest museum.

Not yet but glad you posted this. It's a great conversation starter. Piggybacking on......what are the other things do on European vacations that they enjoy. Always looking for something different.
In smaller places. We ride the trams and just enjoy seeing what the area is like. Usually meet other people. In London my then 8 year old insisted we ride every line to yhe end...it was his best day.

We are not totally burned out on museums but Basilicas, yes. Also, I'm good on Roman ruins for a long while.

But not all museums are art museums...

I did the Paris Air & Space museum, loved it - when you physically can go on something (two Concordes and a 747).

I never get tired of museums, churches, Roman Ruins, Castles, walking through the Gardens at Versailles. I didn't come from money and had to work hard to save for my trips to Europe, so it is such a treat to be there that I'm like a child in a toy store (according to my wife)!

At least museums vary. Recently did a mushroom museum, a museum of lost relationships, and chocolate museum, and museum of naive art.
How about the sameness of castles? And paying entry for the sameness. Forts not far behind. And churches and cathedrals, same same.
What about the grueling sameness and burnt out on endless cafe culture? How long can you sit over that one cup of coffee? How many spritzers should you drink? How many people can you watch, especially when they are more or less, just like you.
How many narrow cobblestone streets can you walk down before you feel you have deja vu in every one?
This above, in essence, the heart of the Italian experience. Yet people flock to Italy on repeated trips to do just that. However, not just Italy. But there is seemingly a plethora of going to Italy posts on RS.

Not at all tired of “museums”. Does every problem imaginable have to
be addressed/validated by the forum crew? If one doesn’t like doing
something, see something the don’t do it. It’s personal taste that
doesn’t have to be justified.

It's about debates and discussions, and it's fun. I love learning about what makes other people tick.

I am they are all starting to feel the same.

You must have a narrow definition of what a museum is.

I am starting to wonder if Artificial Intelligence is actually an AI

I’m not tired of museums, but like Barbara, if they are too crowded then I’m outta there! Also, need to pace myself with them, not too many in one trip and not everyday. So for our upcoming trip to London, we will skip the V&A, Natural History, and many others. It’s all about variety! I do tend to like the smaller, quirkier ones. My favorite one in Paris was the JacqueMart-Andre.

I find that as I travel more, I feel less need to "see" all the sights in a city. There are plenty of places we skip, it really needs to be something of interest to make it worth the effort, not just a "top sight" for everyone else.

My wife goes to even fewer places, on our last trip, I wound up going to probably 80% of the places by myself.

These days I visit museums to enjoy a coffee in the cafe or to use the facilities.

Might peruse a gallery or two and will definitely visit the gift shop.

Throughly enjoy museum gift shops. Especially near Christmas as I’ll buy stocking gifts as well as boxes of Christmas cards.

In all my years of travel I’ll say the Rodin Museum in Paris was a delightful surprise. Same with the Alexander Fleming Museum in London. Alas, don’t believe it’s open anymore.

I love art but sometimes can get, not burnt out but more like frustrated, with art museums. Especially big popular museums like the Louvre, the British, the Uffizi, etc can get pretty tough to enjoy. When I get feeling that way I make it a point to search out art in situ in whatever city I'm in. I do always do some research ahead of time for this, particulary if going to a location known for a particular artist or art style, but sometimes the hunt for it can be a lot of fun and lead me to many areas of a city I wouldn't otherwise plan to explore. And there's something about seeing works of art in the place they were created for rather than on a wall or in a space in a museum. And I get the added benefit of being alone, or almost alone, with the art.

As far as musuems in general, there are always small, unique, and quirky museums that are more fun and enjoyable and I rarely get burnt out on them. Always something new to pique my interest.

I never tire of museums and churches and ruins and gardens. I'm slightly tired of castles and palaces. I AM tired of plane travel and packing.

EDITED: I agree with inbsig about the Museo San Marco, for the same reasons.
And I do really enjoy the Must-See art museums-the Sistine is wonderful despite the noisy crowds.

