During the January holidays there are particularly large numbers of people wishing to visit the Hermitage.
Some museum visitors buy their tickets from the ticket offices, and on occasion this can involve standing in long queues. To save yourself time and effort, obtain electronic tickets in advance through the website tickets.hermitagemuseum.org.
Tickets for the days running up to the festivals and the (Orthodox) Christmas holidays will be released on the site steadily in fairly small batches at a time. From 22 December, any single order may include no more than three entry or guided tour tickets to the Main Museum Complex (with the exception of guided tours of temporary exhibitions). A policy of this kind helps to protect would-be visitors from profiteers.
Do be careful: avoid Hermitage impostor sites that seek to deceive those visiting them and resell tickets at inflated prices. Nor is it sensible it to buy tickets from people on the street or to trust non-accredited guides.
On 31 December the Main Museum Complex, General Staff building, Staraya Derevnya Restoration and Storage Centre, Menshikov Palace and the Museum of the Imperial Porcelain Factory will be open until 6:00 pm; the Winter Palace of Peter the Great until 7:00 pm. Ticket offices will stop working an hour before closing.
On 1 January (Monday) the museum will be closed. From 2 January, all the Hermitage’s display facilities will work as usual.
A complete timetable of opening hours for the museum can be found in the Visit Us section of the website.
In order to ensure good order and visitors’ safety, during the New Year holidays there will be short intervals in access to the ticket offices. This will make it possible to avoid excessive crowding in the entrance zone and cloakrooms.
