The world is filled with magnificent museums, repositories of science and art, displaying treasures both ancient and modern. And while Paris, New York, and Washington, D.C. are rightfully famed for their institutions — like the Louvre, the Metropolitan and the Smithsonian Institution — there are other, more unexpected cities where visitors can spend days, even weeks, exploring some of the most spectacular collections on the planet. Here are five of our favorites, and some of the wonders they contain.
Berlin, Germany
On Spree Island in the heart of Berlin, Prussian rulers constructed five grand museums between 1830 and 1930, housing the treasures and plunder of the country’s famed archaeologists. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the island contains an almost impossible array of ancient marvels, including a bust of Egypt’s Queen Nefertiti. More than 3,000 years old, photos of the famed likeness have adorned schoolbooks for generations. There’s also a colossal example of Roman architecture: the Pergamon Altar to Zeus, and the ornately tiled Ishtar Gate from the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the original Seven Wonders of the World. More modern masterpieces include Rodin’s “The Thinker,” works by Donatelli, and one of the world’s largest collections of ancient coins.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The City of Brotherly Love is a museum-lover’s dream — home to one of the nation’s top art museums (PAM) as well as perhaps the planet’s most impressive collection of impressionist, post-impressionist and modern works (including 181 Renoirs, along with plenty of Cézannes, Picassos and Van Goghs) at the Barnes Foundation. Museums celebrating the nation’s founding are of course abundant, from the Betsy Ross House to the Museum of the American Revolution to the National Constitution Center. But more oddball attractions also abound — check out the Mütter Museum for medical aberrations and the Eastern State Penitentiary. Once the most expensive prison in the world, it held criminals such as Al Capone and bank robber Willie Sutton.
Mexico City, Mexico
Second only to Paris in the number (150) of museums and boasting almost 20,000 taquerías, Mexico City should be a must on any culture- and food-lover’s bucket list. With 23 permanent exhibit halls and the world's largest collection of ancient Mexican art, the National Museum of Anthropology (Museo Nacional de Antropologia) needs at least a half-day to explore. It contains treasures like the giant Sun Stone (which served as a calendar for the Aztecs) and the jade mask of the Zapotec bat god. Fans of Frida Kahlo flock to her famed Casa Azul, dedicated to the iconic artist’s life and works. Travel buffs will be blown away by the maps and globes (some of them ancient) at the Museo Nacional de la Cartografía, and shoe aficionados will swoon at the collection of soles at the Museo de Calzado El Borceguí, including pairs worn by Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe. Thirsty? Don’t miss the Tequila & Mezcal Museum in Garibaldi Square.
Los Angeles, California
Cold war artifacts, dinosaurs, neon — L.A.’s museums are as wide-ranging as the sprawling city itself. The LACMA (L.A. County Museum of Art) is the largest art museum in the West, and features works like Thomas Gainsborough’s famous “The Blue Boy,” Van Gogh’s “Irises” and René Magritte’s enigmatic “Ceci n'est pas une pipe.” Opened in 2021, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures celebrates all things Hollywood with an astonishing array of artifacts from the filmmaking industry, including Dorothy’s ruby slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” and the giant shark model that starred in “Jaws.” Fans of kitsch and quirk should check out the International Surfing Museum, as well as The Velveteria: Museum of Velvet Art.
Taipei City, Taiwan
During the Chinese Civil War, the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) left the mainland with countless treasures, including nearly 700,000 Chinese Imperial artifacts, most of which had previously been housed in Beijing’s Forbidden City. They’re on display at the award-winning National Palace Museum, including a Qing Dynasty bok choy that is carved from a piece of jadeite so realistic it could fool a cabbage farmer. The Miniatures Museum contains tiny replicas of palaces, temples, and of some of the world’s most famous buildings, while the Evergreen Maritime Museum is the place for all things ocean-going ... there’s even a simulator where visitors can practice steering a ship into port.
