13 Best Museums Around the World
If you ask me, museums are some of the best places on Earth. There are so many different topics that it is always possible to find your location or that little piece of art or history that you need to see in your life. One of my favorite word combinations is “Museum + free,” and it is one of the things that makes me happy while traveling.
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Thinking about which museum was my favorite, I decided to open the game and ask some of my fellow travel bloggers who theirs were. We consider these the best museums around the world to explore while traveling.
Best Museums Around the World: ABBA the Museum – Stockholm, Sweden
Don’t get me wrong! I have plenty of favorite museums in the world, and to summarize it a little bit, I can say that my top things to do in Oslo are visit the Munch Museum, the Henrik Ibsen Museum, and the Oslo National Gallery. In Washington, DC, I love to visit the National Gallery, and I also love the Ponce Museum here in Puerto Rico, among many others.
Why ABBA the Museum and not the others? It’s because of what I said at the beginning. Museums are so diverse and can be about anything that chooses one important for World Pop Music, which I wanted to do. If you have read me before, I am a Eurovision Song Contest freak and also a Swedish freak, and I think that this little museum contains a lot of Swedish Pop Culture in all that memorabilia. I believe all of this makes it one of the best museums around the world.
If you are visiting Stockholm, besides planning your stay in one of the boutique hotels in Stockholm, this is definitely a place you need to see, just if it’s about music since the Swedish Music Hall of Fame is located there!
More of Abba the Museum on TripAdvisor
Best Museums Around the World: The Dali Museum – St Petersburg, Fl.
by Mary Chong – CalculatedTraveller.com
Not only is the building’s architecture and location stunning, but so is the collection at The Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, which makes it one of the best museums around the world. Located on the St. Petersburg waterfront, the Dali Museum collection contains more than 2,000 works of art by Salvador Dali, the largest collection of Dali’s artwork outside of Europe.
To read more about the Dali Museum check out the article in Calculated Traveller Magazine: Visions and Dreams at the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida
More of The Dali Museum on TripAdvisor
Best Museums Around the World: The British Museum – London, UK
by Amar – GapYearEscape
The best museum around the world is one of the first I can ever remember going to as a child; The British Museum. The building itself is incredible, and I can’t get enough of the ceiling in the Great Court when you enter the central reading room. The museum has over 8 million works dedicated to human history and culture. Being an Ancient History fan, my favorite departments are Greece, Rome, and Egypt, but you can’t go wrong with anywhere you go. Being so vast, you don’t feel as herded as you do with other museums in London, and it’s well worth a visit for anyone coming to the capital.
Best Museums Around the World: The Pergamon Museum – Berlin, Germany
by Izzy – TheNextSomewhere
History comes to life at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany. The Pergamon Museum is the country’s most visited art museum; for good reason, we can consider it one of the best museums worldwide. As one of the five museums that make up Museum Island, it is home to full-scale assemblies of some of antiquity’s most beautiful monuments, including the Pergamon Altar of Ancient Greece and a section of Babylon’s Ishtar Gate.
A visit to the museum is an actual trip through time! Imagine how bizarre it is to be standing in the shadow of some of mankind’s greatest architectural feats in a modern-day German museum. It very much undoes your sense of place. If you’re in Berlin, don’t miss out; make sure you allot enough time to take in everything.
Best Museums Around the World: Phallological Museum – Reykjavik, Iceland
by Ashlyn – The Lost Girls Guide
Not your ordinary museum, Reykjavik’s Icelandic Phallological Museum is all about penises. With representations of all mammals found within the country and around the world, it houses more than 280 specimens from 93 species of animals. Acquisitions range from the 1.7-meter front tip of a blue whale penis to the teeny tiny 2 mm baculum of a hamster.
It’s also home to 15 sculptures of the Icelandic national handball team. Having only one human penis on display, four other men from around the world have pledged to donate their penises after their death. It’s both a tourist attraction and a science destination to learn more about the variety of the male species appendages and one of the best museums around the world.
Best Museums Around the World: Montreal’s Museum Of Contemporary Art/Musee D’art Contemporain De Montréal (MAC)
by Kyle – Godriftaway.com
Montreal has dozens of museums, but the Museum of Contemporary Art is by far the one I enjoy the most and one of the best museums around the world. Located in the heart of downtown Montreal in the Entertainment District (Quartier des spectacles), it’s easily accessible to locals and visitors. It’s been around since 1964 and never fails to impress me.
