Best Museums in Europe | Art, History & Cultural Collections

Kilmainham Gaol

A former prison turned museum, closely tied to Ireland's fight for independence and the executions of the 1916 Easter Rising leaders.

Ireland's national archaeology collection, home to the Tara Brooch, Ardagh Chalice and preserved Iron Age bog bodies.

An award-winning digital museum in Dublin's Docklands telling the story of 10 million Irish emigrants across 20 interactive galleries.

Ireland's national art collection in Dublin, free to enter, spanning four connected wings and works by Caravaggio, Vermeer and Jack B. Yeats.

Athens' glass-and-concrete museum built to house the original marbles of the Acropolis, including the Parthenon frieze and the Caryatids.

Athens' top museum for ancient Greek treasures, holding over 11,000 artifacts from prehistory to late antiquity.

Florence's world-famous Renaissance art museum, housed in a 16th-century Medici office building.

Florence's historic main square, ringed by Renaissance statues and the crenellated Palazzo Vecchio.

Florence's Renaissance art museum, famous worldwide as the permanent home of Michelangelo's David.

A medieval fortress and former prison in Florence, now Italy's leading museum of Renaissance sculpture, including Donatello's bronze David.

The world's largest science and technology museum, set on its own island in the Isar with hands-on exhibits spanning aviation, mining, and physics.

A landmark bowl-shaped museum near Munich's Olympiapark tracing BMW's history through classic cars, motorcycles, and concept vehicles.

Munich's landmark Old Masters gallery, holding centuries of European painting from Durer and Rubens to Raphael and Rembrandt.

A world-renowned collection of musical instruments housed in a landmark Art Nouveau building overlooking Brussels.

The world's largest collection of Rene Magritte's work, housed in a neoclassical mansion on Place Royale.