The World’s Top Bucket-List Museums

For many travelers, museums are their happy places – destinations where they can geek out on things that move them, whether it’s art, music, history, or something special like mustard, old cars or coins.

Here are some of the top museums around the world to consider visiting in your travels.

Every European National Museum

It sounds too neat but it’s true: practically every national museum from the U.K. to Estonia has works of art and history worth seeing.

Here are some highlights.

The British Museum (London): Egyptian mummies and the Elgin Marbles.

The National Gallery (London): Van Gogh's “Sunflowers” and Botticelli's “Venus and Mars.”

The Louvre (Paris): The Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace.

The Prado (Madrid): Velázquez's “Las Meninas,” Goya's “The Third of May 1808,” and many other treasures from the rich history of Spanish art.

Uffizi Gallery (Florence, Italy): Botticelli's “The Birth of Venus,” Leonardo da Vinci's “Annunciation,” and Michelangelo's “Doni Tondo.”

Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam): Rembrandt's “The Night Watch,” Vermeer's “The Milkmaid” and several of Van Gogh's self-portraits. The Rijksmuseum is the highlight of a museum district that also includes the Van Gogh Museum.

Vatican Museums (Vatican City): Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling and Raphael's “The School of Athens.”

If you love art, Europe should be your destination. And note: since you’re inside, you can make this trip any time of year.

Also Read: 14 Things to do for Free in London—From Museums to Walking Tours

MoMA and the Met, New York City

The Metropolitan Museum of Art gets more press – and it should – but if you love modern art, don’t sleep on the Museum of Modern Art. It has some of the definitive examples of late 19^th-, 20^th-, and 21^st-century art.

Together they provide a comprehensive picture of art in all its forms from ancient civilizations to the present day.

The Met seems to go on forever. You can spend a day and only cover two or three of its scores of exhibitions (and it’s apt to be frustrating if you have only a couple of hours to spend). Consider everything it has:

Ancient Egyptian artifacts like the Temple of Dendur.

One of the world’s most comprehensive collections of African art.

Armor and weapons from around the world.

European masterpieces like Vermeer’s “Young Woman with a Water Pitcher” and a powerful collection of Impressionist art, including Van Gogh's “Self-Portrait with Straw Hat” and Monet’s “Water Lilies.”

Excellent examples of American art, including Emanuel Leutze’s “Washington Crossing the Delaware.”

A comprehensive sculpture collection.

Not to be outdone, MoMA offers iconic modern and semi-modern pieces like:

Van Gogh’s “The Starry Night.”

Picasso’s Les “Demoiselles d’Avignon.”

Salvador Dalí’s masterpiece, “The Persistence of Memory” (a.k.a. the painting with the bendy pocket watch).

Andy Warhol’s Campbell's soup cans.

Claude Monet’s “Water Lilies” panels.

This is in addition to one of the world’s best photography collections, showing the development of the art form from its earliest days.

Also Read: Free Things to do in New York City: Gardens, Art, Bright Lights & More

Smithsonian Institution museums, Washington, D.C.

This collection of museums located on the National Mall covers the panoply of American invention and experience.

The National Air and Space Museum has informative exhibits bookended with historic items like the Wright brothers' original 1903 Wright Flyer, the Apollo 11 command module and Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis.

Not to be outdone, the National Museum of American History has the original Star-Spangled Banner flag, Abraham Lincoln’s top hat and Dorothy’s ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz.

And finally, the National Museum of Natural History has the legendary Hope Diamond in addition to fossil and dinosaur exhibits.

Chicago’s lakefront museums

Chicago’s museums are not only beautiful landmarks along Chicago’s lakefront, they house some of amazing exhibits.

The Art Institute of Chicago plays second fiddle to no museum anywhere, with pieces like:

Grant Wood’s “American Gothic”

Georges Seurat’s “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte” (the inspiration for the musical Sunday in The Park With George)

Claude Monet’s “Haystacks” series

Marc Chagall’s stained-glass masterpiece “America Windows”

Edward Hopper’s “Nighthawks”

Pablo Picasso’s “The Old Guitarist”

The Field Museum of Natural History features "Sue," the world’s largest and best-preserved T. rex fossil; Egyptian mummies and artifacts; and extensive collections of gemstones and minerals.

And finally, the Museum of Science and Industry has a restored German U-boat, an Apollo 8 module, a Boeing 707, and many other historic forms of transportation, including the Pioneer Zephyr, America’s first streamlined train.

The Chicago museum district is a divide-and-conquer thing for families. Some will go gaga for the art museum, others will insist on the Field Museum, the young engineer will do backflips for the science-and-industry museum, and everyone will find something to like at the Shedd Aquarium.

Bottom line: Your family can easily spend a weekend exploring the museums on Chicago’s lakefront and no one will be bored.

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, Cooperstown, N.Y.

Depending on your preference in sports, this could be the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., or even the Bowling Hall of Fame in Arlington, Texas.

All these major halls of fame have some common elements, including:

Plaques honoring enshrinees

Historic uniforms, autographs and other memorabilia

Interactive displays

Halls of fame are great places to explore your love for a given sport, regardless of whether your team has two hands’ worth of rings or has never sniffed the rarefied air of a championship.

A trip to all the major sports’ halls of fame is a bucket-list experience for many fans. Given their geographic proximity, it’s a doable trip as well.

Also Read: Ballpark Bucket List: Must-Visit Baseball Stadiums for True Fans

Specialty Museums

If you have a hobby or interest area, chances are there’s a museum for that.

Feel free to indulge your passions by visiting:

EAA Aviation Museum (Oshkosh, Wis.)
National Railroad Museum (Green Bay, Wis.)
National Corvette Museum (Bowling Green, Ky.)
Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum (Indianapolis, Ind.)
Mystic Seaport Museum (Mystic, Conn.)
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (Cleveland, Ohio)
Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (Nashville, Tenn.)
John Deere Tractor & Engine Museum (Waterloo, Iowa)
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures (Los Angeles)
Museum of the Moving Image (Queens, N.Y.)
Spam Museum (Austin, Minn.)
International Spy Museum (Washington, D.C.)
National Mustard Museum (Middleton, WI)
National Quilt Museum (Paducah, Ky.)
National Videogame Museum (Frisco, Tex.)
Pinball Hall of Fame (Las Vegas)

As you can see, there’s a museum for every taste, from cultivated to pinball history. Trips to see all these are special adventures that need the travel protection and assistance services offered by Generali Global Assistance.

Getting covered is way easier than seeing the Mona Lisa. Start here.