Admission to the Main Museum Complex
1. If you have no entry ticket you can purchase it at the ticket office located in the Museum’s Main Vestibule.
You have to enter the Museum from Palace Square and then go across the Great Courtyard of the Winter Palace.
2. If you have purchased an entry ticket at the terminal in the Great Courtyard of the Winter Palace (without concessions).
You have to enter through the Saltikovsky entrance (a passage on the left side of the Great Courtyard).
3. If you have an Internet ticket or a gift card.
You have to use the Shuvalovsky Proezd entrance either through Millionnaya Street or the Palace Embankment (between the Small Hermitage and the New Hermitage buildings).
4. If you are members the Union of artists, architects and designers of the Russian Federation or are members of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).
You have to use the Shuvalovsky Proezd entrance either through Millionnaya Street or the Palace Embankment (between the Small Hermitage and the New Hermitage buildings).
5. For visitors with mobility impairments.
The entrance from the Palace Embankment is fitted with a ramp. The entrance from the Palace Square is accessible by ramp and by lifting facility. Lifts are located in the Rastrelli Gallery, the Commandant Gallery and Room № 106.
For further inquiries about the museum’s disability access, including wheelchair hire, please speak to the administrator in the Main Vestibule, or call (812) 710-90-79.
Plan of the Main Museum Complex for visitors with mobility impairments (pdf)
Photography and video filming
In permanent exhibition spaces photography without flash, tripods and monopods is permitted.
In temporary exhibition spaces photography and video filming are not permitted since these exhibitions may display art objects on loan from other collections.
5000 ₽ – ticket for amateur wedding or costume photographs and video filming for groups of up to 5 people (entrance ticket required). You may only do this with tripods fitted with light modifiers to prevent the floor damage but without special light including flash.
Providing images
The right to reproduce exhibition images from the Museum’s collections is granted by the State Hermitage to organizations only upon prior written requests.
The written request for providing images must be addressed to Director of the State Hermitage Museum Mikhail Piotrovsky and sent to the Editorial and Publishing Department of the State Hermitage by fax (812) 710-95-04 or by email mikliaeva@hermitage.ru after which the department staff members will contact you about the execution of your request.
Guidelines on image requests (pdf)
Information Centre
The Information Centre can be found in the Main Vestibule (just beyond the ticket offices).
The Museum’s floor plans and information booklets are available from the information desk. You will also get answers to your questions about your visit.
For further inquiries please call (812) 710-90-79, (812) 710-96-25
Plan of the Main Museum Complex
You are advised to use several ways of finding your way around the buildings and halls of the Main Museum Complex:
1. Picking up a floor plan from the information desks;
2. Planning your own route with the help of an interactive map;
3. Making a virtual tour of the Museum.
Audio guide
Audio guides for exploring the Main Museum Complex are available in Russian, English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese and Korean.
Pick an audio guide up from the audio guide desks in the Main Gallery (right beyond the check point) and at the head of the Jordan Staircase
Charges:
350 ₽ (Russian), 500 ₽ (foreign language).
You have to leave a deposit of 2000 RUB or an ID (except your passport)
Further information
- Every Wednesday at 8 pm the Peacock Clock is wound up in the Pavilion Hall in the Small Hermitage.
