The State Hermitage has introduced temporary rules for visitors. These measures will make it possible to safeguard the health of both visitors and the museum staff.
Planning your visit
What will I be able to see in the museum?
All the display facilities of the State Hermitage can be visited – the Main Museum Complex, General Staff building, Staraya Derevnya Restoration and Storage Centre, Winter Palace of Peter I, Menshikov Palace and Museum of the Imperial Porcelain Factory.
The State Hermitage also offers general guided tours of the Main Museum Complex and General Staff building, as well as guided tours of temporary exhibitions and thematic encounters.
When buying tickets, visitors can select one of the fixed routes on offer depending on what precisely they want to see in the museum. Visits to some of the museum facilities is only possible as part of a guided tour.
Will I only be able to follow one set path?
Within the fixed routes around the Main Museum Complex visitors are able to make individual choices, deciding which halls to view in greater detail and which to pass by.
The flexible system makes it possible to view practically all the wealth of the displays. At certain points, you will be able to decide which way to continue – depending on that choice, you will only be able to see the halls in a particular order. For visitors' convenience, information signs have been installed accordingly.
The main purpose of the routes that we have devised is to avoid flows of people meeting each other from opposite directions, but you will be able to shape your journey through the museum based on your interests and preferences.
Will it be possible to view the temporary exhibitions?
Temporary exhibitions are included in the fixed routes for visitors. Certain exhibitions may also be visited with separate tickets (the duration of the time slot in this case is one hour). For details, see the website section What's on at the Hermitage.
The exhibition "The Hermitage in the General Staff Building. Twenty Years of Exhibitions" can only be visited on a guided tour. After the tour, ticket-holders can independently view the displays included in the fixed route around the General Staff building.
Please note that access to this exhibition is by staircase only, and the attic space included is not fitted with ramps or lifts. This makes it difficult for people with restricted mobility to get around the exhibition.
Will I be able to have a guided tour in the museum?
The State Hermitage offers:
- general and thematic guided tours
- guided tours in the Treasure Gallery
- guided tours for children
- guided tours of temporary exhibitions
For details, see the website section Guided Tours.
I am a member of the Friends' Club – how should I visit the museum?
Entry to the Main Museum Complex for members of the Hermitage Friends' Club is through the Commandant's Entrance of the Winter Palace. Entry to the General Staff building is through the same entrance as for other visitors from Palace Square.
To visit the museum, you will need to scan the barcode of a valid Friends' Club membership card at the entrance turnstile.
Further details of the procedure that holders of personal membership cards of the Hermitage Friends' Club should follow to reach the museum displays can be found in a special section of the website.
How can I visit the Hermitage if I come on a scooter or a bike?
In summer many locals and visitors to Saint Petersburg prefer to get around the city on bicycles and scooters. The Hermitage takes note of its visitors’ needs and has arranged a parking area by the entrance to the Great Courtyard of the Winter Palace where people can leave a bike or scooter while visiting the museum.
On the other hand, it is not permitted to bring such means of transport onto Hermitage premises as they may cause damage to the museum’s interiors and infrastructure. For that reason, we are obliged to turn down requests from visitors that we keep their scooters in the cloakrooms.
Tickets
How can I buy a ticket?
Tickets to all the State Hermitage's display facilities can be obtained through the website tickets.hermitagemuseum.org, and, provided any remain available, also through the museum's ticket offices.
Electronic tickets are available on the website only for the next 10–14 days, entrance tickets from the ticket offices only for the current day. This measure has been introduced to counter profiteering. Buy your tickets only from official sales points operated by the museum itself!
What concessions are available to museum visitors?
Current Russian Federation legislation envisages:
- entry free of charge once a month for children under 18, families with three or more children under 18 and students (provided by the Hermitage on the third Thursday of the month)
- entry free of charge and without queueing for Heroes of the Soviet Union, Heroes of the Russian Federation and Full Members of the Order of Glory
The State Hermitage's own Social Programmes* provide
- free entry for children under the age of 14 (without guiding services)
- free entry on the third Thursday of the month for concessionary categories of visitor
- special ticket prices for certain categories of visitors
* Details of the terms and conditions for the Social Programmes can be found in the website section Visiting Rules.
Will there be a day when entry to the Hermitage is free of charge?
Every third Thursday of the month certain categories of visitors are permitted entry to the museum free of charge.
Free of charge tickets for that day are available only for routes around the Main Museum Complex and the General Staff building, and to the Museum of the Imperial Porcelain Factory (without guiding services)
Those in the concessionary categories planning to visit the Hermitage on the third Thursday of a month need only to obtain free-of-charge tickets through the website tickets.hermitagemuseum.org.
If the intention is for someone in a concessionary category to visit the Hermitage accompanied by other persons (e.g. a child with parents or other relatives), the other persons should purchase entry tickets in addition to the concessionary order.
Visitors (citizens of the Russian Federation and other states of the Eurasian Economic Union) in the categories child invalids, invalids of the 1st group and invalids of the 2nd group who have damage to the locomotor apparatus and are unable to move fully independently, wheelchair-bound invalids and visually impaired invalids have the right to be accompanied by one person who can also obtain a free-of-charge entry ticket.
