25 Best Small Museums

Quirky, Fun Small Museums to Visit around the Planet

Small museums can be so much fun to visit. They offer quick pops of information on sometimes out-of-the-mainstream subjects providing both depth but also brevity. And who knows where the best museums are better than traveling travel writers? The Bashful Adventurer canvassed travel writers around the world for their suggestions about delightful small museums to visit. Their recommendations follow.

Enjoy! And should you visit one of these small museums, please let us know about your experience in the comments section at the end of this article.

Small Museums in the Americas

Canada

Ontario

Ottawa: The Royal Canadian Mint

If you want to visit a small museum with a ton of “value” inside, then look no further than the Royal Canadian Mint! Originally opened in 1908, this great attraction in Ottawa, Canada’s capital city, is actually a fully functional minting business. The Mint is located in a small stone building that resembles a tiny castle or medieval fortress. However, this makes sense considering the valuables that one might find inside!

At the Mint, workers create Canadian commemorative and collector coins from gold and silver. The Mint is so good at what it does that it actually also mint coins for other countries, too! These days, the Mint is open for guided tours of the museum and the work areas. If you visit during the week, you’ll see the machinery in production, and a knowledgeable tour guide will take you about the small museum teaching you all about the facility.

The Royal Canadian Mint also has a great gift shop where you can pick up a piece of Canadian history like a commemorative coin! Aside from purchasing those beautiful gold and silver collector coins, where else do you get to try and pick up a gold bar worth thousands? It’s awfully heavy!

The Royal Canadian Mint, 320 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0G8

—submitted by Eric and Lisa from Ontario Away, a Canada-themed travel blog. Eric and Lisa’s travels have taken them around the globe, but there’s nothing like sharing their adventures from around beautiful Ontario!

Quebec

Montreal: Pointe-à-Callière Museum (Montréal Archaeology and History Complex)

Last summer, we visited the Pointe-à-Callière Montreal Archaeology Museum. This museum was small but mighty in that we all enjoyed it and learned a ton—including my 6- and 9-year-olds who are not easily impressed with educational museums!

This museum was built on the site where the city of Montreal was first founded in 1642. In fact, you can walk on glass floors where some of the original parts of the city are preserved underneath.

At this museum, you are not just learning about the history of the city of Montreal, but get a detailed look at how this part of North America was settled by the colonists. At the time of our visit, this museum also housed a temporary pirate exhibit in addition to the archeological ruins.

In total, we spent about two hours at this museum. We all had never been to an archeological site like this and I think my kids think we were making it up how old the artifacts really were!

Pointe-à-Callière Museum (Montréal Archaeology and History Complex), 350 Place Royale, Montreal, QC H2Y 3Y5, Canada 

 —submitted by Harmony Skillman, a travel blogger at Momma To Go and a vacation consultant for Paradise Travel. When not at the beach or out for a run, she can be found planning her next adventure!

 

United States

Colorado

Colorado Springs: The Ghost Town Museum

The Ghost Town Museum in Colorado Springs is an homage to many of the abandoned “ghost towns” vacated after the Western U.S. gold rush. Housed in a small, unassuming old railway building, the artifacts and structures were salvaged from the surrounding areas and arranged into a small indoor “town.” The town features a general store, saloon, apothecary, and even has old carriages in the street.

We hadn’t planned on visiting the museum, but after dinner at the brewery next door, my boyfriend and I decided to walk over to check it out. We spent our time wandering from storefront to storefront and peering inside at the various displays set up to look how they might have 100 years ago. The coolest part of the museum was the number of interactive pieces it has for adults and children alike. Our favorite part was a small shooting gallery you could play for a quarter and some old picture show viewfinders in the saloon.

It couldn’t have taken us more than an hour to walk through, and for a while we were the only people in the museum save two employees in the gift shop. All in all, it was a great little museum and a way to escape the Colorado cold.

Ghost Town Museum, 400 S .21st Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80904

—submitted by Danielle Schleig, founder of Wanderlust While Working. Danielle is a beer enthusiast, avid hiker, and bookworm traveling throughout the 50 U.S. states and beyond!

Louisiana

New Orleans: The Historic Voodoo Museum

The Historic Voodoo Museum in New Orleans wasn’t on my radar until it was suggested by a local as a good spot to sober up in between bar-hops. Boy, were they right! The kitschy, dusty museum crowded to the gills with voodoo paintings, dolls, skulls, altars, and other bizarre relics snapped me right out of my feel-good buzz. I’m easily creeped-out, so there’s a good chance you wouldn’t have the same reaction . . . though some might find the place a bit weird.

