Europe Museums - Attractions

The Natural History Museum is a must, displaying as many forms of life as you can think of. The dinosaur gallery is awe-inspiring and the Darwin Gallery is top notch. The museum has lots of interactivity which keeps the children entertained. It is close to South Kensington Underground station and many buses stop nearby.

Budapest has well over sixty museums. They range from the more conventional, such as art museums, to unique exhibitions: the Underground Railway Museum or the Museum of the Ambulance Service to name just two. The majority of the museums in the city are CLOSED on Monday (there are some exceptions: Statue Park is open, as is the Budapest History Museum in the Castle, amongst others). In general the admission fees are very reasonable, and some museums are free but if you plan on visiting several then the best bet is a Budapest Card (see that entry), which gets you free entry as well as free public transport. Many of the museums are quite small and charming, and take but a few minutes to tour through. They are some of the most interesting parts of the city, too often overlooked by many visitors. If you think you don't like museums, try the Museum of Commerce and Catering on Castle Hill, or the Underground Museum at Deak Ter Metro station. You won't be dissapointed with your ten minute stop. Some of the most rewarding museums in the city are the little one's that have odd names: the Museum of Catering and Commerce is great, as is the Golden Eagle Pharmacy Museum. Be adventurous.

Incredible art, tons of tourists

Home of the Rosetta stone this museum never fails to disappoint. This place is saturated with history, from the ancient Egyptians to WWII. One can see the carcoghagus of tuttakanmun and the next moment overwhelmed by a spitfire. Like most great museums, entry is free

The jewellery industry developed in Birmingham from the mid-19th century. The Museum of the Jewellery Quarter is an award-winning working museum which offers a guided tour around a real jewellery factory, showing you all the different aspects of jewellery in the 19th century and also highlighting the work of new designers. There is a tea room, in case you need refreshments, plus a shop from which you can purchase souvenirs, books and jewellery. If English is not your mother tongue, then you can will find guided tours on tape in French, Hindi, Japanese, Spanish and German.

The Gas Hall is really a part of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, but its history makes it worth a mention in its own right. It is actually a large Victorian building adjacent to the main museum and now has access either via the museum or directly from the street. It is so called because the building used to be occupied by the main gas company in the city, and was the place where local people went to pay their gas bills. Since the early 1990s it has been an important space for temporary exhibitions, of which there have been many of international importance. These have so far included exhibitions devoted to Canaletto, ancient China, Mughal India and William Morris. Opening hours are generally for the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, but may be different during specific exhibitions. Check website for more details on current and upcoming events and exact timings.

The Royal Museums, as it is collectively known, is made up of various smaller museums including le Musée du Cinquantenaire (the Royal Museum of Art and History), le Musée des Instruments de Musique (Museum of Musical Instruments), and les Musées d'Extrême-Orient (the Museum of the Far East). The largest of the museums, the Musée du Cinquantenaire, houses every type of art (except paintings) from every continent on the globe. This museum, with more than 650,000 pieces alone, could be the only reason for your trip to Brussels! Be sure not to miss the exotic Museum of the Far East and the fascinating Museum of Musical Instruments. Truly a mecca for art lovers, history buffs, music enthusiasts, and curious people of all types.

The Museum of Modern Art is situated in New Belgrade, on the left bank of the river Sava. The edifice was erected between 1961 and 1965 after the design of architects Ivan Antic and Ivanka Raspopovic, who were awarded the October Prize of the city of Belgrade in 1965 when the museum opened.
This building represents an original architectural concept linking its interior with the exterior and at the same time meeting all the principals of a museum, thus ranking it among the most significant examples of modern museum architecture in in Serbia and the world in general. The Museum was founded in 1958 aiming to collect, study and exhibit the works of modern Yugoslav art. Now the museum has a collection of more than 35,000 works of arts by Yugoslav artists: paintings and sculptures dating from 1900 up to the present day.
NATO Bombing 1999
On April 28th, when the Usce Business Center was bombed by NATO for the second time, the glazing of the Museum was blown off and and the Museum exhibits were damaged. The sculptures in the park surrounding the Museum sustained substantial damage too.
It is undergoing an €8 million renovation fully funded from the Government's National Investment.
You can download my guide for free on www.sajkaca.blogspot.com

The Toy Museum, housed in the magnificent Wettsteinhaus (dating from the 17th Century), is the product of collaboration between the Riehen parish and the Museum of Culture. It contains one of the most significant collections of toys in Europe today. Parlor games, wooden toys, tin figures and metal toys are just some of the highlights of the exhibits. That plenty of the toys have fallen into oblivion over the years can be seen at the museums many games tables. The Riehen Town Museum, which concerns itself with daily life in 1900, and the Rebbau Museum, which studies the significance of wine, are also affiliated to the Toy Museum.

