Gold Room at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg

[jbcool]

Is Gold Room worth the time and extra money to tour?

 

We already have a great guided tour planned to see the best art collections and part of the Winter Palace at the Hermitage. Would we be missing a lot if we didn't see the Gold Room?

 

Please...those of you who have been to the Gold Room...what do you think?

 

URGENT REQUEST!!...as we will be leaving for our cruise soon!!! Much thanks!

[swdke]

Is Gold Room worth the time and extra money to tour?

 

We already have a great guided tour planned to see the best art collections and part of the Winter Palace at the Hermitage. Would we be missing a lot if we didn't see the Gold Room?

 

Please...those of you who have been to the Gold Room...what do you think?

 

URGENT REQUEST!!...as we will be leaving for our cruise soon!!! Much thanks!

 

From my impression, the Gold Room is what the Hermitage consider's it's special or main attraction. We did do this, but I forget what extra we paid. How much do they want? For us, we figured, why not, we're here to see everything. Plus, if you're taking a tour with Red October, or Denrus, you're already saving money, so we figured we could afford the extra cost. But, I didn't consider it a splurge, it was more about wanting to see all there is to see and do while in St. Petersburg, that was our group's primary focus. Having done the Gold Room, yes, it was interesting, and everyone in our small group of 10 seemed glad they did this. I didn't observe anyone complaining, or regretting. It was just all part of not missing out on anything. Hope this helps.

[dileep]

Last year, Red October charged $15 for the Gold Room. We did not tell them until the day of our tour that we wanted to visit the Gold Room, and it was too late to get a time slot. There is one huge gold tree in the main museum. We saw plenty of interesting things during our short visit and we would have missed some of that if we had gone to the Gold Room.

 

If you want to do it, tell you tour operator ahead of time.

[VinTek]

We discussed the Gold Room extensively at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=299275 . You'll get several opinions of the room there, along with information about a "second" gold room.

[Artemis]

http://hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/03/hm3_10.html is the page on the museum website that will lead you to a good overview of the Gold Room. Our party voted not to do the Gold Room--we were more interested in certain paintings and palace architecture/history. We made a list of what we wanted to cover in the Hermitage, just like we did for the city at large. St. Petersburg, like most port stops, is all about prioritizing your interests. So much to see, so little time!

[sultan_sfo]

We lucked out. Our group signed up for the Gold Room (with RO) and we got the Diamond Room. It was our Highlight of Hermitage for all of us. /Sultan

[jbcool]

Thank all of you for your kind and informative responses! We really appreciate it!

[EGG]

When we went to the Gold Room 2 years ago with our Red October Tour the museum provided a guide who gave a detailed description of many pieces and then our tour guide had to repeat in English. I found this to be agonizingly long. I do not like to stand in one place for a long time and you have to stand for 3 or 4 minutes and then take a look at a tiny pair of earings or a necklace through the glass. Then it is a few steps to the next piece to repeat standing and listening. Personally, I would have been just as happy using the time for other touring.