Unusual Museums Around the World

I’ve always been drawn to obscure things; I’ve never been attracted to the normal or what the cool kids were doing. In particular, I enjoy the unusual and the macabre—blame it on an enduring love of the works of Edgar Allan Poe—and I always seem to seek out bizarre and interesting sites when traveling. Some of my best travel memories have involved my visits to off-the-grid places.

Have a look at my favorite museums around the world:

THE MÜTTER MUSEUM (PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, USA) – Perhaps not for the faint of heart, this museum in the City of Brotherly Love is easily the city’s weirdest and is most unusual, indeed. Billing itself as the nation’s finest medical museum, it houses carefully preserved collections of anatomical specimens, models, and medical instruments in a 19^th-century “cabinet” style setting. Some of the museum’s most popular attractions include a plaster cast and conjoined liver of “Siamese twins” Chang and Eng, a specimen from John Wilkes Booth’s vertebra (although some might argue that Abraham Lincoln’s cowardly assassin didn’t have a spine), and Albert Einstein’s brain.

MUSEUM OF CARROTS (RAEREN, BELGIUM); NO WEBSITE – Yes, a museum dedicated to the humble root vegetable exists in the diminutive town of Raeren. It is housed in an abandoned electrical tower in the village center. Created more as a joke than a serious venture, the small group of curators who founded the museum, known as the Carrot Cultivator Society, maintain it as a labor of love. Over the years, the club has collected many carrot-related pieces of memorabilia—much of it donated by people who stumbled upon the museum’s existence via the internet—and filled the tiny tower museum with the most unusual tchotchkes. In fact, the museum is so tiny visitors cannot enter and must view the carrot collection through a tiny window. Also, here’s an interesting (yet chauvinistic) tidbit: It is said that membership to the Carrot Cultivator Society is limited to men only. Hmm, no ladies in the carrot club? Interesting.

Address: Berlotter Straße, 4731 Raeren, Belgium (Open 24 hours because…it’s only a window display)

MUSEUM OF BAGS AND PURSES (AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS) – It’s like the creators of this museum siphoned the dreams from my head and crafted a museum from them. Everyone who knows me is aware of my love obsession with handbags. It was an obsession that started when I just a little girl and now I have more handbags than I care to admit, so when I floated past this museum—literally, I was on a canal boat in Amsterdam—I’m ashamed to admit, I screamed. I knew that as soon as I got off the boat, I was going to double-back and visit the museum. It is a fashionista’s, historian’s, and handbag enthusiast’s dream; it houses more than 5,000 bags, including those of famous women like Margaret Thatcher, Hillary Clinton, and Elizabeth Taylor. Do not dismiss this museum as frivolous; the collections discuss important developments in fashion, design, craftsmanship, and cultural customs of various historical periods. The museum is located in a former 17^th century mayor’s residence and is seated in the UNESCO world heritage site known as the Amsterdam Canal Ring Area. Also, the museum has a wonderful onsite restaurant and tea shop—the perfect for a post-visit nibble or sip.

SEXMUSEUM (AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS); RECOMMENDED FOR ADULTS ONLY – Yes, Amsterdam lands on this list twice. What can I say? The Dutch love their oddities. For years, people have been drawn to the libertine spirit of Amsterdam (in particular, the city’s embracing of marijuana and sex culture) and the Sexmuseum certainly celebrates that free spiritedness for which the city is known. For a paltry 5€, you can see all the sex you want. OK, not actual sex but erotic paraphernalia, pictures, photographs, and art. It is a wild, trippy ride that may not be considered too shocking by today’s standards but it’s definitely a fun and interesting experience—though probably not the place you’d go on a first date.

INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM (WASHINGTON, DC, USA) – If you’ve ever imagined yourself as James Bond or an undercover spy, this is the place for you. For those who visited the museum at its former F Street location, the new location at L’Enfant Plaza is absolutely mind-blowing. Interactive exhibits and installations, an impressive collection of spy artifacts (think real poison-shooting pens and the Aston Martin driven by fictional international spy James Bond), and real-life interviews and stories from intelligence officers and experts, the museum offers visitors an insider’s view of the covert world of spies. I admit, I’m a sucker for a museum gift shop and this one doesn’t disappoint; nursing your inner spy has never been easier. It should be noted that, although most museums in Washington, DC offer free admission, the International Spy Museum is a privately-owned museum and does charge an admission fee.

KAFKA MUSEUM (PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC) – There are plenty of museums devoted to authors and they’re typically pretty tame affairs, dedicated to showcasing and highlighting the authors’ works, but what if you’re an author known for your books about paranoia, dread, and horror? Apparently, you get a super-weird, surreal museum erected in your honor—if you’re Franz Kafka. The museum’s curators have managed to walk the fine line between tradition and the bizarre and create a space that truly captures the essence of the man that is considered one of the 20^th century’s most influential writers. If you’re a literary lover who’s into esotericism, you’ll be delighted to know the museum boasts a replica of the torture machine from Kafka’s short story “In the Penal Colony”.

MUSEUM OF BAD ART (3 LOCATIONS THROUGHOUT SOMERVILLE AND BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS, USA); CURRENTLY CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS (RE-OPENING DATE UNKNOWN) – Throughout history, art has been thought of as accessible to and understood by members of a higher social and economic echelon and it is this absurd idea that often keeps those of us without art degrees scratching our heads when viewing certain works. If you’ve ever looked at a work of art and thought, “My kid finger paints better than that!” this is the place for you. This irreverent museum, colloquially known as MoBA, pays amusing homage to all forms of horrendous art. The large, motley collection of art has taken 20 years to curate and elicits more than a giggle or two from visitors.

I’m constantly adding unusual museums and galleries to my bucket list. If you’d like to recommend a place, please feel free to send me a message.