That’s not to say I didn’t love it, though! If you’re the same kind of introvert I am—AKA awkward!—this dusty dive might be your thing, too. If you’re too bashful to do the guided tour, general admission will let you explore alone and at your own pace. You’ll learn all about the area’s voodoo history, how it helped shape New Orleans, and the prominent figures who practiced it. If you don’t already know, you’ll also learn where the concept of zombies concept came from—and that they’re real. You read that right. Real.

If you’re in the mood for something super unique on your next New Orleans trip, visit the Voodoo Museum. Just be sure to leave an offering for Mary Laveau while you’re there—you’ll want to make sure you gain favor with any voodoo spirits before you leave.

New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum, 724 Dumaine Street, New Orleans, LA 70116

 —submitted by Mary Beth, the gal behind MB Sees. She loves to travel and not take things in life—especially herself—too seriously.

Nevada

Las Vegas: Museum of Neon

Los Vegas and museums do not seem to go together. However, Sin City has some cool institutions that deserve a visit.

The Museum of Neon, in particular, appeals to a large audience. This museum is dedicated to the display and preservation of signs from defunct casinos and businesses. These crucial pieces of Vegas history are given a new purpose.

The 2.62 acres property is a nonprofit organization. Even under these circumstances, management makes the most out of funds and engages in ambitious projects.

Main display areas include the restored lobby of the once-fashionable La Concha Motel (which functions as the Visitor’s Center) and an outdoor space known as “The Boneyard.” This is where you can observe the many colorful signs stacked on different corners.

In theory, you can walk the space in two minutes. However, visits are guided. A volunteer will walk a small group around the property and explain the history behind the most notorious signs. This is Vegas. Get prepared for tons of crime, gambling, and love stories!

The museum is sold out almost every day. Advanced reservations are recommended. A visit is ideal for families, couples, and solo travelers. There are plenty of opportunities to learn, engage in conversation and take photos.

Museum of Neon, 770 Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas, Nev.

 —submitted by Ruth, writes for people interested in filling every day with meaningful experiences. She aims to use travel as a medium to learn, explore and develop relationships. See more at Tanama Tales.

New York

Katonah: The Katonah Museum of Art

Katonah is a small town in Westchester County and the lower Hudson Valley, about an hour north of New York City. A small art gallery, the Katonah Museum of Art, teatures world-class art. There are just two main galleries plus a smaller side gallery, a garden where there are often outdoor exhibits, and an interactive learning center where young (or just young at heart) museumgoers can do fun activities. The museum doesn’t have a permanent collection. Instead, there are three main exhibits a year, each carefully curated around a unifying theme such as contemporary Islamic art, extreme jewelry, or modern landscapes.  The learning center has activities that are related to the theme of the main exhibit.

There are free tours led by volunteer docents on the weekends, and the groups are usually small. This is a lovely, intimate, well-curated museum that is perfect for those wishing to eschew (or supplement) the big New York City museums.  Because the museum is so small, the staff are very friendly and welcoming, so this is perfect for bashful adventurers!

And because the exhibits change several times throughout the year, you can visit multiple times and never see the same thing. There are also events held throughout the year in the museum space.

Trains run to Katonah from Grand Central Terminal throughout the day.

Katonah Museum of Art, 134 Jay Street (Route 22), Katonah, N.Y. 10536

—submitted by James Ian, who lives in New York City and has been to 80 countries. He now helps people have exciting and meaningful travel experiences through his blog, Travel Collecting.

New York City: New York Hall of Science

The New York Hall of Science is a fantastic museum for kids of all ages. It is located in Queens, N.Y. and has enough exhibits to keep your kids occupied for hours. Introverted kids will find plenty to do as the museum has many interactive and educational exhibits, areas to build and create, a 3-D movie theater, and a huge science playground! From pulling levers to balancing their weight on logs, kids can read about each scientific principle before testing it out. Children are able to use force to push objects, climb spiderlike structures and slide down slides. The sports challenge area is also a kid favorite. Kids can rock climb, test their pitching speed and ride a surf simulator. The animation exhibit is another fun area where kids can create a stop-motion storyboard, trace Looney Tunes characters, and learn about the animation process.

Besides those sections, there are exhibits on finding life outside of Earth, the applications of math, motion and gravity, a unique light exhibit, and an exhibit about the evolution of health. The New York Hall of Science also offers free workshops and play areas to build with various materials.

