How to Visit 10+ Museums a Day

When people ask me about my holidaying and I say that I can visit upwards of 10 museums/historical sites in a day (my record thus far is 16) they are often shocked and ask some mixture of how and why. So I thought that I would share the secrets here. 

Wear Sensible Shoes and Trousers

This is one that it took me far longer to learn than it really should have done. In a day I'm usually out of the hotel around 08:30 to get to the first place and depending on how things go I might not be back until gone 18:00.

This generally means that you're looking at something like 8-10 hours of near constant standing and or walking. Either going round galleries or wandering the city between them. So what you're going to want is decent quality and comfortable walking gear. This is in many ways a walking holiday and should be treated as such. 

Plan Your Route

This is probably one of the biggest things. You need to have an idea of where it is that you're going, as well as if and when things will be open. You want to be at the earliest thing to open and then have your route finishing with whatever closes latest (within reason). 

When planning a holiday I first make a spreadsheet of all of the different museums, points of interest, and attractions (you can find my Amsterdam one here). This lets me consider how much I want to see particular things and also get an idea for what things might be more restricted in their visiting. 

At the same time I make a map of all of these places (my Amsterdam one is here). This lets me then group nearby places together and see if there's anything that's really far away. 

Once I've got these I typically pick the key places that I definitely want to visit and then either pick out routes to or from them. I tend to group these in broad directions such as ‘south of hotel’

Map of Various Museums and Points of Interest in Berlin Grouped into Various (Own Image)

Linger Only on the Things that Interest You

It’s important to make sure that this is a fun experience. I do this for the love of seeing different museums and the way they tell stories (one particular example is the very different interpretation of the ‘Sale of New York’ as shown in both the Museum of the City of New York and the National Museum of the American Indian). This means that there should be no ‘set time’ that you should spend in a given place.

It's important that you don't feel like you're trying to ‘get your money's worth on the ticket price. If a big and expensive museum sparks no joy then it’s totally fine to just have a quick browse. But equally if one museum draws you in then there’s nothing wrong with spending hours in it. Visiting so many museums is not a challenge or a goal so it’s totally fine for plans to change depending on what you are or are not enjoying.

Have Lunch, But Don't Make a Meal of it

Many times I've looked at the time and realised that it’s long past midday and I haven't eaten. However, when I finally do stop and have something I suddenly realise how much I needed it.

That said, midday is a prime time for visiting places. When on holiday my family often luxuriates over long lunches spending maybe a couple of hours really soaking in the ambience. However, not wanting to miss out on crucial visiting time when it’s just me I tend to keep an eye out and find a nice looking place between museums and grab something quick and ideally hot.

Once again, I don’t set limits on this. If I feel the need to sit around for a while longer or get a bigger meal then that’s totally fine. But usually it’s a quick half an hour and then off again.

Public Transport can be a Trap

By and large when visiting these cities I don’t often take public transport unless the thing I want to visit is particularly far away. Even then I might take public transport to the furthest out point and then walk my way back visiting other things along the way.

This is for two main reasons. Firstly, I tend to find that public transport may not actually be that fast. Whilst Metros are usually pretty good, buses are often slow and you may be stood around at the bus stop for a while. This twinned with a carefully planned out route means that often it’s simply quicker to walk to the next place.

Secondly I think it also helps me get a much better idea of the city i’m visiting. I see far more than I would on a bus, I might see interesting places to take diversions into. Admittedly this has led me to wander through some more ‘interesting’ places where people who are not large 6’3” men may not feel comfortable being. But some of the more interesting places I find on a trip can often come from just walking about.

You Probably Shouldn't 

I feel I should finish this all off by saying that this almost certainly isn’t something that you should do. This is a highly specific way of holidaying that appeals exactly to me and works entirely off my own whims.

It is certainly not a relaxing way to spend a week though I do believe it is a good way to really get a feel for a place, its history, and its people. But maybe that’s just me.