Museum overcrowding is a thing of the past, at least in the foreseeable future. Museums now have to calculate the maximum number of visitors to allow for a minimum of 108 square feet of space per visitor. Social distancing rules require a minimum of 3 feet separation between visitors and face masks are required.
Museums have opened in Vienna including the Albertina, the Leopold Museum and the KHM Museum of Fine Arts. Belvedere Palace is set to open July 1. In Salzburg and Brussels a number of museums have opened. Depending on the museum, new measures include buying tickets in advance and regulated opening timetables.
Some of the most famous museums in the world are located in Italy. Rome’s Vatican Museums and the Colosseum reopened June 1, with advance reservations required, temperature checks at the entrance and plenty of newfound breathing room.
In Florence the Uffizi Gallery and the Galleria dell’Accademia reopened the first week in June, where museum goers will be treated to the sight of a newly cleaned Michelangelo’s David. The newly reopened Duomo in Florence now offers visitors necklaces that vibrate when they too close and not adhering to social distancing.
In Spain, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is staggering opening times, doing temperature checks at the entrance and offering an app to replace audio guides.
Portugal opened many museums with no guided tours. Visitors must wear masks and observe social distancing and to reinforce the standards, the museum website offers cartoons signs explaining the new rules.
Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum reopened with new safety protocols, as did the Anne Frank House, which allows visitors to enter with only one companion. In Denmark museums reopened with similar measures and Norway’s Munch Museum will reopen in Oslo on June 15, with limited capacity.
By contrast, France is taking a more cautious approach to opening its most iconic museums, including the Louvre. The museum is set to reopen July 7 and visitors will need to book a time slot online and must wear a mask. Other smaller French museums have already reopened with online advance ticket purchase required.
This is all good news for European museum lovers as many European borders begin to open up today. Art enthusiasts in the U.S. will have to wait a little longer for their turn.
If you haven’t considered it before, river cruises are growing in popularity for art, history, music, food and wine lovers. Many cruise lines including Viking River Cruises, Avalon Waterways & AMA Waterways Several also offer art classes while you sail along Europe’s rivers passing quaint towns & villages for inspiration.
