Explore Europe’s Top Museums with iBestTravel

To mark International Museum Day on May 18, we took a look at some of Europe’s very best creative, historic, and scientific museums. From places packed with culture, art, and history to those that study what makes us human, be inspired by these incredible cultural institutions.

Then and Now: Europe’s Best History Museums

Celebrate Greece’s Ancient Achievements at the Acropolis Museum in Athens

At the foot of the southern slope of Athens’ sacred hill, the dazzling €130-million Acropolis Museum showcases the Acropolis’ surviving treasures with artifacts from temples that predate the Parthenon. The top-floor Parthenon Gallery houses the temple’s sculptures, including a 160m-long (524ft) marble frieze. Stark-white plaster replicas stand in for the missing pieces, hacked off by Lord Elgin in 1801, now held in the British Museum in London.

The Vasamuseet in Stockholm Honors Some 17th-Century Miscalculations

Stockholm’s Vasamuseet is the custom-built home of the massive warship Vasa, which sank on its maiden voyage on August 10, 1628. Unfortunately, the ship was top-heavy and sank within minutes of departure, taking most passengers with it. The museum examines not only what life would have been like at the time of the ship’s voyage, but also the incredible salvage mission. Almost everything on display is original, painstakingly raised from the ocean and reassembled in 1961.

Learn About Gruesome 19th-Century Medicine at London’s Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret

Follow the spiral staircase up to the Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret, a unique and atmospheric museum in an old church tower near London’s Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital. This attic, rediscovered in 1956, was used in the 19th century to store medicinal herbs and is home to Britain’s oldest surviving operating theater, dating from 1822. Learn about medicine pre-anesthesia and pre-antiseptic, with displays of natural remedies and amputation blades.

Human Creativity: Art and Culture Museums

With its wealth of cultural heritage, it is impossible to narrow down the best art museums in Europe. Florence, the birthplace of the Renaissance, has dazzling collections across many different sites. Rome’s must-see Vatican Museums hold a wealth of artistic treasures, as do its many other superb cultural institutions. Furthermore, there’s the network of museums in Berlin’s Museumsinsel, Paris’ world-famous Louvre, and many masterpieces in Madrid’s Golden Triangle of Art. Here are a couple of lesser-known places where you can experience just a taste of Europe’s creativity.

Journey Through the Artworks of the Baroque Period in Dresden’s Historic Green Vault

Experience a collection of 3000 precious jewels and valuable decorative items dating from the 17th and 18th centuries at Dresden’s Historisches Grünes Gewölbe. A state-of-the-art airlock controls the climate here, and small groups of visitors can follow an audio guide through the eight rooms where treasures are displayed against lavishly decorated backdrops.

Denmark’s Newest Museum Celebrates the Creations of Danish Author Hans Christian Andersen

Experience a fairy-tale universe at Denmark’s newest museum, H.C. Andersen Hus, celebrating the creativity of Hans Christian Andersen at his birthplace in Odense. Visitors are invited to create their own adventures as they explore the themes of Andersen’s work through interactive exhibitions, artwork, architecture, light, music, and images in an underground gallery. Younger visitors will love the wonder of Ville Vau, a sensory center for children, with props and costumes for hours of imagination-based play.

The World Around Us: The Region’s Top Natural History Museums

Explore the Vast Collection at Vienna’s Natural History Museum

Four billion years of natural history are covered at Vienna’s Naturhistorisches Museum. Among its minerals and unique fossils is the world’s largest collection of meteorites, a full-size Pteranodon, and a hands-on gallery on human evolution. The building itself is an elaborate work of art, featuring stuccoed, frescoed halls, a grand cupola, and mirrors reflecting its counterpart, the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna.

Get to Know the Mountains at Italy’s Messner Mountain Museum

The unique Messner Mountain Museum is a network of six museums in the Italian Alps created by mountaineer Reinhold Messner, all analyzing the relationship between humans and the mountains. The centerpiece is in Firmiano, where you’ll experience shifting altitudes as you navigate around mesh walkways and staircases. Additionally, the Museum in the Clouds in the Dolomites examines local geology through artifacts from early mountaineers and natural scientists who explored the region’s hidden reaches.

Things That Go: Science, Technology, and Transportation

Inquisitive Kids Love the Hands-On Nemo Science Museum in Amsterdam

The interactive Nemo Science Museum in Amsterdam is a top science museum for children. Learn about everything from light and sound to the physics of construction with hands-on activities across five floors of exhibits. For older children (age 12 and over), the Humania gallery focuses on the biology, sociology, and psychology of humans, presenting physical challenges and brain teasers to explore how your body works.

Get Interactive with Road, Rail, Water, Air, and Space at Switzerland’s Transport Museum

Verkehrshaus is Switzerland’s most popular museum and is a favorite with families. Here, you’ll see everything that moves—steam locomotives, vintage cars, and rockets—as well as enjoy hands-on experiences like flight simulators and pedal boats. Furthermore, there’s a planetarium featuring Switzerland’s largest cinema screen and a delectable Swiss Chocolate Adventure.

People’s Passions: The Continent’s Quirkier Museums

Try to Understand the Human Condition at the Museum of Broken Relationships in Zagreb, Croatia

The crowd-sourced collection at the Museum of Broken Relationships in Zagreb explores mementos left behind when a relationship ends. Donations from around the world are displayed in all-white rooms, each sharing a poignant story about the disintegration of relationships, from familial bonds to love connections.

50% of the World’s Population Has One: Learn About Female Anatomy at London’s Vagina Museum

While Iceland has been home to a penis museum since 1997, there was nothing exclusively celebrating the vagina until London’s Vagina Museum launched in 2017. Now in its semi-permanent home in Bethnal Green, the museum focuses on educating about gynecological anatomy and health, encouraging open discussions around the topic.