Very interesting question. Obviously, specialty museums are never alike, Anne Frank House, Schindler Factory, Churchill War Rooms, etc. However, art museums to me can be somewhat the same, except if there are famous pieces, David, Mona Lisa, Michelangelo pieces, etc. I pretty much focus on those because I enjoy the art, but I am not an art lover in general.

Churches for me now are usually a quick scan and unless something is very unique or I have read about something special inside, I am usually in and out in 20 minutes with a few pictures.

I’m with Barbara in enjoying smaller museums more, and with Nancy in appreciating museums with art where it was originally created. The Museo San Marco in Florence scores on both points. I also really appreciate museums with a lot of architectural merit, even if they’re bigger - that was a lot of the appeal of the Musée d’Orsay for me, and in the U.S., I really enjoy the East Wing of the National Gallery in DC and the Guggenheim in NYC.

I am starting to wonder if Artificial Intelligence is actually an AI

I've been suspicious too.

But I am enjoying this thread. Noting the smaller museums and Nancy's idea of researching where the art would be created in that city. Always looking for what other people enjoy.

I love history but have always had a short attention span at museums. I force myself to go to many of them anyway when I travel, and it's usually the least enjoyable part of my trip. I'm usually yawning within a half hour, having trouble even remembering what I'm seeing. I have really enjoyed a few museums but they are rare exceptions. (E.g. the Croatian Museum of Naïve Art in Zagreb; the Schindler Factory Museum in Krakow). The museums I've enjoyed seem to be either small and to the point or very innovative and well thought-out.

I still go to museums when I travel but not very often, only if it's something I'm really interested in, not because "I should go because this is culturally significant."

I feel the same way about churches and castles.

Can't say I've ever been burnt out by seeing too many museums, churches, gardens or castles/palaces. But then I love art, architecture, and history. And I've usually found sufficient differences within each category to keep me wanting more. And I try to build some variety into what we see and do each day.

But if you are burnt out on one or more of these categories of things to see and do, then find something else to occupy your time. Reflect on WHY you wanted to visit a particular place, and shift your focus on that.

AI can't be an AI. Bots have better grammar ;)

I still love seeing art in museums and doubt if that will ever get old. I should probably make more of an effort to visit the small, quirky museums, however, as when I do I almost always find something of interest. A friend of ours recently told us about a penis museum that he had visited. Something for everyone!

I enjoy museums, especially art and archaeology museums, but I am usually selective in what I choose to spend time on, especially in a larger museum. I'd rather select some interesting areas in a large museum than try to see everything, or in a medium-sized museum I skim through quickly and decide what to go back and look at in depth. I usually have about a 2.5 hour limit for any day. The only museum we have ever left because it was too unpleasant to be there was the Louvre. Instead, we went to the Orsay twice.

I've always been less interested in spending time in museums than observing contemporary life. So it's a choice between a museum and whatever other options there are, not overkill on museums.

No, but I can see how it can happen. I do think there's often a tendency to buy a tourist pass for whatever place you're visiting and then try to get the most value out of it, so the tourist pass drives the daily schedule. I am a museum person, but a friend of mime pushed me to my absolute museum tolerance limit trying to squeeze every single attraction out of a city pass here in Chicago when he came to visit me a few years ago.

So many different kinds of museums. I don't think anybody really enjoys the art museum "must sees" - the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, Uffizi, Accademia, Prado, Vatican, et al. The Selfie/Instagram crowd has ruined that experience. Maybe there should be strictly enforced "no photo" rules at the most popular art museums.

But every one of those cities - Paris, Florence, Madrid, Rome - has absolutely marvelous museums with none of the crowds.