It has artwork commissioned by avant-garde artists worldwide offering creative interpretations of sculptures, paintings, film music, and more. It’s the perfect place to spend a few hours in Montreal on a rainy or snowy day. And to sweeten the deal, it’s affordable and directly accessible from the underground shopping centers and metro (subway) system. If you’re in Montreal, you should check it out.
More of the Montreal’s Museum Of Contemporary Art on Trip Advisor
Best Museums Around the World: National Archaeological Museum – Naples, Italy
by Paolo – BBalcentrostorico
It is ranked as one of the best museums around the world. Roman and Greek antiquities are found here. Most of the artifacts kept here originate from the surrounding excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii and perfectly preserved sites that were covered by eruptions emanating from Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. Also found here is an attractive display of frescoes and mosaics. Another impressive section is the display of coins.
More of the National Archaeological Museum on TripAdvisor
Best Museums Around the World: Mauritshuis – The Hague, the Netherlands
by Naomi – Probe Around The Globe
My favorite Dutch museum and one of the best museums around the world is the Mauritshuis (House of Maurits) in the Hague. The museum focuses on Dutch painters of the Golden Age. It is situated right in the city center in an old building, which is remarkable on its own. But we do not visit the building; let’s see some art!
The Mauritshuis’s masterpieces are situated in dedicated rooms. They have a few works by Rembrandt van Rijn on display. It is a unique experience to see the small patches of paint flopped on the canvas up close. When you look at his self-portraits, you can almost see the dimly lit workspace of this famous painter in front of you.
Flemish artists Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens collaborated in their Garden of Eden. This painting is completely different as you see a lush forest unfold before you. Exotic animals draw your eyes to the main picture of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
I also want to mention the larger-than-life canvas of the bull by Paulus Potter. This one does make an impression. As you round the corner to the hall, you look over your shoulder and see this larger-than-life painting of a bull in the countryside.
However, the one thing that made a lifelong impression was the famous painting by Johannes Vermeer. This painting is iconic and a bit overshared. It feels like meeting a celebrity for the first time in person. The delicate soft tones with the stark contrast make the girl with the pearl earring stand out. While looking at the painting, you look behind you to see who she’s looking at. The girl with the pearl earring comes to life because of the colors, contrast, and airmanship.
More of the Mauritshuis on TripAdvisor
Best Museums around the World: Museum of Science – Boston, MA.
by Katie – The Budget Backpack
My favorite museum is the Museum of Science in Boston, MA. This place is magical. It’s so fun and interactive, and you will be engaged for the whole day with such a wide variety of exhibits. The museum feels geared towards children, and maybe it is, but the wonderful atmosphere and knowledgeable staff and volunteers enhance the whole experience, even for solo adult travelers. This is my secret spot to bring dates to see if we’re compatible: if you can’t have fun here, you’re too vanilla for me!
Another fantastic thing about the MoS is that it is accessible for non-native English speakers. Their language to describe the exhibits is clear and easy to understand. If you’re visiting Boston, the MoS is a great place to keep in your back pocket for a rainy day or if you’ve already taken care of all your must-sees!
More of the Museum of Science on TripAdvisor
Best Museums around the World: Museum of Science and Industry – Chicago, IL
by Jennifer – Jen There Done That
My favorite Museum is the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. This incredible museum is home to a full-size WWII German submarine, full-size 727 aircraft, various vintage aircraft, a NASA space capsule, and even a Coal Mine complete with the train! On my last visit, I brought my four and 7-year-old nieces. Interactive exhibits include model rocket launches, building your tornadoes, walking through the U-boat, riding a coal mine train, and so much more! We spent hours exploring and learning, then finished with treats from the Ice Cream Parlor in Yesterday’s Main Street time capsule replica of Chicago 1910.
The full story is found here
More of the Museum of Science and Industry on TripAdvisor
Best Museums around the World: Art Institute – Chicago, Il
by Carol – Wayfaring Views
Sometimes art appreciation is an inherited thing—it was for me anyway. My Mom is an artist, art lover, and avid traveler. I am a writer, photographer, art lover, and avid traveler. Her favorite museum (and mine) is the Art Institute of Chicago. The museum is located on Michigan Avenue in Chicago and is easily accessed from the downtown Loop. Its large but accessible collection focuses primarily on modern and contemporary art. They have a fabulous collection of Impressionism and also house works from contemporary artists like Dali, Picasso, O’Keefe, Warhol, Kandinsky, Diebenkorn, and on and on.
I had one of those transcendent experiences at the Art Institute while in the Vincent Van Gogh room. I stood there taking in the paintings while listening to Jim Croce’s “Starry Starry Night” through my earbuds. Croce’s evocative lyrics about Van Gogh’s struggles with sanity pulled me into the paintings and gave me a deeper appreciation for the works and Van Gogh himself.
