Museum Philosophy (or Stamina)

One art museum per trip is enough for me. Other museums like military, technical (cars, planes, trains etc.), history I can take one a day or every other day. Two to three hours per museum is enough or more than enough. I rather take feeling of the city (town) just by walking around and soaking ambience having coffee, beer, wine depending on location, eat typical local cuisine preferably with local folk music. I really try to seek back door Europe. Short time after the place gets to R.S. book it ceases to be back door. I remember when Cesky Krumlov was real back door when I visited in 1975. What a difference now! There is still plenty of back door in Europe and especially eastern Europe (central?). But generally farther east more back door.

Good post, Jen. Thoughtful.

I like to keep the itinerary to no more than one museum (of any type) per day and we usually spend 60-90 minutes unless it is of the Louvre or the Vatican in scale. For example, the allowed 2 hours in the Borghese is plenty for me. Better to go back another time than stay too long and be overloaded.

On occasion we "gorge" on museums: on a rainy January day in Florence we did 3 museums and 2 churches. Really loved it, but not every day.

As Ilja said, the best time is often just when we wander. I love to plan walking tours using Rick's routes or one of several walking tour books I have. That way we walk off the cuisine, as well!

Jen, as a former art history major and lifelong art junkie I go to one or more art museums every day that doing so is possible, but usually for no more than about 2 hours at a time. When I visit more than one in a day I go to one big museum for c. 2 hours and one small one for c. 1 hour, e.g. D'Orsay and Marmottan, with a good break in between. For a huge place like the National Gallery or the Louvre I will go back as many days as possible for a couple of hours, and try to see a different section each time.

This relatively moderate policy (I used to live in NYC and spend 7-8 hours in the Met about every Saturday, never mind the other museums) is to avoid "museum fatigue" and also to experience as much of non-museum Europe as possible; so for me it is a good balance.

Having said that, it is a bit frustrating to know that I will never have anything like the "grasp" of the European museums as those in NYC. I can look at something like a Vermeer or the gold Sutton Hoo buckle in the British Museum for easily 20 minutes, and there have to be hundreds of similarly stupendous artworks in any really good museum city. Then there are the isolated marvels like St. Lazare in Autun or the Palace Chapel in Aachen that demand a pilgrimage.

One thing, I do find small travel binoculars very helpful at times in the museums, both for seeing things high up/far away and for seeing details when a railing keeps you away from an artwork.

I teach a college course in Christian art and architecture, but my attention limit is still not more than 2-3 hours. If it's a big museum or a favorite of mine, I usually start in the morning, have a leisurely coffee break or lunch onsite if possible, then continue into the afternoon.

Or one major museum in the morning and one or two small ones (or churches) in the afternoon.

I don't try to see every piece, but concentrate on the works or periods that interest me.

Overload? Sometimes I have to just close my eyes!

I'm a kindred spirit with Joel and Zoe, and in fact an art museum docent here in the States. I know my stamina is between three and four hours because my husband begs off at around two, finds a chair and reads while I continue. We return to the large museums again and again (Met, NG, Louvre) taking in expos too. On the other hand, this question made me realize that we don't always go to them for whirlwind highlight visits in a new city, preferring to spend time at several smaller, more accessible museums in their place. There are so many small gems. More than one a day would be too much as we spend a lot of time on details.

Interesting topic, Jen.

How we handle the bigger museums can depend on how long we'll be the city, whether we're using individual tickets, a pass, and/or what sort of pass it is. Paris was easy because the excellent Paris Museum Pass allowed us as many visits to the Louvre as the life of our 6-day card; we did one long session and dropped by twice more for shorter spans.

Same with Florence; the (now sadly revised) Friends of the Uffizi pass allowed for unlimited visits to the museums it covered; a bonus for the Uffizi itself. London? Most of them are free so going back is simply a matter of making the time. Otherwise, we try to do them in one shot, and plan to do the favorites again on the next trip (have been to the Institute in Chicago at least half a dozen times in my lifetime).

Zoe, I skip over sections or pieces which don't especially interest me as well. Italy, however, presents a problem because so many of the churches are fascinating little art or architectural treasures all by themselves. I can't resist a wander around ANY of them!

Speaking of little gems? The Frick Collection in NYC is highly recommended if any of you haven't seen that one yet.

I just finished a post on another thread about packing a lunch before going to the Musee d'Orsay so you can take a break!

This summer we went again to the Art Institute in Chicago. Every time, I head immediately to the Impressionists and 20th century art. After 2 or 3 hours, I am done. Then I walk past all these other galleries and think, I really need to get to those some time. Maybe next time I'll do a multi day visit. Did you buy one of their yearly passes?

