How and when to get to the best museums in the world for free

But this pleasure is not cheap. If you are a real museum “maniac”, you definitely need to know how to get to the most famous and richest museums in the world for free.

Louvre Museum (Paris, France)

The Louvre regularly receives the status of the most visited museum in the world – it is easy to imagine what a full house is going on here every day. Such high popularity is understandable – there are more than four hundred works of art, including Mona Lisa and Venus of Milos. In terms of area, the museum is approximately equal to twenty football fields. This means that dreamers who hope to see all the exhibits will have to stay in Paris for at least a week and spend every day in the Louvre from morning to evening.

The history of the Louvre began with a military fortress, which was built in the XIII century. The remains of this building remained in the foundation of the museum, and you can see them even today. Over time, a royal castle appeared here, and each ruler considered it a matter of honor to bring some work of art from the campaign. So the collection collected for centuries at the end of the 18th century turned into a famous museum.

You can get to the Louvre for free on the first Sunday of the month from October to March. The rest of the time, the entrance costs 15 €. Children under 18 do not need to pay.

Vatican Museums (Rome, Italy)

The Vatican is famous not only for its history and the unique status of a city-state but also for museums. Almost every tourist who finds himself in Rome dreams of getting here. The famous Sistine Chapel with Michelangelo’s paintings, the works of Raphael, mummies, pharaohs and other artifacts located at nine exhibition kilometers are incredibly popular. All collections were collected by the popes from the beginning of the 16th century.

In total, the Vatican Museums has almost one and a half thousand halls of the most interesting and incredible topics. For example, in the Gallery of Geographical Maps, the entire ceiling is decorated with maps of various sizes, times and types – from parchment to gold. Under the ground is the Chariot Hall, where dad’s vehicles are collected, ranging from old carriages to modern cars. But the most visited place is, of course, the Sistine Chapel. It is forbidden to take pictures or shoot videos, and you can talk only in a whisper.

Free admission to the Vatican Museums is valid every last Sunday of the month from 9:00 to 12:30, and September 27 – on Tourism Day. Usually, a ticket costs 16 €, and children under 6 years old are always free.

British Museum (London, UK)

Great news for everyone who is going to satisfy the cultural hunger in London: one of the most popular museums in the UK and the whole world does not take money for a visit! This means that at any time of the year, month and week, you can visit the main exposition of the British Museum for free. Additionally, only temporary exhibitions are paid.

The museum opened in the mid-18th century and was created at the initiative of the English government with the support of thousands of philanthropists and ordinary people. It must be said, however, that many exhibits of the museum were at one time seized, stolen or taken out during the wars, that is, obtained by dishonest means. By the way, some countries still demand that their cultural artifacts be returned.

The museum has 94 galleries in which sculptures of the pharaohs, statues of the gods, sarcophagi and many other valuable objects are stored. Curious fact: the British Museum is the only place where several cats are officially accepted for service, whose duties include trapping mice.

The Hermitage (St. Petersburg, Russia)

The world-famous St. Petersburg Hermitage Museum has a collection of more than three million works of art, jewelry, and archaeological finds. At the origins of the creation of the museum is the collection of Empress Catherine II, who was fond of painting and acquired the work of artists from around the world. The Hermitage is located in several buildings, including the Winter Palace. The most famous works of the museum are “Madonna and Child” by Leonardo da Vinci, “The Holy Family” by Raphael, “Apostles Peter and Paul” El Greco and many others.

Fortunately, the Hermitage collection is one of the few that did not suffer during the Second World War. The most valuable works were timely taken inland, so at the end of hostilities, only a minor restoration of the paintings was required.

You can visit the Hermitage for free every first Thursday of the month. Also, free admission is always valid for children, students and senior citizens of the Russian Federation. On a typical day, the entrance fee is 400 rubles (for citizens of the Russian Federation and Belarus) and 600 rubles (for all others).

Prado Museum (Madrid, Spain)

Spain also boasts one of the most popular museums in the world. For a long time, the country was heavily dependent on the Catholic Church, and therefore the museum’s exposition was collected by church leaders and the royal family. It is said that the Spanish king Philip II, who lived in the second half of the 16th century, loved painting so much that he decorated all the walls of his bedroom with the most famous paintings.

The Prado Museum was opened at the beginning of the 19th century and now houses the works of artists such as Bosch, Rafael, and Velazquez. There are many exhibits of representatives of the Venetian school of painting, and, of course, the Dutch and Flemings were not without Rubens, Rembrandt, Van Dyck.

Opportunities to get to the Prado Museum for free are much greater than other famous museums. So, if you come from Monday to Saturday from 6 to 8 in the evening or on Sunday from 5 to 7, you can look at the exposition for free. At other times, the ticket costs 14 €, and children and students under 25 years old are entitled to free admission.

Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York, USA)

This museum was created in the 19th century by art enthusiasts. To this day, he does not have any financial support from the state, there are always enough private sponsors.

The museum is based on three private collections, which over time were supplemented by the works of world-famous masters. So, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art there is a unique painting by Renoir, many masterpieces of the era of impressionism and several paintings by the famous portrait painter Vermeer. In total, about two million works have been collected here. Another feature of the museum is its photographic works and one of the most complete collections of Egyptian art. By the way, the first president of the museum was George Clooney.

Here you will find works of American art, knightly weapons and armor, masterpieces of medieval and modern art, and even a hall with clothes worn by people from all over the world since the fourteenth century.

It features a Metro and a payment system. It’s called PAYW – pay what you want. This means that at the entrance the desired ticket price of $ 20-25 is indicated, but you can pay as much as you see fit, or even stop by for free.

Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow, Russia)

It is here that the most significant collection of Russian art is collected thanks to the merchant Pavel Tretyakov. The gallery is divided into several parts-buildings. It all started with the house of the merchant himself, who eventually had to do more and more extensions, as the paintings simply did not fit in his house.

Now in the Tretyakov Gallery, there are more than a hundred thousand exhibits, creative studios for children work. One of the main assets of the museum is a collection of icons of the XI-XVI centuries. There are also paintings by “Unknown” Kramskoy, “Alyonushka” by Vasnetsov, “Morning in a Pine Forest” by Shishkin and many others.

Everyone can attend the permanent exhibition for free every Wednesday. Also, on the first two Sundays of each month, free entry for Russian students is organized, and every Saturday for large families from Russia or the CIS. The rest of the time, a ticket to the gallery costs 400 rubles, for students – 150 rubles, and for children under 18 – for free.

Uffizi Gallery (Florence, Italy)

The creation of this museum began with the fact that the Florentine ruler Cosimo Medici decided to unite the entire city administration in one palace. For this, a spacious Uffizi building was erected, in which in the middle of the 16th century the family collection of Medici paintings was transferred. After some time, the collection grew so large that it turned into a museum for the elite – a simple person could not look at the paintings. But after half a century, the museum building was handed over to the people, and anyone since then can enjoy the beauty of unique paintings.

Many exhibits were created by order of the Medici himself, for example, Lippi’s Madonna and Child with Angels. Here are mainly the work of Italian artists and sculptors, but there are many representatives of other cultures. Tourists line up in huge lines to see with their own eyes the rare works of Botticelli (also a friend of Medici), for example, “The Birth of Venus”. Not without a collection of Raphael, Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci, and even self-portrait Aivazovsky.

The museum is open to all comers for free on the first Sunday of every month. At other times, ticket costs from 9 €, children under 18 years can visit the gallery for free.