Museum fatigue is not new and many of us experience it in one way or another. For me it's a combination of visual overload and the physical exhaustion that a lack of seating brings on. A Google search produced lots of results on museum fatigue. I liked this one the best, probably because I'm a slow traveler:

HOW TO AVOID MUSEUM FATIGUE THE SLOW TRAVEL WAY

https://www.slow-travel.uk/post/avoid-museum-fatigue

The advice is consistent with what others have already posted and similar to my own tactical approach, especially for art museums. I do like art museums, especially small ones. I avoid palaces and most Baroque anything like the plague with very few exceptions. Chacun son goût!

Sure, I get a little cross-eyed after reading the signs after awhile. Museums on arrival day are not great as my brain is foggy.

The Louvre was so crowded it was rather comical. My goal was to find a space where I could just breathe for a moment. If we're at a museum and it's crazy crowded we don't stay long. Maybe an hour. We're outdoors people anyway.

We've found some luck hitting museums late in the day. If you get there at 10 a.m. or whatever then that's when the busses arrive, so have fun with that.

I hope none of the hall monitors in this thread reports it to the mods.

I am a painter, and so I rarely get bored in museums. Thanking my lucky stars that I haven't encountered the IG/selfie crowd in any museums yet. Of course, I haven't tried blockbusters like the Louvre or the Uffizi.

Some favorite museums where I have learned a lot in a reasonably uncrowded environment in recent years.

• Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam

• Accademia in Venice

• Doria Pamphilj in Rome

• Naples Archaeological Museum

• Cairo Museum

• Lots of museums in Turkey

I wouldn't say 'burnt out' because I've never been a person who goes to all the museums in a city. It is more important to me to walk through the streets and breathe life. I also don't ever feel like I've missed something if I haven't been to a certain museum just because a lot of tourists go there.

I live in Munich and I'm very fortunate not to have to work on Wednesdays. I often use my Wednesday to visit various museums at home.

And I visit some museums, whether at home or on vacation, also to be honest because I like the architecture (rather modern) of the building.

Always gotta throw in a few museums, churches and castles on every trip. Don't have to spend a long time in each.

We have been to many of the best museums in the Word and still enjoy them, but I am 75 with some arthritis in my back and generally 3-4 hours a day is my maximum limit for museum time.

Not possible.

Even though I have spent time on the trips tracking down museums in France and especially in Germany, still I have more to see. In Germany they are often located in the smaller towns

You discover more, learn of them by reading or from locals that these museums are there. Those in England on WW2 except for the Imperial War Museum in London I have yet to get to, as those relevant ones in Poland.

Great question.

Palaces and castles, definitely yes. General-interest and art museums, largely yes. Cathedrals, if a number on one trip, yes.

But smaller museums devoted to a subject in which I am interested and beautiful but more intimate churches, absolutely not.

For example, in London, I have only two must-see sights--St. Paul's Cathedral (hopefully again for a service on Sunday) and the Imperial War Museum (which I have visited three times).

Past travel allows one to check off for good some of the three-symbol Rick Steves attractions (been there, not need to do again)--or to recognize that those recommendations are subjective, very general, and not necessarily what you want to see.

Art museums, yes. I can only see so much. To me, all the art work at an art museum is very good and I don't see what makes one piece far better than another. All other museums (history, city, cultural) are fine.

I don’t enjoy visiting extremely busy museums, especially at a selfie popular spot! Fortunately, there’s so many museums to choose from in so many cities that it’s not a problem finding one less crowded.

I really enjoy having my husband travel with me, and we both like them. When I’m traveling solo, it’s even easier to enjoy a museum because I can stay as short or long as I want. The Paris Museum Pass was great because my husband & I stopped in several that we wouldn’t have bothered to see otherwise, and felt free to only stay 15 minutes at others.

Favorite experiences are at some of the large museums that didn’t allow photography and also going to the smaller town art museums where I could stop & linger at paintings in whole rooms by myself.

Sometimes I find that it's the slow " museum pace" of walking and the standing that exhaust me. On a recent trip I averaged about 15,000 steps a day, but many of the steps were at an active pace. I handled that well. But lots of standing while a guide provided lengthy explanations really taxed my seventy-ish back.