More of the Art Institute on TripAdvisor
Best Museums around the World: Musée d’Orsay – Paris, France
by Sandra – Tourlina.com
I especially love arriving at the opening at 9:30 a.m. and going directly to the upper floor, where the impressionists are located. As most visitors are first-time visitors and start with the ground floor, the area for the impressionists is calm and not crowded at that time. If you’re lucky, you can find their artists preparing replicas of the paintings. You can find there many well-known paintings by Monet, Manet, Cézanne, and some more.
The stylishly designed Café Campana on the second floor is the perfect place to have a break and a cup of coffee. Don’t miss having at least a look inside for the cool interior and the big outside clock as an eye-catcher. All of these make it one of the best museums in the world.
More of Musée d’Orsay on TripAdvisor
Best Museums around the World: Oregon Museum of Science and Industry – Portland, OR
by Susanna – Wandering Chocobo
The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry is a leading science center with a focus on hands-on creative learning. Their stationary exhibits offer a wide range of learning from physics, chemistry, and technology labs, a planetarium, paleontology and body exhibits, and special after-dark events, like star gazing!
The rotating and new exhibits are always fresh and relevant, so it is a new adventure every time you go.
It’s a great place for the whole family, with theaters showing laser shows set to Pink Floyd and Nirvana for adults and children’s play centers for very young ages. A lot of reviews say the center focuses on children, but as I was staring through my pair of thick plastic googled up in the chemistry lab about to make magic happen, I realized you just need to find your child-like sense of wonder and transport yourself back to a time when learning was fun.
More of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry on TripAdvisor
Best Museums Around the World FAQ
What is the #1 museum in the world?
The Louvre Museum in Paris, France, is widely regarded as the #1 museum in the world, renowned for its vast collection of art and historical artifacts, including the iconic Mona Lisa.
What are the 10 best art museums in the world?
The 10 best art museums in the world include the Louvre Museum in Paris, The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, The Vatican Museums in Vatican City, The British Museum in London, The Prado Museum in Madrid, The Uffizi Gallery in Florence, The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, The National Gallery in London, and The Art Institute of Chicago.
Which country has the best museums in the world?
France is often considered to have the best museums in the world, with iconic institutions like the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, and Centre Pompidou, showcasing a rich history of art, culture, and human civilization.
What are the three most visited museums in the world?
The three most visited museums in the world are the Louvre Museum in Paris, the National Museum of China in Beijing, and the Vatican Museums in Vatican City, each attracting millions of visitors annually with their exceptional collections and historical significance.
Best Museums Around the World: Final Thoughts
In conclusion, the world is full of amazing museums that offer a chance to explore culture, history, and art. From the famous Louvre in Paris to other unique museums around the globe, each one gives visitors a glimpse into the achievements and creativity of people throughout history. Whether you’re interested in ancient relics, modern art, or special collections, these museums are some of the best places to visit for anyone who loves to learn and explore.
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This turned out great. Thanks for letting me be a part of it. I always say that travel is about learning and museums are some of the best ways to go about that. Can’t wait to check some of these out.
I love a good museum! I’m spoilt by the free museums in London. I particularly like the late night opening that lots do once a month – no kids and alcohol is allowed – a great place for date night!
I’m pleased to see the Penis Museum made the list – afterall it is the only one of it’s kind in the world (thankfully) lol!!
Great list, so many museums to visit. My personal favourites are the Hermitage in St. Petersburg (the real one, in Russia 😀 ) and the Vasa Museum in Stockholm.
This is such a great list and I will be saving it for future reference – museums are part of my favourite thing about travelling and you can never visit too many! 🙂
I love Museums too! It is always a shock travelling to other countries because our museums are free here in England so we are very lucky!
What a terrific list! I can’t believe how few of these I’ve actually visited. That must change immediately! The Pergamon Museum in Berlin and the National Archaeological Museum in Naples really caught my eye, but I must admit that I’d have to stop by the ABBA Museum — of course, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from singing their songs, so I might be asked to leave. ;p (and the Phallalogical Museum cracked me up)
These are great! I’ve been to some, but I would especially love to visit the one in Montreal and the ABBA Museum. I love museums, so I can always use new recommendations!
Brilliant list! I have very fond memories of the Science museum in Boston 🙂
Good compilation of museums! I have been to some but not all in the list. I will this in mind when visiting new countries on my list.
I cannot believe I haven’t visited any of those. Shame on me! I’ll have to change that 😀 thanks for putting the list together 😊