Overall the New York Hall of Science is a great way to spend the day with your kids and an experience I highly recommend visiting if you are in the New York area.

New York Hall of Science, 47-01 111th Street, Corona, N.Y. 11368

—submitted by Margie, a former teacher turned family travel blogger at DQ Family Travel. Margie writes about travel around the United States with kids and how to save money to travel more often.

Looking for more small museums in New York City? You might like these posts:

Rainy Day Manhattan

Beyond the New York Public Library: The Morgan

Make Time for the Tenement Museum

A Visit to the Fashion Museum NYC

Make Time for the Native American Museum in NYC

Small Museums in Europe

Belgium

Dinant: Maison Adolphe Sax

Maison Adolphe Sax is a small museum located in the town of Dinant in Belgium. The museum was originally the house where the Sax family lived and Adolphe, the inventor of saxophones, was born here.

The museum has a statue in front of the building and has a huge saxophone and piano inside. It also has stories and music history inscribed on the walls and floor. The museum is not huge, so it will probably take 15 to 20 minutes to explore the entire museum. The museum is also not overcrowded by tourists; the same goes for the town as well.

Dinant, although a popular tourist destination in Belgium, it is not overwhelmed with tourists. Dinant is perfect for slow traveling and for introverts.

Saxophones are everywhere in the town of Dinant.

You can easily take a day trip to Dinant from Brussels to explore this beautiful town.

The museum is open every day from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Entry to the museum is free.

Maison Adolphe Sax Museum, Rue Adolphe Sax 37, 5500 Dinant, Belgium

—submitted by Mayuri, travel content creator at ToSomePlaceNew, which is is all about traveling with a full-time job. We keep the wanderlust lights on with short trip itineraries and tips. 

Czech Republic

Prague: The Karel Zeman Museum

Karel Zeman was a world-famous filmmaker who became known for his creative uses of special film effects. The Czech movie director was a pioneer already back in the ’50s.

His most famous movies are Journey to the Beginning of Time, The Fabulous World of Jules Verne, and The Fabulous Baron Munchausen. Everyone in the Czech Republic knows Karel Zeman. If you don’t, it doesn’t matter. There’s no prior knowledge of the filmmaker needed.

The interactive Karel Zeman Film Museum is one of the things you can do in Prague when it rains. You can go through the individual exhibits, study the way the special film effects were done (it gets so creative!), and try out a few of them yourself. Photographing and video-taking are encouraged.

The museum is small; you can run through it within 30 minutes, but it’s easy to let yourself be carried away by the interesting showcases of Karel Zeman’s genius and spend even two hours there.

 Karel Zeman Museum, Saská 80/1, 118 00 Malá Strana, Prague, Czech Republic

 —submitted by Veronika Primm, a Czech travel blogger based in Prague writing at TravelGeekery.

France

Paris: Marie Curie Museum

Paris is full of small, lesser known museums that are worth the detour. One of my favorites is the Marie Curie Museum, dedicated to the work of Marie Curie. Marie Curie, born Marie Skłodowska in Varsovia Poland, was one of the few women to have been awarded with a Nobel Prize. Among her biggest achievements there is the development of the theory of radioactivity together with her husband Pierre Curie and the discovery of the elements polonium and radium, which represented a big step in the medicine field.

The Marie Curie Museum is located in the Latin Quarter in Paris, more specifically in the house where Marie Curie had her office and laboratory. The house (three main spaces) is a beautiful place to visit with a main hall with informative panels and some of her tools plus her office and personal laboratory. The office has views over Marie’s beautiful rose garden and everything in the office and laboratory is so well kept that it is like if Marie could enter at any moment to go on with her work.

Marie Curie Museum is open from Wednesday to Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and the entrance is always free. From time to time, during special events, there are guided visits by knowledgeable guides.

Marie Curie Museum, 1 Rue Pierre et Marie Curie, 75005 Paris, France

—submitted by Elisa Subirats from World in Paris.

Iceland

Looking for small museums in Iceland? You might like this post:

• Living Viking Style: A Visit to the Viking Museum Reyjkavik

Italy

Dolomites

Rocca Pietore: Museo Marmolada Grande Guerra (Museum of the Great War)

The Museum Marmolada Grande Guerra may be small, but it’s also unforgettable. It’s the highest museum in Europe, located at just under 3,000m above sea level within the cable car building. As such, there’s not a huge amount of space and a walk around doesn’t take more than about half an hour.

