Fascinating Museums Around the World

We have to admit that museums and art galleries aren’t always our first choice to visit when traveling because we like to see historic places as opposed to items collected and displayed, but some of the best are able to combine both. With that said, if you want to see some of the incredible paintings, sculptures, and antiquities, you will most likely have to go to a museum. We have been to many wonderful museums, some of them perhaps a little bit less traditional than others. In no particular order, here are some of our favorite museums that we’ve visited during our travels.

Walking the Vatican Museum Halls

The Vatican Museums in Vatican City – If nothing else, it is worth visiting them to be able to see the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The museums themselves, however, are absolutely amazing and like most of the museums that we mention here, it takes more than one visit to truly take in everything that there is to see. There is so much to see in Rome and visiting Vatican City is certainly something worth making time to see.

Museum Center Hall in Cairo

The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities in Cairo – No visit to Cairo, Egypt would be complete without making time to tour the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities. As with many other sites in Egypt, having an Egyptologist as a guide is extremely helpful if you want to learn as much as possible during your time in the museum. In addition to the sarcophaguses, papyrus hieroglyphs, and pieces of art, there are several dramatic statues housed within the museum.

Science Experiments at the True Equator in Ecuador

Intiñan Museum at the Equator in Ecuador – One of the things that we really enjoyed during our visit to Quito, Ecuador, was going to the true equator and participating in several experiments at the Intiñan Museum. The museum itself is dedicated to the history of Ecuador with several exhibits about the cultures of the people of the Amazon. Although there are several exhibits regarding the people, animals, and plants of the jungle, the main attraction of the museum are the various science experiments that are a hands on experience for those that visit the museum.

The Louvre

The Louvre in Paris, France – Needless to say, one should not go to Paris without visiting the Louvre. It is definitely a museum that you could visit a hundred times and always see and find something new. Of course there is the Mona Lisa, which draws huge lines to see, but there is so much more. Paintings, statues, and other works of art from all of the masters such as Michelangelo, Raphael, Leonardo da Vinci, Giovanni Bellini, and Rembrandt, just to name a few.

Artwork at DakshinaChitra

DakshinaChitra Cultural Living Museum in Southern India – Located outside of Chennai, the DakshinaChitra is a living museum that depicts life, art, culture, and architecture of Southern India, including Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh. DakshinaChitra features 18 authentic historical houses that were deconstructed from their original region and then reconstructed by artisans from the region on the grounds of the museum. Each of the houses features exhibits that represent the region’s art and daily life. Although we visited during an off time, the museum features typical artisans and performers from the various regions that you can interact with, thus making it a living museum.

The Night Watch by Rembrandt

Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam – Although we only had a couple of days in Amsterdam, one of the places that we wanted to visit was the Rijksmuseum.  It is the Dutch National Museum and is dedicated to the arts and history of the Netherlands. It is also the largest art museum in the country and it displays more than 8,000 pieces. The building itself is actually quite beautiful and first opened its doors in 1885.

Michelangelo’s David

Galleria Dell’Accademia in Florence, Italy – There is more to the Accademia Gallery in Florence than just Michelangelo’s David. Florence was the center of the art world for hundreds of years and still contains incredible paintings and statues to be admired. In addition to the statue of David, there are many other statues by Michelangelo as well as other famous artists. Beautiful and sometimes haunting paintings can be found by Botticelli, Ghirlandaio, and many more. Much of the artwork was commissioned by the Medici family and then later donated by one of the last members of the Medici family so that they could be displayed for the pleasure of everyone to view.

Main Museum Hall and Sue

The Field Museum in Chicago – We have visited the Field Museum in Chicago a couple of times now and have enjoyed each visit. There are several static exhibits as well as several temporary exhibits, which makes revisiting very worthwhile. One of the main reasons that we decided to go to the museum was because they currently have a Jurassic World Exhibit, which we had heard was really interesting. Unfortunately, it is in an outside tent that wraps around the museum and because of the sub-zero temperatures, it was closed the day of our visit. That didn’t stop us from fully enjoying our time at the museum, though.

Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum

National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C. – This is one of our favorite museums, partially because we have several pilots in our family. From the plane that the Wright Brothers flew to the Space Station, the history of flight is truly fascinating. Obviously there is a lot to see when visiting Washington D.C., but if you had to pick a single Smithsonian Museum to visit, we’d recommend this one.