Sometimes you don't know whether you will like it until you go. But travel-book checklists should be suggestions, not mandates. Yes, they can highlight venues not previously considered. But with big attractions--and to some extent, that is is what this thread is about--there are those we go to, do not regret going to, but do not wish to visit again; those we go to and regret going to; and those we go to, find fascinating, and hope to visit again.

The burnout with certain types of attractions comes from doing what you are expected to do, rather than what you want to do. With experience, you know what you will probably like and not like. And you give yourself permission to avoid going to an attraction because it is listed first or second in the travel guides.

For example, a city I have still not visited, but want to visit, is Amsterdam. Given my interests in 20th century history, yes to the Anne Frank Museum, the Dutch Resistance Museum and the Corrie ten Bloom House in Haarlem; a probable no to the Rijksmuseum (absent terrible weather); and a definite no to the Van Gogh Museum.

I’m never tired of museums, especially art museums. Some are definitely better than others but spending time in front of great art to me is a privilege and a blessing. I’m also lucky enough to have 3 great museums where I live, the Kimbell being one of them, and I visit them often too. I worked retail for years in a bookstore so I developed the on-your-feet-for-hours back tolerance needed I think.

On both Rick Steves tours I've been on, I opted out of a couple of museum tours because they sounded boring to me personally. I let my guide know and I went off and did my own thing. Did this in both Vienna for the treasury and Arles, France for an antiquity museum. Gave me time to unpack, shop, do laundry, sightsee on my own, and just have some "me" time. That's the great thing about these tours, if you want to opt out of something, you absolutely can!

The crowds are sounding like a barrier to enjoying the museums’ art treasures. This is a huge problem and needs to be addressed. No selfie taking would be a good start!
I can’t get too much of art museums but I can of crowds, especially rude ones.

Short answer, yes. They don't all feel the same to me, though. I just can't handle the crowds anymore.

Just returned from 3 weeks in Paris, have visited there often (more than a dozen times) over the years. So I have "done" the museums, but I do love them, especially art museums.

My "tolerance" of museums, in terms of how much time I can spend in one, has declined through the years, to the point that today I now describe my saturation point at about 90 minutes. After that, I have to exit the building, Elvis style...fresh air, get out of the crowd, etc.

On this trip, we did visit 2 museums: the Army Museum (part of the Hotel des Invalides / Napoleon tomb complex) for a special exhibit on the religious wars of the 1500s - no timed entry necessary, not crowded, and quite wonderful. I highly recommend this exhibit,

We also went to the Orsay for the Manet / Degas exhibit, plus to see the rest of it (5th floor), and the crowds were oppressive, particularly in the special exhibit. So crowded it was impossible to fully enjoy and immerse in the experience. After 2 hours, I was completely done, and exited the museum. Glad I went, but that marked the end of museums for me on this trip.

The "timed entry" is not a solution to the crowds, in my opinion. And in some ways, the timed entry for special exhibitions creates a herding effect that is pretty ridiculous. The bottom line is that museums allow too many people inside at any one time. Not sure there is a solution to it, but I think I am done with major museums except for maybe short, targeted visits. I will more likely seek out the smaller, less crowded or "bucket list" museums in the future.

Recently I was angry after leaving a modern art museum - I didn't "get" it and there weren't any explanations or even titles to much of the art. I much prefer museums that will tell me what I'm looking at or how to approach the art. Anyone remember Sister Wendy on PBS? I so loved her explanations!

I've been in a few museums last month in Netherlands and Belgium where there were iPads or downloadable apps that would tell you about the highlights in each room (and details in those paintings). One was neat in that you held the iPad up to the painting and it'd show on the screen some of those details. You could even customize your experience by selecting options like "highlights" or "nature".

I also appreciate a guided tour. I remember on my first RS tour where we visited the Uffizi with a guide who showed us the progression of art in a series of Madonna and Child paintings - from icons to realistic proportions and depth. I especially remember her pointing out the sky and how it evolved from solid gold coloring to realistic blue. That is what I want from a museum - understanding and education.