What’s thought-provoking about this museum is that it’s located on the mountain that was at the center of the fighting it’s dedicated to. During the First World War, the peaks and glaciers of the Marmolada were the location of countless battles between Italy and Austria. The Marmolada glacier was a strategic position and in 1916, the Austrians built a web of tunnels inside the glacier: the “City of Ice” contained everything that nearly 200 soldiers needed to survive. But, sadly, many lives were lost here.

The museum is very well laid out, and one feature in particular stays in my mind: a window, surrounded by sandbags, with two telescopes (where you could almost imagine guns might have been), looking out across the snow-covered mountain (even in mid-July) and the craggy peaks where the dreadful fighting took place.

The Marmolada Museum is a simple, quiet place, but it’s very moving. I highly recommend a visit.

Museum Marmolada Grande Guerre, Via Malga Ciapèla 48 32023 Rocca Pietore

—submitted by Clare Dewey, the founder of Epic Road Rides, the travel website for road cyclists. Our team cycles all over the world finding the best destinations and routes to share with our community.

Modena

Castelnuovo Rangone: Museo della Salumeria

Emilia Romagna, Italy, is truly a foodie paradise. Home to iconic Italian ingredients such as Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, aceto balsamico vinegar, and the most famous Italian cured meat, prosciutto. For foodie travelers looking to learn more about prosciutto and other Italian cured meats, the best place to start is at the Museo della Salumeria, outside of Modena.

Villani Salumi, a family-owned producer of Italian cured meats since 1886, opened the museum in 2013. The Museo della Salumeria (or MUSA) is dedicated to explaining the art of charcuterie and charts the history of cured meat production in Italy.

The museum provides detailed explanations on what is prosciutto, mortadella, salami, and numerous other cured meats and how they differ from one another. The museum also educates food travelers on the production process.

This is a great way to learn about traditional Italian foods that otherwise might be unfamiliar to travelers to Italy. A visit can also help travelers learn how to decipher these products when reviewing a restaurant menu.

After learning about the various cured meats, head next door to the museum’s food shop for a taste. The museum’s shop offers various types of meats for tasting. It is also possible to purchase samples from the shop.

The museum is open daily, but closed for holidays throughout the year. A guided tour with tasting is €10.

Museo della Salumeria, Via Zanasi Eugenio, 24, 41051, Castelnuovo Rangone (MO)

—submitted by Amber from Bologna Living. Amber is the co-founder of Bologna Living as well as other travel sites all with a focus on culinary travel including With Husband In Tow and Food And Drink Destinations. She is also the author of the Food Traveler’s Guide to Emilia Romagna – How to taste the history and tradition of Italy, the only gastronomy travel guide to Emilia Romagna written by an American.

Rome

Museum of Centrale Montemartini

Even though not too far and not hard to reach from the city center, the Museum of Centrale Montemartini is not one of the most visited attractions in Rome. An atypical museum, this was the city’s main power plant from the beginning of the 20th century to the 1960s. Today, its 20,000 sq m are devoted to giving in-the-know travelers a unique and evocative experience.

In 1997, ancient Roman statues were transferred here from the Capitoline Museums, and the exhibition “The Gods and the Machines” was launched. In 2011, this exhibition became permanent. A beautiful series of classic artwork representing different eras and moments of life in ancient Rome is set all around the heavy machines once in charge of electricity production such as furnaces, engines, and steam turbines.

The museum is usually very quiet, with only a few curious visitors wandering around the different areas and rooms. Start your tour from the Engine Room in the first floor, where the giant diesel engines stand behind a rich collection of Roman statues coming from the archaeological site of Largo Argentina and the now nonexistent Theatre of Pompey. To finish the first floor, take a tour of the Furnace Room for decorative elements from wealthy ancient houses and residences, including a beautiful mosaic from the Horti Sallustiani.

On the ground floor, visit the Column Hall displaying objects and sarcophagi linked to the funerary celebrations and traditions, and the second Furnace Room where is kept a more modern gem, the original train used by Pope Pius IX to travel around the region.

Museum of Centrale Montemartini, Via Ostiense, 106, 00154 Roma RM, Italy

—submitted by Angela Corrias, a freelance journalist, blogger, and photographer who travels and works between Italy and Afghanistan with her husband. Based in Rome, she regularly updates her travel blog Rome Actually.

