Agreed. I don't know whether a group run in English or another language is worse. Both destroy any chance of really looking at the pictures.

Nah. Just restrict them to well known hours so that others have a choice. Kids too.

I like docent led tours so I disagree. Tours also generate revenue for the museums.

Hit the button too soon.

Ever notice that Japanese tours usually have everybody hooked to a wireless mike/earpiece system so that the guide can whisper and still be heard by the entire group? Might be another solution. Only admit tour groups who use that system.

"For godsake, in this age of internet, google, and wiki, if you don't care enough to learn yourseslf the place and or pieces you're looking at, then don't bother going to the museums "

We see that all too often ppl don't google or look up things on the internet, even when it's right in front of them! They come here to type 25-50 words asking, "what should I do in __?"

It would be great if guided tours were given 2x a day and we could schedule visits around them.

yes I noticed that Japanese tours are more considerate. They whisper to the microphone and they tend to have smaller groups.

Other groups are not so considerate.

These people are just going to the museum just because everyone else is going to the museum, they have no freaking clue what the pieces they're looking at in front of them. Even today I had to point a Leonardo to a couple who just rushed the gallery, then they came back and started taking picture of the painting

One of my pet peeves as well. If I am enjoying a painting, I refuse to move just because a tour guide wishes to park her group there. There are certain groups that are the worst as far as respecting personal space (even if they are quiet...)

I don't mind guided tours -- in principle.

What can be annoying is the behaviour of some people in groups being guided: they often fail to respect the rights of other visitors to view the works on display. It might improve things if guides reminded them (as tactfully as possible) how to behave.

Guided tours and the museum's own docent led tours are different in their behavior as well as quality.
I usually skip to another room and then return after they're done.

Happy has hit the best tactic right on the button; avoid and return. It usually doesn't take any more time and often makes for a far more satisfying visit. That said, my elderly mother went on the very same tour the OP is addressing and came back home raving about how smart her daughter was to get a degree in art history. So, something must sink in to at least a few in the groups -- and in our case it only took thirty years.

--Annie

We are not all time rich individuals. I'm not sure if we should or indeed could ban groups. In fact some museums are enhanced by a group of people with Micky's ears stuck on wandering around and bumping into each other.

In terms of noise, many European or North American people do not know how to behave in public (eating and drinking while walking in the street, talking on their phones in public, walking on the left! and showing their enormous fat body parts in all directions) so why worry how they behave in a museum.

There is this whole line or queue jumping thing (due to extra expenditure) that is coming out of the US and Italy. The sooner that is stopped the better. The only people who should jump queues are the physically and mentally disabled.

My worst experience wasn't with a tour but a single guy in
the Bottichelli room at the Uffizi.

He was videoing the works and never took his eyes off the
viewfinder. At the same time he was recording his stupid,
uneducated, embarrassing comments into the mic - but in a
voice so loud and intrusive it could be heard from outside
the room.

Not only that but he stood in front of each work yammering
on at his own sweet pace obstructing everyone else. He was
the very definition of Entitled North American Tourist.

Still makes me ANGRY. GRRR.

There are certain groups that are the worst as far as respecting personal space (even if they are quiet...)

I'm not sure why you suddenly stopped short of NAMING exactly which place these people are from.

Like people are going to go to Google and memorize a bunch of stuff about a museum, etc. Get real.

I think one good thing is when tour groups are fitted out with headphones and the docent/leader has a microphone and uses that.

Unfortunately for some a museum remains a public place and you have to be flexible. Nobody "rushed in" and decided to focus on ruining your experience; did they wave good-bye when they left?

Yes, they should ban groups entirely, and definitely keep them off the streets so that you have room to walk. I think setting aside a few museums just for the righteous would work. They have to keep the rabble at bay so that you can have Raphael all to yourself.

...now I'm even more angry - why the 'h' did I put an h in
Botticelli? Time for an espresso.

As Biztravfod said, kids too. We visited the National Aquarium in Baltimore, and the number of kids was just overwhelming. On leaving I asked the ticket people if it were possible to return in the evening, whenever, when there were no children allowed. Answer was no, and the person seemed to think this was a cruel idea !!

I have so many judgements about the people who take pictures of the paintings without really looking at them.

Why? Go plant yourself in front to the Eiffel tower and take pictures of yourself. Get out of my way please!

Yes, and while you're at it, stop shrieking at each other in restaurants. This is to the couple who ruined our most expensive meal in Rome, and to the American students who dominate some Florentine restaurants.

Wow, glad you aren't in charge of everything!

We went on a tour of 10 and we all had earpieces so that we could hear and the guide didn't have to shout. We were asked not to block the views of others or walkways.

I could never remember everything that there is about the Raphael rooms or the Sistine chapel, even if I read it all before I went. For me, it is helpful to have these things pointed out and discussed while I am viewing them. Alot of us do actually read up and learn about what we are seeing before we go.

Unfortunately, studying all the art history needed prior to my vacation is not possible as I work full time. Why not benefit from someone else's knowledge and learm more than what Wikipedia has to tell you?

In fact, I actually read a book on Bernini and Borromini to brush up on their contributions before our last trip. I also read all about the cathedral in Orvieto and the paintings in the San Brizio chapel so that I would understand what I was seeing, while there.

Just because I took a guided tour doesn't mean I'm a lazy idiot. I went on the guided tours to learn more than I would have on my own and am glad I did.

I stand by my opinion, guided tours in the museum are just useless distraction that should have no place in the museums, read up on the items yourself or use audio guide. Don't wanna to educate yourself? then don't bother coming to the museums or churches. Bunch of grown-ups needing guides in the museum, that's just pathetic

There's a big difference between 10 considerate people with a guide with the whisper system, and 20-30 not-so-considerate people with a guide who has to shout to be heard by the people at the back of the group. And moving to a different room doesn't work if there's a lot of groups, you just encounter another one in the next room, plus in a museum it can break the flow.

I don't think I'm in favor of banning groups entirely, but it would be great if there were non-group times.

<<Bunch of grown-ups needing guides in the museum, that's just pathetic>>

While I am a huge fan of learning as much as I can ahead of time through reading, the Internet, videos, etc., and while I have rarely taken a guided tour of a museum in Europe other than with my good friend who is a tour guide (and we sure didn't bother anyone; it was just the two of us, whispering),I have to disagree.

I just last night went to a curator-guided tour of a new exhibit at the Phillips Collection here in Washington, DC. I had already done my homework on the artist (Per Kirkeby), but he's hardly known here in the USA, despite being wildly famous in Europe. I learned all kinds of details about him and his works from the curators that I probably never would have gleaned no matter how much research I'd done.

The Phillips, however, doesn't do tours during regular-admission hours, so there's no overlap with normal museum attendees.