Why are visits to museums that tiring?

Lots of slow walking, few stops, fewer rest stops, etc.

I think it’s psychological. If something is not really capturing your attention your mind disconnects and you start feeling fatigued because you are not engaged enough to remain viberently interested.

@Coloma
I love museums, and I still get tired…

Shuffling along, head at a slightly unnatural angle looking at the displays…I love museums, but physically they just destroy me. Which really sucks, cuz I would spend all my spare minutes in museums, any museums if I could.

I find about an hour is all I can take too, both physically and attention span-wise.

I think it’s the controlled temps & humidity that does it.

We love museums and are frequent visitors. We plan snacks and water breaks so we can keep our energy up.

I always thought it was the constant standing on level floors. Also the half-light makes you tired. You feel like you are walking through miles and miles of caves.

And then, and this is just me, I always felt like a museum was like a zoo. The art is a caged animal. It is not in its natural environment. I don’t like zoos, and I don’t really like looking at art in a museum. I prefer a gallery or a home or the outdoors. Museums are pretty much just collections. Static. Boring in feeling (not in aesthetics). Caged. Anxious.

Anxious art is wearing on me. Maybe on all of us, if the art really does give off that vibe to everyone (although most are probably unconscious of it). If that’s the case, then you get tired because the art does not belong in the museum and it is, in some way that we perceive below our conscious awareness, sending out distress signals. I don’t mean this literally, of course. But I do mean it when I say art doesn’t belong in a museum, and I would not be surprised if we are all aware of that at some level.

Not enough sexy women walking around.

@wundayatta : Many museums are not art museums. I get tired in all of them.

When I know I’m going to a museum, I prepare like I’m going on a marathon or something: carb overload with pasta the night before and drink a lot of water, also maybe do some lower body muscle toning like calf raises and a light jog.

Not enough rest stops.

Marble floors sap leg and foot strength. Try wearing shoes with very thick soles.

I feel like an odd one out here. I don’t get tired in museums, and have been in them for hours at a time. Anything displayed usually has my rapt attention.

It’s just museums? Damn.

@woodcutter : For me it’s any walking around slowly and looking event. Boat shows, which I love beyond all reason can seriously take me down.

Probably it could be quite overwhelming to absorb all that art in a matter of few hours. I have a friend who did art museums in Moscow who attested to this. Slowing down the process and not attempting to visit all the rooms might discourage both mental and physical fatigue.

I get tired too! And I love museums. One aspect of tiredness for me is that I tend to get backaches in museums. My theory is that I tend to stand in an odd posture leaning back and feeling a little tense because of my concentration. So I agree with JilltheTooth when she notes that we hold our heads at an unnatural angle and that may have something to do with it. The other aspect is mental tiredness. After a certain point I just cannot take in any more. I devote very focused attention to things, not every thing, but the things I really love. That can be tiring.
Last time I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art with my husband we broke for lunch and then went back to see more. That worked out quite well.

I never got tired while visiting a museum. But maybe because you walk slow and you hear a lot of informations there. Who knows.

Thanks all!
We will adjust our preparations in the future: pasta the day before, water, rest periods (or lunch) during, and I add a massage after myself!
Edit: thanks, @Hibernate! Adjust our preparations for future visits.

Well have fun in the future.

I think they should have more rest stops. Places to sit down and look at things and reflect before moving on. Often there aren’t enough or barely any places to sit down and look at the things on display. I imagine that’s a space issue, but it does mean you don’t get to really take in some things.

If you think visiting a museum is tiring, you should try a visit to the Vatican. You walk everywhere.

@JilltheTooth I suppose they are all jails. Things in museums are not where they belong, nor are they doing what they were made to do (or evolved to do). But, like I said, that’s my own peculiar feeling about it. It doesn’t seem to bother anyone else. Go right ahead and enjoy your museuming without feeling you are in a zoo.

Friggin walmart whoops my ass..every time.

I love visiting museums but if I am carrying a bag (I usually have a bag of some sort with me at all times) my shoulders start to hurt which leads to a headache. I will be visiting London next month and I am planning a visit to a museum or two, must remember to travel light!

Walk slowly and concentrating on the things that interest me also tire me out and I often find that if there are lots of people there at the time I start to feel a bit nauseous. I have stopped going to large, indoor shopping malls for this very reason. Too many people in one place makes me really uncomfortable.

I like good zoos, too, @wundayatta , because I understand the value of them.

Both our brain and legs require additional energy.