And it’s not impossible, even with the world’s most popular masterpieces. Our art commandos have found the quiet gallery entrances, the precisely timed lulls in the crowds, the private viewings and the slow days. So you can get up close and
personal with Ms Lisa, and with Botticelli’s Venus, Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Follow our tactics with military precision and they will be, as they should be, the great highlight of your trip, rather than the great disappointment. Once you’ve ticked them off, we’ve got all the other ingredients to make a perfect cultural adventure.
MONA LISA
The Louvre, Paris
Sometimes, fame is a curse. Almost 6m people go to the Louvre each year, and the one work in its collection they all want to see is the Mona Lisa. At almost any time of the day, the pressure of their numbers makes the experience unbearable.
Except, that is, in the first 20 minutes after the doors open. To get there then, you need to be organised.
The first step is to buy advance-purchase tickets the day before you go, at the Virgin Megastore at the Carrousel du Louvre, 99 Rue de Rivoli. Then stop off at the Louvre’s information desk, beneath the glass pyramid, to pick up a map of the museum, for navigation in the morning.
Then, at 8.30am the next day, turn up at the Porte des Lions, on the southern side of the museum, between the Pont Royal and the Pont du Carrousel (but not on Fridays, when it’s closed). It is the
closest entrance to the Salle des Etats, where the painting hangs. Travel light, so you aren’t asked to drop any bags in the cloakroom, and once you’re inside, head straight for the Salle des Etats. Be quick: the reward for your single-mindedness — a quarter of an hour alone with the world’s most famous painting — will be immense.
Wed-Mon 9am-6pm, and until 9.45pm on Wed and Fri; £5.70. (00 33-1 40 20 53 17; www.louvre.fr)
More art: don’t miss the other works by Leonardo in the Grande Galerie, next-door, especially La belle ferronière, a strikingly different kind of portrait — less mysterious and ethereal, but altogether more human. Then, when you’re done with the Louvre, refresh the parts that Renaissance portraiture cannot reach with a wander through the Picasso Museum (01 42 71 25 21, www.musee-picasso.fr; Wed-Mon, 9.30am-6pm; £4.50) in the Marais. A whole museum devoted to one man? You bet — and, believe me, Picasso is more than a match for such detailed examination. You’ll be gripped throughout.
Enough art already: it would be criminal not to stock up on goodies at Hédiard, the huge, heavenly deli at 21 Place de la Madeleine, and take them out for a picnic lunch at the shady, western end of the
Jardin des Tuileries. And when visiting the Picasso Museum (see above), make sure you take time out in the city’s trendiest shopping streets, such as Rue Vieille du Temple, in the eclectic, low-key, but supercool northern Marais.
Getting there: British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com) flies to Paris Charles de Gaulle from Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester, from £69. From Ireland, Ryanair (1530 787787, www.ryanair.com) flies to Beauvais from Dublin, from €72.
Where to stay: For the ultimate in convenience, check into the Hôtel du Louvre (00 33-1 44 58 37 44, www.hoteldulouvre.com; doubles from £154, room-only), next to the museum on Place André Malraux. For a heady dose of art history — and a much smaller bill — try the two-star Timhotel Montmartre (01 42 55 74 79, www.timhotel.com; doubles from £60, room-only), set on the prettiest square on the hill, next door to the site of the Bateau-Lavoir, the warren of studios where Picasso painted Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.
THE BIRTH OF VENUS
Uffizi, Florence
One dreads to think how the story would have fared in the hands of an artist like Caravaggio. Uranus, first ruler of the universe, is castrated by Chronos and his testicles thrown into the sea. The result? The birth of Venus, who drifts to shore, naked, in a giant scallop shell. The possibilities for lurid melodrama are almost endless, and thank goodness Sandro Botticelli chose not to see them. Instead, the Florentine master created one of the most graceful and joyful images of the age — and the single most popular painting in the Uffizi.
To see it at its best, you need to pre-book a ticket for timed entry at 8.15am, courtesy of the Firenze Musei booking service (00 39-055 294883): don’t be put off if you can’t get through first time. Once inside, head straight for the suite of rooms 10-14, where the Botticellis are displayed. Then leapfrog through the highlights of the collection — the Da Vincis in room 15, the Raphaels in room 26, and the Caravaggios in room 43 — staying ahead of the hordes as you go. If there are any gaps you want to fill in, work backwards towards the entrance: by now, the crowds will be unavoidable, but you’ll have already had the masters to yourself.
Tue-Sun 8.15am-6.50pm; £4.35. (00 39 055 294883, www.polomuseale.firenze.it)
More art: the problem in Florence is knowing when to stop. But if you see only one more painting, make sure it’s Masaccio’s fresco Trinity, in the church of Santa Maria Novella on the piazza of the same name. The Renaissance more or less started with this work.
Enough art already: then your first port of call is a decent gelateria — Vivoli (Via Isola delle Stinche 7) is considered one of the best in Italy. Also drop into one of the city-centre delis, such as Vera (Piazza de Frescobaldi 3r), to stock up on some local olive oil and a bottle of Brunello di Montalcino, the king of Tuscan reds.
Getting there: Meridiana (0845 355 5588, www.meridiana.it) flies from Gatwick to Florence, from £122; or Ryanair (0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com) flies to nearby Pisa from Glasgow, Liverpool and Stansted, from £38. From Ireland, Aer Lingus (0818 365000, www.aerlingus.com) flies to Bologna from Dublin, from €104.
Where to stay: the chic, modern option is the Savoy (00 39-055 27351, www.hotel savoy.it; doubles from £345, room-only).
If your tastes are a little more baroque, the Palazzo Magnani Feroni (00 39 0055 239 9544, www.florencepalace.it; suites from £140, B&B) is a huge, overblown, 16th-century palace.
THE DEATH MASK OF TUTANKHAMUN
Egyptian Museum, Cairo