I went to the Van Gogh during the summer and found it a very pleasurable experience. The queues were not too long and the paintings were awe-inspiring. I found the gift shop to be a little chaotic because demand was outstripping supply but I got copies of my favourite prints. The prints come in handy prism-shaped cardboard boxes which are very easy to carry, although the handle on my box broke on the plane :(

The Deutsches Museum is a science and technology museum located in Munich, by the Isar river. It is one of the biggest and most visited museums in the world. I went there really early in the morning and the line for the tickets was already quite long, but the waiting time was not so long.
If you want to see at least a half of the museum in a day you have to try to spend there as much time as possible and not stop watching things at any moment. I was inside the museum since 10 in morning and went out when it closed, at 5pm, I didn't have time for finishing it, so if you want to see it complete I recommend you to spend two days there.
For kids is an ideal place they will enjoy for sure. It has a children area with activities for the smallest ones, where they can paint, draw and learn about science.
The parts of the museum I think kids would enjoy most would be the planetarium, the mine (which is a perfect reproduction of a long gallery), the caves of altamira, and the parts of the museum where you can interactuate with some of the objects.
At the entrance you can get a map in your language, where you can find labelled all the areas of the museum. Taking in account how big the museum is, this map is a must.
You can also find a bar and a restaurant on the terrace at the roof.
The perfect place for a didactic journey :)

The History Section developed once with the museum institution in Braila, but two objects only were preserved in there from the initial heritage. Re-organised after 1955 into a memorial Section dedicated to the Bulgarian revolutionary Hristo Botev, it was changed into an exhibition of poster photographs depicting the important events from the national history. In time though the archaeological research became a priority as the specialists were interested in the study of the local history and the gathered collections allowed the organization of several main exhibitions, each reflecting the period in which it was formed.
The present exhibition – found in the building situated in 3, Piata Traian – the old centre of the city – which was raised in the first half of the 19th century – titled ‘Culture and civilization at the Lower Danube’ immerses the visitors into Braila’s past: the city and the mediaeval citadel (14th – 16th centuries), the Ottoman occupation (1538-1829), Braila’s liberation after the Russo-Turkish War (1828-1829), her re-annexation into the country’s boundaries and her development during the second half of the 19th century into the main part of the country, a powerful rival for the Russian port Odessa. Braila who became a great economic centre (in 1911 she was responsible for 80% of the sums that were making the entire foreign commerce of Romania) was considered as the real capital of the country by the contemporaries of that period whom were witnessing her unprecedented prosperity.
The exhibition display also contains information: on the history of the city’s main institutions organized after 1830 in accordance with the country’s legislation (‘Maghistrat’ – Magistrature, Mayoralty, Law Court, Police, Telegraph, Post Office, etc.), on public utility aspects and town-planning rules.
An important aspect is represented by: the re-organisation of the church after the dissolution of Proilavia Bishopric, the system of education and the city’s main cultural institutions: librairies, theatres and museums.
A special place has the collection of registration and sound reproduction devices.
The History Section ends with the recreation of a bourgeois room from the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.
The temporary exhibitions of the museum displaying exhibits from its own collection or organized in collaboration with prestigious specialized institutions from Romania maintained the public interest for the museum activity through their novelty and subjects which constituted their main appeal.
Among the successful exhibitions organized in 2004 we mention ‘United in Diversity’ dedicated to the celebration of the European Days, ‘The Juke-Box with Memories’ which displayed registration and sound reproduction devices from the collections belonging to ‘Stefan Procopiu’ Museum of Science and Technology (Iasi) and ‘Fashion and Social Life in the 19th Century’, project in full progress, started by the History Museum from Iasi, part of ‘Moldova’ National Museum Complex. Braila Museum, Galati History Museum, Prahova Archaeology and History Museum and Sibiu History Museum were invited to collaborate to this project, the latter withdrawing its participation during the course of events.
The heritage of the Section comprises collections of: numismatics, documents, manuscripts, old and rare Romanian and foreign books, decorative arts, science and technology, records, musical instruments, photographs and memorial objects.
The Collections were made out of donations, acquisitions and transfers.

Linked to the School for Art and Design, the Museum for Design shows everything about art, centering around themes in Design, Architecture, Visual Communication, Culture of the Everyday, Photography, and Art and the Media. Every year six to eight large exhibitions, as well as smaller lobby-exhibitions, are presented in the museum hall, the gallery or the lobby. The L-shaped building with its "severe functionality," dates back to 1933 and has been added to Switzerland's Heritage Protection list. In the lobby there is a café and a kiosk with books, cards and various designer gift items. The Poster Room shows poster exhibitions with various themes.

The original Jewish museum was set up in 1932 in a small room at Weigh House but during the 1940 German invasion, most of the artifacts were confiscated and destroyed. In 1955 the Joods Historisch Museum was re-opened with only one-fifth of the original collection, so private collectors and even the general public came forward with contributions to add to the collection. The enlarged museum was shifted to the Ashkenazi synagogue complex, which was originally the Old Synagogue of the German Jews. A permanent exhibition illustrates the many aspects of Judaism in The Netherlands, both past and present. The central motif is the religion, culture and history of Jews in this country. Every year, the museum organizes several temporary exhibitions on specific aspects of Jewish history and culture. Often the themes have an international tone like the story of the Jews in Russia, Vienna and Brazil.

Like the Museum of Ethnology and the Museum of Arts and Crafts, this museum is housed within the Grassimuseum complex. Museum für Musikinstrumente's origins date back to 1902, with the founding of the Musikhistorische Museum von Wilhelm Heyer in Cologne. Much of the collection was provided by Paul de Wit, a Leipzig musical instrument dealer. A tour of the museum gives visitors the chance to inspect around 5,000 historical instruments, including the first hammer grand piano ever made (1726). The museum organizes a public tour at 10:30a every Sunday as well as regular concerts in the Bachsaal.