Botticelli’s Birth of Venus

The Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy – Florence was the cradle of renaissance art for several centuries, so it is no surprise that it hosts one of the most famous museums in the world for renaissance art, the Uffizi Gallery. The Medici family was renowned for their patronage of the arts and commissioned many great works of art from artists such as Leonardo, Michelangelo, Botticelli, and Machiavelli. After the family died out, a deal was made to give all of their art to the city of Florence and the Uffizi Gallery is home to many of those works.

The Start of the Annual First Thursday Festivals in Canton

On the first Thursday of the month during the summer, there is a free concert at the Canton Waterfront Park in Baltimore, Maryland. There are several local bands who play on the main stage and there are also food trucks and vendors selling a variety of arts, crafts, and other goods. Last year was our first time going to the festival, which can get very busy, so it was interesting to see and enjoy some of the live music. The concert goes on rain or shine and on this day, rain was in the forecast, which caused the crowds to gather later than normal, but the rain held off making it a wonderful evening. This evening is the start the 2023 edition of the concert series, so it is expected to be quite busy once again.

Main Stage
Water in the Background
Colorful Bus Used as a Stall
One of the Bands
People Sitting on the Lawn

Since the concert is located at the Waterfront Park, the backdrop to the concert is the water of the bay and the large trees of the park provide a place to find some shade. People come with blankets or chairs and sit on the lawn to listen to the variety of bands that play throughout the evening. The music starts at 6:00 pm and the bands play until almost 10:00 pm. Last year was the first year since the start of the pandemic that the concerts have been held, so the excitement in the area for their return was very obvious. We are definitely looking forward to enjoying the concerts over the next few months.

Vendors Selling Items
Crowds Gathering

Lawn Chairs on the Grass
Entering Into the Park

Swayambhunath Stupa in Kathmandu, Nepal

One of the last places that we visited during our time in Kathmandu was to Swayambhunath Stupa, which is located on the hillside overlooking the city. It is commonly referred to as “monkey temple” due to the abundance of monkeys that live in the trees that surround the temple grounds. Although there are plenty of monkeys and, as always, you need to be careful around them as they will steel anything that they can get their hands on, we found the nickname to be somewhat derogatory. The temple grounds and the large stupa at the top of the grounds are definitely worth visiting and it is quite busy because it is located on the edge of the city and is a short drive from most of the hotels.

Buddha Statue at the Entrance
Temple Next to the Stupa
Colorful Buddha Greets You as You Start to Climb Up the Hill
First View of the Swayambhunath Stupa
Some of the Many Monkeys that Give the Stupa It’s Nickname
Looking Up at the Architecture of the Stupa

The shape of the Swayambhunath Stupa has very specific meaning as the white, round dome base represents the earth and the 13 golden tiers on the tower of the stupa represent the 13 stages to nirvana. Also, the face of Buddha on the four sides of the tower each face in the directions of west, north, east, and south. There is much more to the temple grounds than just the stupa as there are many different temples and statues surrounding the stupa. There are also the famous prayer wheels that wrap around the base of the stupa and faithful will spin each wheel as they walk around the stupa.

Prayer Wheels and People Walking Around the Stupa
Tiered Temple
Unique Artwork and the Iconic Prayer Flags
Buddha Inside of One of the Temples
Monkey at the Temple Door
Hazy Vie2w

It was the most crowded location of all of the places that we visited while in Kathmandu other than perhaps the Durbar Square in Kathmandu. You will also find plenty of vendors selling goods around the temple grounds and we actually purchased a set of the famous prayer flags before leaving to go back to our hotel. In addition to the stunning architecture, there are also wonderful views of the city from the top of the hill, but it was a little cloudy on the day that we visited, so the views weren’t as dramatic as they might be on a clear day. Especially considering how close it is to the heart of Kathmandu, it is certainly worth taking a couple of hours to visit the Swayambhunath Stupa.

Interesting Features Around Every Corner
Items for Sale
These Prayer Displays Were Located Around the Stupa
Golden Artwork
Looking Across to the Other Hillside
Double Stupas
Another View of One of the Temples
Prayer Bell