100 Museums to Visit Before You Die

Culture is everywhere, but we recommend you find it here.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

Museums aren't just for people who love art and design. In truth, a museum is a place for anyone who's broadly interested in culture, whether it be their own or that of another people, country, or era. The "museum" is simply the building or vessel from which history, including the history of the present, is contained.

Most museums aren't just for browsing artworks and getting a souvenir at the gift shop, though. Many are often a sight to marvel at from outside, featuring architecture that even casual observers can appreciate. Many have community-focused activities, including concerts and workshops, and many more are free of charge or have days where admission is waived. A ton of museums even have restaurants and cafés that allow for longer, more enjoyable visits.

Some on this list are as specific as the Museum of Transportation, the Titanic Museum, and the Simone Handbag Museum, and some are as broad as the Tokyo National Museum and the de Young Museum. Others contain multiple museums and galleries, such as the Vatican Museums, Smithsonian Museums, and the Tate Museums. Others are dedicated to specific people, such as the Andy Warhol Museum and the Bob Marley Museum.

If you haven't already gotten the point, a museum can be a fascinating place, and no one is the same as the next. They are all over the world, and you could spend a lifetime trying to visit them all. Thanks to us, you don't have to go that far, for now. Browse our selection of 100 Museums to Visit Before You Die to see what you're missing from California to Scotland, Australia, Japan, and beyond.

RELATED: The 50 Most Iconic Artworks of the Past Five Years
RELATED: The 100 Most Influential Artists of the Complex Decade
RELATED: The World's 100 Best Art Galleries

LIKE COMPLEX ART+DESIGN ON FACEBOOK

National Museum of Scotland

Not Available Interstitial

National Palace Museum

Not Available Interstitial

State Hermitage Museum

Not Available Interstitial

Torture Museum

Not Available Interstitial

Museum of Bad Art (MOBA)

Not Available Interstitial

Phallus Museum

Not Available Interstitial

Museum of Funeral Carriages

Not Available Interstitial

National Museum of Anthropology

Not Available Interstitial

Bauhaus Archive

Not Available Interstitial

Alcatraz Island

Not Available Interstitial

Titanic Museum

Not Available Interstitial

Museum of Man

Not Available Interstitial

Deutsche Guggenheim Museum

Not Available Interstitial

MUseum MOderner Kunst (MUMOK)

Not Available Interstitial

WIELS Museum

Not Available Interstitial

Galerie nationale du Jeu de Paume

Not Available Interstitial

BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead

Not Available Interstitial

Tate Britain

Not Available Interstitial

Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art

Not Available Interstitial

Grazer Kunstverein

Not Available Interstitial

National Museum of Health and Medicine

Not Available Interstitial

Vitra Design Museum

Not Available Interstitial

Casa Batlló Museum

Not Available Interstitial

Lenbachahus Museum

Not Available Interstitial

Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum

Not Available Interstitial

Indianapolis Museum of Art

Not Available Interstitial

The Drawing Center

Not Available Interstitial

Bass Museum

Not Available Interstitial

SITE Santa Fe

Not Available Interstitial

Rubell Family Collection

Not Available Interstitial

Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami (MOCANoMi)

Not Available Interstitial

ICA Boston

Not Available Interstitial

DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum

Not Available Interstitial

International Center of Photography (ICP)

Not Available Interstitial

Brooklyn Museum

Not Available Interstitial

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)

Not Available Interstitial

Hayward Gallery

Not Available Interstitial

Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO)

Not Available Interstitial

Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD)

Not Available Interstitial

Aspen Art Museum

Not Available Interstitial

Contemporary Art Museum, Raleigh

Not Available Interstitial

Walker Art Center

Not Available Interstitial

Fridericianum

Not Available Interstitial

MoMA PS1

Not Available Interstitial

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

Not Available Interstitial

The Mattress Factory Art Museum

Not Available Interstitial

Galleria degli Uffizi

Not Available Interstitial

The Studio Museum In Harlem

Not Available Interstitial

Tenement Museum

Not Available Interstitial

Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art

Not Available Interstitial

National Museum of Mexican Art

Not Available Interstitial

Robben Island Museum

Not Available Interstitial

Museo Reina Sofia

Not Available Interstitial

Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona

Not Available Interstitial

Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya

Not Available Interstitial

Vatican Museums

Not Available Interstitial

Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna

Not Available Interstitial

The National Art Center, Tokyo

Not Available Interstitial

Museum of Applied Art

Not Available Interstitial

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa

Not Available Interstitial

Bob Marley Museum

Not Available Interstitial

New-York Historical Society

Not Available Interstitial

Denver Art Museum

Not Available Interstitial

The Museum of Jurassic Technology

Not Available Interstitial

Museum of Transportation

Not Available Interstitial

MAD Museum

Not Available Interstitial

High Museum of Art

Not Available Interstitial

Seattle Art Museum

Not Available Interstitial

RISD Museum

Not Available Interstitial

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH)

Not Available Interstitial

Galleria dell'Accademia

Not Available Interstitial

Tokyo National Museum

Not Available Interstitial

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Not Available Interstitial

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

Not Available Interstitial

The Phillips Collection

Not Available Interstitial

Whitney Museum of American Art

Not Available Interstitial

Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal

Not Available Interstitial

Andy Warhol Museum

Not Available Interstitial

Reykjavik Art Museum

Not Available Interstitial

Museum of Contemporary Art Australia (MCA)

Not Available Interstitial

Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA)

Not Available Interstitial

Palace of Versailles

Not Available Interstitial

Centre Georges Pompidou

Not Available Interstitial

New Museum

Not Available Interstitial

Dia:Beacon

Not Available Interstitial

Hammer Museum

Not Available Interstitial

Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A)

Not Available Interstitial

National Gallery of Art

Not Available Interstitial

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Not Available Interstitial

American Museum of Natural History

Not Available Interstitial

Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft

Not Available Interstitial

de Young Museum

Not Available Interstitial

Tate Modern

Not Available Interstitial

Musée du Louvre

Not Available Interstitial

Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)

Not Available Interstitial

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Not Available Interstitial

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Not Available Interstitial

The Hirshhorn Museum

Not Available Interstitial

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Not Available Interstitial

The Simone Handbag Museum

Not Available Interstitial

Latest in Style