Visitors with free-of-charge tickets must present documents confirming their right to this concession on entering the museum.
IMPORTANT: If you appear to have not received letters confirming your order or containing the electronic tickets, please check your e-mail's "Spam" folder.
If you have questions obtaining tickets, you should contact us by telephone +7 (812) 710 99 60 during the museum's working hours, or by e-mail: tickets@hermitage.ru.
My plans have changed. Can I return my ticket?
Visitors have the right to return tickets that they have purchased no later than three days before the date of their scheduled visit. Payments for electronic entry tickets can only be refunded to the person who paid for them through the museum website.
If you have questions about buying or returning tickets, you should contact us by telephone +7 (812) 710 99 60 during the museum's working hours, or by e-mail: tickets@hermitage.ru.
How can I return a ticket?
Electronic entry tickets can only be returned by the same person who bought them through the museum website – the purchaser.
The return of electronic entry tickets takes place through the museum website where the purchaser bought them. To do so, the purchaser needs to go to their order following the link sent to their e-mail address after buying the ticket(s). Towards the bottom of the page there is a button marked "RETURN". The purchaser should click on that button and follow the instructions that come up.
If you have questions about returning tickets, you should contact us by telephone +7 (812) 710 99 60 during the museum's working hours, or by e-mail: tickets@hermitage.ru
More details about the rules for buying and returning tickets can be found on the museum website.
Events and Educational Programmes
How can I visit the Lecture Centre?
We invite anyone interested in the history of art and culture to attend the unique original lectures given in Russian by members of the State Hermitage staff.
Lectures are being held in person – in the lecture theatres of the General Staff building and also in the form of online broadcasts on the Zoom platform
Detailed information and a timetable of lectures can be found here.
Are Dialogue of Arts concert evenings being held?
The State Hermitage has resumed holding Dialogue of Arts concert evenings.
The Dialogue of Arts is a series of special programmes in which the museum's art scholars are joined by musicians, actors and musical ensembles from Saint Petersburg. The themes of the encounters are particular events, great names or outstanding phenomena in the worldwide history of art. These are explored in a broad historical, cultural and artistic context– in a harmonious collaboration of scholarship, music, poetry, theatre and literature.
Will the Peacock Clock be wound up on Wednesday evenings as it used to be?
The famous Peacock Clock, located in the Pavilion Hall, is part of Fixed Routes No 1 and No 2 around the Main Museum Complex. Sadly, at present there are no plans to wind the celebrated timepiece for visitors to avoid a conflict with the rules for maintaining a physical distance between visitors. All temporary measures will be continually adjusted, depending on the public health situation in the region. Look out for announcements on the museum website and in the social media.
Infrastructure
Will I be able to get an audio-guide?
Yes, you can use audio-guides for the new fixed routes. In the Main Museum Complex there are stands issuing audio-guides in the entrance zones at the start of both fixed routes. You can obtain an audio-guide for Fixed Route No 1 in the Jordan Gallery or at the top of the Jordan Staircase; for Fixed Route No 2 by the entrance in the direction of the Church Staircase. In the General Staff building the audio-guide stand is on Floor 1, across from the ticket offices.
Is it possible to stroll in the Great Courtyard of the Winter Palace?
Entry to the Great Courtyard is restricted to people holding tickets to the Hermitage. Tickets will be checked for the first time at the Main Gates of the Winter Palace. Once in the courtyard, ticket-holders can stroll around while waiting for their time slot, and also visit the open-air café in summer. Please remember to follow the rules about physical distancing between people.
Will the museum cafeteria be working?
In the Main Museum Complex you will be able to visit the open-air café in the Great Courtyard of the Winter Palace in summer and also the Hermitage café in the Rastrelli Gallery.
A café for visitors is also working in the General Staff building.
Will I be able to buy souvenirs and books in the museum?
Yes, the souvenir shop will be operating in the Rastrelli Gallery during the opening hours of the Main Museum Complex, as well as the children's shop offering games and books.
The bookstalls in the museum halls are also working.
The Hermitage shop offering books and souvenirs located in the Public Forum of the General Staff building works every day continuously from 1.00 pm to 9.00 pm. Entry to the shop in the General Staff building is from Palace Square.
What if I am getting married and want to take wedding pictures in the museum?
To hold an amateur photo-shoot – a wedding or costumed photo session – in the Main Museum Complex or the General Staff building you will need to:
- purchase entry tickets to the Hermitage for all the participants in the shoot (no more than five persons, including the photographer)
- inform the administrators of the entrance zone of your visit in advance by telephone – for the Main Museum Complex +7 (812) 710-90-79; for the General Staff building +7 (812) 495-71-71
- purchase a ticket for a photo-shoot at a cost of 5000 roubles from the ticket office before entering the museum
Photographs may be taken using tripods or other such supports provided they are equipped with protective feet to prevent damage to the floors.
Costumed photo-shoots should be taken to mean a photographic session in which participants wear formal attire in keeping with the setting of the museum's state rooms.
