Your Guide to the
World's Greatest Museums

The Louvre in Paris is consistently the most visited museum in the world, with 8–9 million visitors in a typical year. It holds more than 38,000 works on display including the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace. The second most visited is the National Museum of China in Beijing.

Many of the world's greatest museums offer free admission, including: the British Museum (London), the National Gallery (London), the Victoria and Albert Museum (London), all Smithsonian museums in Washington D.C. — including the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of Natural History, and the National Museum of American History — Crystal Bridges (Bentonville, Arkansas), the Museo Soumaya (Mexico City), the Botero Museum and Museo del Oro (Bogotá), Te Papa Tongarewa (Wellington, New Zealand), Yad Vashem (Jerusalem), and the National Museum of Ireland (Dublin). EU citizens under 26 also enter most European national museums free.

The most visually stunning museums in the world include: the State Hermitage Museum (St Petersburg) — six Baroque and neoclassical palaces on the Neva; the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Vienna) — a twin palace facing the Natural History Museum across a grand square; the Belvedere Museum (Vienna) — twin Baroque palaces in a formal garden; the Palace of Versailles; the Uffizi Gallery in Florence; the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao by Frank Gehry; the Fondation Beyeler near Basel (Renzo Piano building in a garden setting); the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Denmark (clifftop buildings overlooking the sea); and the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris (also Frank Gehry).

The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, which opened in 1683, is widely considered the world's first public museum — founded to house the collection of Elias Ashmole and the Tradescant family. The Capitoline Museums in Rome (opened 1734) are the oldest public art museums still operating in their original location. The British Museum (founded 1753) was the first public national museum in the world.

For the world's most popular museums, advance booking is strongly recommended: the Vatican Museums, the Uffizi Gallery (Florence), the Rijksmuseum (Amsterdam), and the Anne Frank House (Amsterdam) all sell out days or weeks in advance during peak season. The Louvre, the Met, and the British Museum also benefit from pre-booked timed entry to skip queues. Free museums like the National Gallery (London) and Smithsonian museums typically do not require advance booking.

The State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, is the largest art museum in the world by gallery space — covering over 66,000 square metres of exhibition space across six historic buildings. The Louvre in Paris is the world's largest single art museum building. The Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. is the world's largest museum complex, comprising 19 museums, 21 libraries, 9 research centers, and a zoo.

Weekday mornings in shoulder season (spring: March–April, autumn: September–October) are consistently the least crowded times at most major museums. Summer (June–August) and school holiday periods are the busiest. Many museums offer quieter evening openings: the Louvre opens late on Wednesdays and Fridays, the Musée d'Orsay on Thursdays, and the National Gallery London on Fridays. First-Sunday-of-the-month free entry at many European museums draws large crowds — worth knowing in advance.

The Musée d'Orsay in Paris holds the world's largest collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art — Monet, Renoir, Degas, Manet, Cézanne, van Gogh, and Gauguin in depth. The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen holds the world's largest collection of Gauguin paintings outside France. The Courtauld Gallery in London has an exceptionally refined small collection (Manet's Bar at the Folies-Bergère, multiple van Goghs). The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has major Impressionist holdings across its European Paintings department.

Browse World Museum Guide by country using our countries directory — each country page lists all the museums we cover in that destination, with visitor information including opening hours, admission prices, and collection highlights. We currently cover 207 museums across 45 countries. You can also search the full museum directory by name, city, or country.