I don't think anybody really enjoys the art museum "must sees" - the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, Uffizi, Accademia, Prado, Vatican, et al. The Selfie/Instagram crowd has ruined that experience.

Actually, I've found ways to still interact with the art I want to appreciate but it takes an effort to tune out the noise of the shallow selfie pop-ups. Being an artist with degrees in art history and oil painting probably explains my fierce determination to actually "enjoy" the works I've studied. I'm not sure "enjoy" is the word I would use to describe my experience interacting with art. It helps to have a life/travel partner who is taller than me who assists in blocking out a personal space for us.

Precise timing is really important in most situations - I've obtained the first slot for the DIA's "Van Gogh in America" show, The Vermeer show and the Van Gogh Museum as well. I dart to the last rooms at the start and have plenty of time alone with the pieces I've already studied in advance. It takes intentional effort and knowing everything you can about the work in advance.

The selfie/Instagram crowd has infiltrated other experiences as well. It's not just art museums - selfies were routine at the Musikverein a week ago even as the Vienna Philharmonic was playing. Just after the announcement banning cell phone use the people around me were hoisting their phones recording the concert and snapping each other. The constant activity was annoying and distracting but it seems everyone around the world has returned to travel along with increasingly poor manners.

I will more likely seek out the smaller, less crowded or "bucket list"
museums in the future.

I'm getting the sense from some of the comments that people are equating that crowds = museums suck. Some of my favourites are local history museums and outdoor museums. Using Salisbury as an example, right across the park space from the Cathedral is the Salisbury Museum. It's not a blockbuster site like the Cathedral or Stonehenge but we were one of two couples at the museum and it was a treasure trove of stories of the people and the region. Old Sarum outside of Salisbury is another worthy site that gets no love. It's only ruins, but the history of the region if you choose to do some research before arriving makes it a worthy stop.

Maybe we need to expand our definition of a museum. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/types-of-museums

I love museums when they're not crowded. For example the National Portrait Gallery in Washington DC. We went on a weekday in the middle of winter. I couldn't imagine going there in the summer or during the holidays. It's not much fun trying to contemplate something when the place is packed, selfie-taking, and loud.

I also prefer signs or a guided tour so I know what the heck I'm looking at.

I've been to the Louvre and Versailles multiple times, but that's enough. Not very enjoyable during tourist season.

I usually have a plan for everything.

I just got back from a trip. I visited the Louvre for the second time, it was my companion's first time.
I literally plotted a route (with help from Pam) that included the pieces and categories of pieces we wanted to see. I read about the items that I was interested in. We actually spent very little time in front of paintings this time. And by the way, there are quite a few completely empty rooms in the Louvre. Put up with the crowd if you want to see Venus and Victory. Enjoy the empty rooms of the Dutch painters.

We "stopped in" at Musee' du Luxembourg to see the Leon Monet exhibit. The plan here was to see what was there and pause when something grabbed us. Several times I got out my phone to look up some extra info. This was jet lag day, so a low stress visit.

We visited many WWII museums. This was more my son's interest. I did not "prepare" for the visits like I would an art museum. My plan was to go in with an open mind and depending on the set-up, choose something to focus on. For example, in the Pegasus Memorial Museum I focused on individual items that belonged to particular soldiers. In Bayeux I was drawn to propaganda posters and the information about the engineers.

Also, knowing one's limitations. I also find that the slow walking pace and standing is very hard on my knees and feet. I deal with that by walking more quickly around the room to get the blood flowing and then circle around again to see what caught my eye. I also take several sitting breaks when that is possible.

So, the answer is no, I am not done visiting museums, but I have a plan.

