15 Interesting & Underrated European Museums

21.11.2023 - 01:29 / travelpulse.com / Frank Gehry / Scott Hartbeck

For every world-famous European museum like the Louvre or Prado, there’s one that flies under the radar. The following collection is made up of both quirky & unusual museums and those that are home to world-class collections but just aren’t as well known as they should be. 

Denmark's Aero Island is known primarily for its windswept beaches and collection of colorful, cute-as-a-button cottages, but this quirky museum dedicated to one man's passion for ships in bottles also pulls in the crowds. Bottle Peter—as he came to be known—was an accomplished sailor and managed to build over 1700 bottle ships in his lifetime, and they're now on display here for all to enjoy.

Fondation Louis Vuitton museum in Paris (Photo Credit: Jacqueline ter Haar / Flickr)

A beautiful space dedicated to contemporary art and culture designed by legendary architect Frank Gehry, Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris is a pure work of art itself. You'll be amazed at the futuristic glass architecture outside, the wide range of events & exhibitions inside, and the fact that you'll have much more elbow room here compared to the city’s other ever-popular A-list museums.

A Barcelona museum dedicated to the art of sending someone off in style, this collection of funeral vehicles features over a dozen funeral carriages, six processional carriages and three motor vehicles used in historical funerals. The purpose of the museum is to shine a light on the symbolism of funeral rites and how customs evolved over the 19th and 20th centuries. And if that's not enough for you, the Hearse Museum is the only one of its kind in Europe.

Oh, would you look at that Rembrandt, and that Matisse over there? And those pages of Adolf Hitler's diary. Nope, they're all fake and that's precisely the whole point of this museum in Vienna. Learn about the fine points of planting a fraud and all the different types of forgery floating around. Rest assured, you'll genuinely have a great time.

Borghese Gallery and Museum in Rome. (Photo Credit: Matt Kieffer / Flickr)

Located in the former villa of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, a renowned patron of the arts in Rome, The Borghese Gallery and Museum is home to a treasure trove of works from names like Caravaggio and Bernini. The latter's sculptures take pride of place in the museums, many displayed in the precise spaces they were designed to originally occupy.

The reputation of the Roaring 20s has spread far and wide, while the 1930s has a tendency to get overlooked. Not at this boutique museum in Paris as the 1930s get their due with exhibits and displays of the art and popular culture of the decade. Expect to see everything from Art Deco to displays that detail the lifestyle and changing values that defined the era. 

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