Participants in a photo-shoot are NOT permitted to:
- engage in any action or public demonstration that might distract other visitors and prevent them from viewing the museum displays
- shoot photographs or video in halls being used for temporary exhibitions or in the Lecture Hall of the General Staff building
- take photographs using flash or with a tripod or monopod ("selfie stick") without the specific permission of the museum administration
- shoot photographs or video for any commercial, guiding, advertising or other purpose associated with obtaining income.
Why we cannot give tickets free of charge to ISIC card holders
Under the current economic conditions, the museum is obliged to limit its provision of tickets free of charge to those categories of persons defined specifically in Russian legislation and to give concessions only in accordance with the procedure laid down in regulations.
The right of persons following a basic course of education to visit state museums free of charge at least once a month is laid down in part 2 article 12 of the Fundamentals of Russian Federation legislation on culture. In implementation of this norm, the procedure for free of charge visits to museums is set out in a Directive of the Ministry of Culture of 17 December 2015, №3119 "On confirmation of the procedure for free of charge visits to museums by persons under eighteen years of age and also those following basic courses of professional education".
Free of charge entry to state museums for persons following basic programmes of professional education is provided on presentation by them of a student card designed in accordance with the requirements of national sublegislative acts: Directive of the Ministry of Education and Science of 22 March 2013, №203 "On the confirmation of model designs for student cards for students and record books for students (cadets) following a bachelor's, specialist or master's degree course" and Directive of the Ministry of Education and Science of 5 April 2013, №203 "On the confirmation of model designs for student cards for students and record books for students (cadets) following a course of secondary professional education".
It follows that under the present circumstances the international ISIC card cannot be accepted as a document confirming the holder's status as a student for the provision of a ticket free of charge.
Investigation of complaints about services to visitors
The State Hermitage carries out a thorough official investigation of all visitors' grievances and conducts regular training for the staff of the entrance zone and the museum custodians on the provision of services for visitors.
The State Hermitage accepts comments from visitors for processing both in electronic form and via the comments and suggestions book located in the entrance zone of each of the museum facilities. We regret any inconvenience you may have encountered during your visit to the State Hermitage and thank you for your feedback aimed at improving the museum's work.
Comments on the museum's services can be made:
• by e-mail directorate@hermitage.ru
• by telephone +7 (812) 710-99-60
On the procedure for returning electronic tickets
When purchasing tickets through the website indicated, each buyer accepts the public offer that is available for examination on the webpage of the Internet magazine at https://tickets.hermitagemuseum.org/rules-agreement?lang=en and concludes a contract accordingly with the State Hermitage. The rules for ordering, paying for and obtaining electronic tickets, which also include the rules for returning them, can be found at https://tickets.hermitagemuseum.org/rules-agreement?lang=en . They are an appendix to the said agreement and an inseparable part of it. Each purchaser confirms before paying that they have familiarized themselves and accept the conditions of the public offer and the rules for buying tickets. In accordance with the rules, purchasers have the right to return tickets that they have bought no later than three days before the date of their scheduled visit. The museum will not return the cost of the tickets purchased if the purchaser submits their request later than this time.
The State Hermitage's procedure for the return of electronic tickets is fully in accordance with part 1 of article 52.1 of "The foundations of legislation of the Russian Federation on culture" (approved by the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation on 9 October 1992 № 3612-1): in the event of a visitor rejecting an event being held by a museum for reasons not envisaged under part 10 of article 52.1 of "The foundations of legislation of the Russian Federation on culture" less than three days before the holding of a performance event, the museum is entitled to not return the cost of the ticket to the purchaser. Information about the rules for purchasing and returning electronic tickets are public and generally accessible and conveyed by the State Hermitage to all visitors by the means customary in the museum sphere and by all possible reasonable mans of providing information. Links to the rules are given in a large font and installed within the structure of the website in such a way that all purchasers are able to acquaint themselves with them in a timely manner. Among other things, large hyperlinks are placed on the webpage offering the choice of available tickets and also (twice) on the page for placing an order. The risks associated with a de facto refusal to read the terms of the public offer, including the ticket refund policy, shall be borne by the purchaser alone.
The means of payment for buying electronic tickets
During the operation of the increased precautions on the territory of Saint Petersburg due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19), introduced by the city administration's Resolution No 121 of 13 March 2020, organizations and individuals need to be guided not only by the general provisions of current legislation, but also by the special norms and rules aimed at safeguarding people's safety and health.
Thus, according to clause 8.17 of the Sample Safety Standard for the Operation of Museums, Museum Reserves, Parks and Zoos, in order to counteract the spread of a new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in Saint Petersburg, approved by Order No. 589 of the Committee for Culture of Saint Petersburg dated 26 June 2020, museums are advised to avoid using cash when making transactions with visitors. As of today, the majority of entrance tickets and guided tours to the museum are sold using the special Internet site tickets.hermitagemuseum.org. The purchase of tickets through the website is only possible by cashless methods, as the nature of the Internet clearly prevents payments in cash. However, the State Hermitage also provides for the sale of entry tickets for individual time slots which remain available on the day of the visit to persons who are unable to purchase tickets via the website, including with payment in cash.