Karen

BlockquoteThis summer we went again to the Art Institute in Chicago. Every time, I head immediately to the Impressionists and 20th century art. After 2 or 3 hours, I am done. Then I walk past all these other galleries and think, I really need to get to those some time. Maybe next time I'll do a multi day visit. Did you buy one of their yearly passes?
Blockquote

We bought my daughter a yearly student pass, which allowed her to bring one guest per visit. The young man who sold us tickets the first morning suggested it. I may be remembering wrong but I don't think it cost much more than a single visit for two. Family and/or adult passes were rather more.

I can do anything; it all depends on my mood and the weather and where I am. On a rainy day, I can happily spend an entire day in a museum. On a nice day in a beautiful city, I am happy to pop in a museum for an hour or two or skip it entirely to wander around. I've spent an entire day in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and loved every second. On my first trip to London, I spent an entire day in the British Museum and went back for a half day a few days later. I love that museum. In Paris, I did the D'Orsay, the Louvre and the Pompidou in one day (about two hours each). That did me in, but I think it was because of all the walking in between museums. I would have preferred to spread them over a few days, but I had a museum pass and wanted to get my money's worth.

Kathy, lately I am more interested in those gems in smaller towns. My favorites right now are both churches, San Giovenale in Orvieto and Santa Maria extra Moenia about half an hour from Rieti on the Via Salaria.

Duly noted and on the future list, Zoe! Thank you!

Museums are at the top of my list when I visit a city. I'm happy visiting one museum per day for as long as I'm in the city. For big museums, like the Louvre or British Museum, I first go to the periods of art I'm most interested in (ancient Near Eastern, Egyptian, medieval) and then if I have the stamina, go see other periods. As much as I love museums, I do run out of steam in the big ones and half a day (4 hours) is about all I can do at one time.

I don't use audio guides in the big museums because I don't have the patience to listen. I'm familiar enough with the above art periods to know what I'm looking at. But in smaller museums, like the Museum of Our Lord in the Attic in Amsterdam or the Royal Academy of Art in London, I have used audio guides because the depth of the subject matter (a 17th-century hidden church and the Ai Weiwei exhibition, respectively) is generally unfamiliar and I want to know the significance of what I'm looking at.

Love the question.
My husband and I just finished a trip to London. We are very different museum visitors. I like to go no more than 3 hours. Take a walk through, get an impression and go back to what really may interest me. This time in London I was able to go to several museums alone and found that going to some of the special exhibits were truly "special". I would not have done this with hubby. My husband will spend HOURS looking at everything, reading everything and analyzing everything. He will find me sitting having a cup of coffee (tea in London) with a good book and my cell phone close by to alert me to when he is done. We spent so much time (I guess I should say he did) at the Greenwich Observatory that we never did really see the town. I guess you can tell I was not too happy by this. Oh well, traveling is always a learning experience.

I'm chuckling, Nancy, as it's just the opposite with us. I spent five - yes, five - hours in Westminster Abbey and he wandered cheerfully off to find a pub after three. He's self entertained, bless his heart, and makes the most wonderful traveling companion because he ends up doing that a LOT.

At home I DO have annual memberships to an art museum and a science museum so we can pop in for brief visits when the mood strikes. Have often been at a special exhibition until they started closing the doors at the end of the day. So on holiday, art, architecture, and history all are a big focus.

Why do you suppose that so many of us seem to have a 2-4 hour museum limit? Is it the over stimulation of all that art and emotion, that we can't process it anymore? That's how I feel, even when I'm feeling starved for art before I go.

I once spent way too long in a Roy Lichtenstein exhibit. Too many red and yellow comic strips. I was seeing spots for the rest of the day.

Actually, what does me in is "museum feet" -- standing on unforgiving floors for too long. Good excuse for museum cafeteria breaks!

I've learned to be choosy about the museums I visit--I love art from particular eras and history-type museums and always ethnographic and textile art museums. Vienna has been my favourite city for museums thus far, visited 8 total--love the Secession-era art most of all. I travel solo so can move as quickly or slowly as I need to through the crowds, resting as need be. I'll usually do one or two museums per day, with lunch or wandering in between. Next year I'll visit the Louvre and plan to visit select areas and possibly over 2 visits of a few hours each to avoid overload.

So true, Laura B. When your feet start talking to you louder than the artwork, you know it's time to call it a day.
I think many of us leave a museum til mid afternoon, when our feet could do with a rest, rather than 3 hours standing on hard floors.

We love art museums too! We plan to visit old favorites and a couple of new ones on each repeat trip to Europe. Our combined burnout time is about 3 hours. We almost always take a break in a wonderful little museum cafe. We have some absolute favorites. Our longest museum foray was in Paris a few years ago where we were scoping out some ideas for an upcoming trip with college students. We hit Cite de Science when it opened, Musee d Orsay for a planning lunch and the afternoon then a planning snack at the Pompidou and stayed until it closed. It was a 12h exhilarating day.

