Opinions about visiting the Gold Room

[Queenk2]

On our Denrus tour we are undecided about a visit to the Gold Room. It is an upcharge of 15 dollars which doesn't bother us, however we wanted some input. Is it a worthwhile visit? How long does this part of the tour take? Thank you for your advice!

Karen

[JodiBB]

We didn't see the Gold Room, but many people I know saw it and said it was incredible!! We wanted to see other things on our tour, so we had to pick & choose....

[mycruz]

We visited the Gold Room and I have to say it was quite impressive. The tour took about 35-45 minutes. My thinking was, I would probably never get a chance to see it again, so why not since I was going to be there.

[mike35]

It was absolutely gorgeous and well worth the additional up charge and time involved. IMHO, it shouldn't be missed.

 

Mike

[elin]

We went to the Gold Room when we were there in August. The Hermitage itself is so overwhelming, the art sort of just "blurs" by after awhile (that and because you are looking at the floors, the ceilings, the walls, the chandeliers...), but the Gold Room was quite special and I think really stuck with me on what we saw.

 

I may not be able to tell you all the art we saw in the Hermitage, but I can tell you about the jewelled flowers, and the snuffboxes and the horse saddles, and the swords and the 4-6 century BC gold that was hammered so fine it look like aluminum foil, not to mention the detail on the jewellry.

 

If you can go to the Gold Room. It was really memorable!

 

Elin

[Mercury]

I'm with elin - the Gold Room was the highlight of our visit to the Hermitage and will always stand out in my memory as a unique experience. Don't miss it!

[ekp]

We were with a group of 8 in the Gold room on Sept. 2, (Westerdam cruise). The 4 men in the group were uninterested. Maybe because we saw it after wandering the Hermitage for 3 hours, or maybe because it was day 2 of an intensive tour. I think my group would have preferred to see more of the Hermitage instead. We were on tour with Red October. The Gold Room docent would describe what we were looking at in Russian and then our guide translated. I enjoyed it but would rather have seen more of the Hermitage galleries.

 

Westerdam, August 29, 2005

[dbh62ark]

I would recommend it, but I do think that not just everyone will love it like I did. We were in the gold rooms for about 30-40 minutes, and it was very interesting to me. Two of the 4 men in my group, including my husband!, got bored. You are probably aware that special Hermitage guides take the small groups around those rooms. Our Hermitage guide apparently spoke little or no English, so she would talk to our private guide, and then our private guide translated for us. So I think that's why the two guys in my group got bored because we did stand and wait for the commentary to be translated.

 

The history and artistry of the treasures in those rooms is incredible. The $15 per person extra was not a factor in our decision because that is so minor considering the overall trip cost, but I was concerned that our time in St. Petersburg was limited, so I wanted to make the most of it. The Hermitage personnel are very strict on security in those rooms, and the groups have to stay together with no wandering off at all. We had enough time in the galleries, so I think our time was well spent, but the reason for the varying opinions is that different passengers like different things. If you are interested in art and design, you would probably like it a lot.

 

Have a great trip,

Donna

[VinTek]

There were 4 in our group. Both of the men (Larry and myself) enjoyed ourselves very much. I do believe that this enjoyment was directly attributable to the enthusiasm of the docent giving the tour. It carried over into our own perspective of the artifacts on display. Larry remarked, "Boy, she sure likes her job!" and I agreed completely.

[Artemis]

For prospective travelers trying to decide whether TO or NOT TO include the Gold Room , there is an excellent description and virtual tour of the collection at the Hermitage's website: http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/03/hm3_10.html After reviewing the entirety of the Hermitage's holdings online, we made a list of what we wanted to see and shared that with our guide--it didn't include the Gold Room as we had other priorities during the time we apportioned to the Hermitage.

[Mercury]

VinTek - Glad to hear both the men in your group enjoyed the Gold Room tour. My husband agreed with me that it was the highlight of our visit to the Hermitage. We also had a very enthusiastic guide!

[VinTek]

VinTek - Glad to hear both the men in your group enjoyed the Gold Room tour. My husband agreed with me that it was the highlight of our visit to the Hermitage. We also had a very enthusiastic guide!

 

Mercury, thank you. I'm glad your husband enjoyed it too. Was your Gold Room guide a young dark-haired girl with glasses? Ours was, and she was extremely animated. Larry and I theorized that she was probably a graduate student with a passion for history.

[Mercury]

Hi Vintek - no we had an older lady. We kind of fed off her enthusiasm - she would get so excited about everything she was showing us and kept on saying: "Look at this!" as if she was seeing the item on display for the first time. She was however very strict about not taking photos or filming and I SOOOOOO badly wanted to record that visit. Still today I wish I could see it all again as the visit was so short.

[cruisintwinsmom]

For prospective travelers trying to decide whether TO or NOT TO include the Gold Room , there is an excellent description and virtual tour of the collection at the Hermitage's website: http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/03/hm3_10.html After reviewing the entirety of the Hermitage's holdings online, we made a list of what we wanted to see and shared that with our guide--it didn't include the Gold Room as we had other priorities during the time we apportioned to the Hermitage.

 

Thanks you for the website. Will use it before our tour next summer. The other question I have--virtual tour--is it an narrated moving tour, or it is pics with descriptions. Went to the website, but couldn't figure out it any audio went with it.

 

BTW, think we were on the same Millie trip last June. Great trip:)

[Artemis]

Hi, cruisintwinsmom,

 

I had to go back to the website to check it out, and you are correct, there is no audio or even movement. It's just pictures. But it's pretty nice & helpful for planning.

 

That Med cruise was awesome, wasn't it?! We fell in love with the Greek Isles and would love to return just to hang out in that part of the world.

 

I don't feelthe same emotional high about the Baltics cruise, but it was a fascinating trip, with SPb being the highlight for me. Good luck researching & planning!