The State Russian Museum is your go to spot for Russian art.

Sure, the Hermitage is what everyone thinks of when you say the word art within a thousand miles of Saint Petersburg. Yeah, it's amazing. But the State Russian has 400,000 prime cuts of Russian and only Russian art from the 10th century through today. Want an icon? Your pick, bud. Hankerin' for some lean, mean mixed media? Come on in. The country's other museums put Russia's international art game on lockdown, but the State Russian Museum is the art collection equivalent of the country's much needed cultural 'me time.'

Here are some pro-tips for your visit. Word is the cafe is cash only, so be ready with some folding rubles if you need to get your eat on. Which you should have plenty of, since admission is ₽400, or just under $6 for those of you that don't keep up to speed on the daily changes in currency exchange. Also, keep your cell phone handy. You can save a couple more rubles by using it to read the QR codes put up beside all the paintings and avoid the cost of a guided audio tour.

The museum's housed in the riverfront Mikhailovsky Palace. The palace was a gift from Czar Paul I to his youngest son Grand Duke Mikhail Petrovich for the brat's 21st birthday. Built with state funds and no planned uses besides being Mikhail's crib. No wonder the serfs revolted. Czar Nicholas II (the last Russian emperor) played take backs with the palace from Mikhail's descendents to open a museum in honor of his dad, Czar Alexander III. It was a relatively small museum until the revolution turned everyone's private stuff into public stuff. Almost overnight, the museum's walls got flush with the bulk of what you can go ogle at today.