I do wish I could upload a typical picture for you though. My husband has a favorite seat or two in most major museums where he sits and dozes for about 20 minutes before we finally have to take a real cafe break. A German couple sat on a seat opposite us last summer in the Tate and we all shared knowing looks and smiles.

I guess I am really a 2 museum per day person altho I did spend 5 hours at the Musee de l'Armee in Paris this Fall. I sort of lost track of time and then tried to finish it off. Just on the edge of being too much.

Conversely, on my first trip to Rome a couple of years ago I had my nephews (ages 26 and 20) in tow. We live in Idaho so not much in the way of museums around here. I was looking for something to occupy us for a couple of hours near the hotel so got us over to the National Museum of Rome. I was ready to quick march thru there after I saw the first rooms of busts and sarcophagi but nooo....they wanted to read every flipping sign (all in Italian which none of us speak or read), then when I thought I could head them out the older one says Oh look a basement, lets go!. Ugh. Went cheerfully though because I in no way wanted to dampen their spirits!

I do get choosy on art museums. If it is a huge one like NG or Louvre, I often will pick specific time frames to see. I went to the Louvre 3 times the last trip. I think I finally got thru all the rooms that were open in the Richelieu wing.

For me it is brain and foot fatigue!

Wouldn't want to come down with Stendahl Syndrome!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stendhal_syndrome

Like vitamins, one museum a day is about right (less is more some days). Museums can be great also for a toilet break and on occasion, affordable food in a pleasant atmosphere.

I find it depends on the museum, how big, extensive the exhibit is, the subject matter, the size. Some museums after 2-2.5 hrs. enough.

Other museums the entire after noon say, from noon-5 pm, ie, closing time. That' s where I practically go through every single display, ie, give it your undivided attention, focus and read all the explanations, and the realia, track down every floor, etc., take pictures if allowed, and sometimes still not enough, so you come back the next day. It is best to plan how much time you want to devote to seeing the museum, get there before noon, have lunch at the museum cafe, then track down the exhibits.

I love little weird museums. Like the small town ones that keep donated war hero memorabilia, and the history of the town settlers. And the pictures of the tallest man in the world (Edwardsville, IL) or the items brought up from shipwrecks nearby (Whitefish Point, MI). You never know what you're going to find, and you can usually see everything in an hour or less.

I love art history and straight history, so I can spend more time in those museums than a science or natural history museum. My limit on a museum that I'm not interested in is 1 1/2 hours at. the. most and never to return. My limit in an art/architecture, decorative arts or history museum, depends on the museum. We also try to visit the local history museum first. That being said, my limit per visit is usually two hours. After that, the slow movement and standing has annoyed me sufficiently that I need to get out and walk. I usually do one museum per day, but for the best, I will revisit after an extensive walk and a visit to a cafe or patisserie (or comparative location depending on the country). Outdoor museums: I'm good for many more hours, but it still includes a sit down break for lunch with people watching. However, for me, an entire city is a museum in a way, because I am so into architecture and history, so in that case...all day long! In Boston, I have memberships at museums so I can pop in and at at will.

My personal rule is to skip over pre-Renaissance religious art. My approach to a museum like the Uffizi, Kuntshistoriche, Louvre, et al, is to hurry through the galleries that don't interest me, pay my respects to the most popular works (Mona Lisa, Birth of Venus) and spend more time in the "one off" galleries and exhibits that still offer incredible, if less famous, art without the crowds.

Otherwise, I believe in spending as much time as you want. We spent more time in the Bargello in Florence than in the Uffizi and Accademia combined. We spent an entire day of a one week vacation in the Imperial War Museum in London - it just turned out to be way more interesting than either of us expected.

Oh my word...Karen's post made me think Pencil Museum in Keswick, UK! I did NOT allow enough time there!

We love museums. Where others can spend 2 to 3 hours, we will stay the whole day. When we were in the Louvre my husband had to drag me out of the Italian section. We also spent a good part of the day in the 24 Hours of Lemans museum. We always try to build some days in without museums to just walk around and take everything in.

I like most museums and love some museums.

I don't plan more than a half day at a time, either morning or afternoon, at any museum.

If it's a decent museum, I'd probably spend only a half day and focus on the things I want to see most.

If it's a great museum, like the Louvre, I'd break it up over several days and visit more than once during my stay.

Guess what I've been doing today? Discovering, once again, that I have a longer tolerance for museums than I have for Christmas shopping.

Karen, you made me laugh out-loud, and I've only been shopping online.

LOL jen, I agree...Karen made me actually laugh out loud!