I make repeat visits to museums. Why? After a few years or more, to see if any new additions have been added, or has the museum been expanded, or if a special exhibit is running at the museum during the summer or chateau, say from May to Aug, ie something like that.. That's the case at the Army Museum in Paris, always in the summer a special exhibit on French military/political history....very informative and intriguing stuff, likewise at the Ger. Hist. Museum in Berlin.

In 2014 for the centennial of WW1 the pertinent museums in London, Paris, Vienna, Ingolstadt and Berlin had expanded their coverage of the subject., ie the Imperial War Museum prior to 2014 was not the same in its treatment on the outbreak of the war, its origins, etc as was presented in 2014 and presently.

Then you go back to see if the focus or tone of the museum has changed, eg, being more politically correct than was previously. Two military museums on WW2 in Berlin come to mind here, the focus and tone of which I had noticed after 6 to 15 years.

No, I love going to museums. Indeed, my love of museums has only increased since my youth and since I started traveling internationally 30 years ago.

Part of the reason is that we are inundated with consumer electronics, screens and the vast digital wasteland of contemporary "culture". Museums are an oasis of civility, thought and reflection in the vast moronic inferno of modern life.

For me it depends on how many museums and on their similarity to one another. I find that art museums are of greater interest if I've done my homework and have learned the stories behind some of the works.

I am a big fan of smaller specialty museums. On our recent Scotland trip I visited Verdant Works in Dundee, one of my favorite stops of the entire trip. Jute? Who knew it could be so interesting? It was the telling of the story of jute (and the people involved at all stages) that held my interest.

No. Never! It's why I travel. That, and the food.

I have never been a big museum fan--in Europe or anywhere else--or rather, I can go, but my time limit is about an hour and then I am ready to move on. I really like parks, gardens. squares, viewpoints, waterfront or canal paths, hikes, and walking around outdoors in Europe, and yes, I like the cafe and pub scene too. I do like castles--but I have never seen enough of them at this point to get tired of them. Churches and cathedrals I really enjoy as a place to cool off, take a breather, and as a quiet place to just "chill" for a while before resuming the sightseeing. I am a big fan of stained glass, so I always make a note of that and any interesting statues, but beyond that I am usually not too enthralled. I do not like palaces. All those draped and gilded rooms just leave me cold. Versailles, for instance, was just a horrendous tour for me--much preferred being out walking through the grounds and fountains.

I really like parks, gardens. squares, viewpoints, waterfront or canal
paths, and walking around outdoors in Europe

Me too!!!!! I’m inside all the time at home for work. When I’m on vacation, I want to enjoy the sights and fresh air.

Nope. Museums are all different. Going to a Film Museum is nothing like going to a Science Museum or a Jewish History Museum or an Architecture Museum or a Modern Art Museum or perhaps a small, quirky museum tucked away in a village.
If you are burnt out, try a different kind of museum. Explore your options.

Yes, I got burned out on museums long ago. I’d rather spend my time wandering through the streets. Our last trip to Paris, we brought our teens and felt like we “had” to take them to the Louvre. We were there for maybe two hours. Then spent the rest of the evening at a Christmas market. No regrets.

Our next trip will be three weeks in Italy, Switzerland, France and Germany. We’re bringing my sister and her husband for their first trip to Europe. Not a single museum planned. The closest thing will be the Doge’s Palace in Venice. The only church we plan to visit is St. Mark’s. I also feel like museums and churches begin to all look the same.

I really like parks, gardens. squares, viewpoints, waterfront or canal paths, hikes, and walking around outdoors in Europe, and yes, I like the cafe and pub scene too.

Describes our style and interests perfectly. We are retired, and have been traveling to Europe for 40 years, though, and we have spent many hours in museums through the years, but as I have written on threads here, our tolerance level for being in a museum, especially as crowded as they are, has shortened considerably through the years to maybe 90 minutes, tops...

On our recent 3 week stay in Paris, we did 2 museums: the Orsay, and the Army Museum (Hotel des Invalides) for a special exhibit on the religious wars of the 1500s. Our focus these days is the other stuff listed above...or smaller, special interest museums.