Westminster Abbey, the Sistine Chapel, the Louvre; these and other popular attractions and museums like them may be the reason you travel. They’re also the reason millions of other people travel. Nothing kills a sightseeing buzz like waiting in line for hours or being crammed in a room with 300 strangers who are also trying to get some quality time with your favourite art exhibit. However, if you plan ahead, the sights you dreamed of seeing won’t disappoint.

The Louvre Canada lines travel details

The Louvre, one of the world's largest museums, is located in Paris (Adrien Sifre / Flickr)

Some line ups to a degree are likely unavoidable, especially at the world’s most popular museums, but consider arriving early, first thing before the bus tours and cruise excursions show up. Additionally if it’s an option, go after dinner. Madrid’s Prado is open until 8 p.m. the Louvre on Wednesday and Friday evenings is open until 9:45 p.m. and London’s Tate Modern stays open Friday and Saturday evenings. In recent years, museums like the Louvre, Uffizi, Vatican and Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam all offer timed advance tickets for sale, allowing visitors to avoid lines.  If you do want to or can only go mid-day during busier times, consider signing up with a group tour. The tour will include the tickets already purchased and often will get you into fast track lines. There are often individual passes available that include line-skipping privileges. You may be paying to see four or five sights with a city’s museum pass, but even if you can’t see them all the line skipping privileges may make the extra money worth it. Time is money. For example, Paris’ Museum Pass covers many top sights (the Louvre, Musee D’Orsay and Versailles) and allows you to skip ticket-buying lines. Also, skip the free day at the museum. Is it worth saving the money to deal with the hordes of locals who descend on the free days?

National Portrait Gallery celebrates centenary of

National Portrait Gallery celebrates centenary of Vivien Leigh's birth (Sheila / Flickr)

For me it’s all about the amount of time I can take those crowds (and frankly focus on the learning that long!) so I tend to gravitate to smaller museums that I can tackle in two to three hours like the National Portrait Gallery in London. Located on the back side of the massive National Gallery, it has more than one thousand portraits on display across three floors, from Elizabeth I to David Beckham, the Gallery has something for everyone. It tells the story of Britain through portraits of its famous citizens by famous citizens. Artists featured range from Holbein to Hockney, and the Collection includes work across all media, from painting and sculpture to photography and video. Admission to The National Portrait Gallery is free.

AGO Alex Colville

The Alex Colville summer exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) in Toronto

Or if I want to see a portion of a larger museum, I don’t try and see it all. Pick a section. The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, known for its Group of Seven; contemporary art; and Indigenous art collections, could and should take a long time, but go see a specific exhibit. The Alex Colville summer exhibition runs from April 23 through to Sept. 7. I saw it when it was at the AGO and it was incredible. And again a couple of hours was enough.

The Mauritshuis

The Mauritshuis museum in The Hague in the Netherlands (Tom Roeleveld / Flickr)

You can also avoid crowds by scoping out some amazing museums that are a little lesser known than some of the bigger museums. In NYC instead of the Met, check out the Frick. The building itself belonged to a well-to-do industrialist who lived with his family right off Central Park, so there is the story of the art but also of the collection, the owner and the building. Or in Amsterdam, instead of the Rijksmuseum, check out the Mauritshuis in the Hague. Housed in a 17th century Dutch heritage building, the museum is home to some of the best known Dutch paintings from the Golden Age. Masterpieces such as Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp by Rembrandt and The Goldfinch by Fabritius are on permanent display.

The Royal British Columbia Museum

The Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria (Cindy Andrie / Flickr)

Favourites for me here in Canada include, the Royal BC Museum in Victoria and the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax. Overseas, I love the Royal Yacht Britannia in Scotland. Used by the Queen and her family for decades, it is now moored in Edinburgh and gives insight into the history of the Royal Yacht and how the Royal Family and crew lived and worked on board. It’s a slice of time and history perfectly captured, and was named the Best Attraction in the UK in the TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice Award 2014. It’s full of art, history and personal stories of the royals and the dignitaries and celebrities they hosted.

Canadian Museum for Human Rights

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights

Finally, I have yet to visit but of course there is a lot of buzz around Canada’s newest national museum and the only one outside Ottawa: the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. It’s next on my list.