Portugal

Setúbal: Michel Giacometti Museum of Work

You’ll find the small but fascinating Michel Giacometti Museum of Work at the edge of the historical center of Setúbal, a city about 50 kilometres south of Lisbon. Named after a French ethnologist from Corsica who devoted 30 years of his life studying and documenting rural traditions and practices in Portugal, you can see the fruits of his labor on the first floor.

The highlight of the museum’s first level is, however, the replica grocery store. It really does feel as though you are stepping back in time to the early 1900s when you enter. You’ll probably have the place to yourself so you can wander behind the counter and examine the cash register and displays without interruption.

The lower floor is devoted to the local sardine canning industry. In fact, the building was originally a canning factory. Local factories that have long since closed their doors have donated equipment and photographs of their operations in order to create a coherent and enlightening illustration of each part of the canning process from fish delivery to making the decorative cans. It also explains the work carried out by different types of workers and the skills they required.

Michel Giacometti Museum of Work, Largo Defensores da Republica 3, Setúbal, Portugal

 —submitted by Julie Dawn Fox, a British writer and photographer who moved to central Portugal in 2007. She helps independent travelers plan their own trips to Portugal by sharing information, inspiration and tips on her blog, Julie Dawn Fox in Portugal.

Sweden

Malmö: Ebbas Hus

Known as the smallest house in Malmö, Ebbas Hus also serves as a historical museum, showcasing what a typical family residence in Malmö looked like in the early 1900s.

Ebba Olsson was a child when her father inherited the house and the family moved there in 1911. The area was considered a bit rough, with taverns and bordellos nearby, and the local asylum across the street!

In the 1960s, other houses in the neighborhood were being torn down and replaced with larger, modern structures, but Ebba refused to move. She stayed there until 1984, when she finally moved and donated the house to the City of Malmö.

After she died in 1989, the house was restored to look as it did in the early 1900s with much of the family’s own furniture used to represent how it actually lived in the space.

The museum guides will give you an introduction to the house when you arrive. They are very approachable to answer questions about the history of the house and the family, but also leave you be to explore at your leisure.

Ebbas Hus is part of Malmö Museer and is open Wednesdays from noon to 5 p.m.

Ebbas Hus, Snapperupsgatan 10, 211 35 Malmö, Sweden

 —submitted by Cynthia Graner of Two Day Travels. Always looking to travel, but not always having a lot of time or money, Cynthia started exploring ways to take more trips for Two Days & (mostly) under $200 at a time. Now she can make an adventure out of any size trip!

Ukraine

Vinnytsia: Museum of Retro Technology

One of my favorite small museums is the Museum of Retro Technology in Vinnytsia, Ukraine.  Located in a single-room building in the shape of an octagon, the Museum of Retro Technology’s nickname—the Avtomotovelofototeleradio Museum—gives away what its infrequent visitors can expect to find inside: a loosely-organized, dusty collection of old Soviet cars, motorcycles, bicycles, cameras, televisions, and radios, along with a few other dated knickknacks like uniforms, posters, maps, and photographs.

There is something charming about the sheer size of the collection, with dozens of examples of each type of object, and the staff are generally quite laissez-faire if you want to climb into one of the cars for a selfie or turn the dials on an old gramophone. Their hands-off attitude is ideal for travelers who want to explore daily life and technology in the USSR without having to interact with an overzealous tour guide or worry that they’re being watched from afar.

Museum of Retro Technology is right along the riverbank at Sorbona Street #1, in Vinnytsia, Vinnyts’ka Oblast, Ukraine.

 —submitted by Carly, the founder of Fearless Female Travels. She is currently preparing to depart on an eight-month sabbatical which will include stops in Bali, Central Asia, India and other destinations to be determined along the way! 

United Kingdom

Cornwall, England: Museum of Witchcraft

Small in size (and niche in nature), the Museum of Witchcraft in Cornwall, England makes up for that by being big in impact. It takes on a huge area of folklore and history, and an incredible collection of artifacts from a space that looks like a small house with a garden.

And it’s a really intriguing journey. You start with a garden where every plant is marked with an explanation of its meaning in folklore and its herbal benefits. Garlic apparently, is said to grow where a witch has touched the ground. Then, inside it’s all low ceilings and curiosities. The Museum of Witchcraft is the sort of place where you can wander alone and feel calm without anyone giving you funny looks. In fact, on the ground floor, there is a dedicated quiet space for meditation and thought that is sure to suit anyone not keen on crowds.

You will find everything inside, from ancient documents, to modern representations of witchcraft and even over to things that feel very real—the remnants of once-used curses and charms found within the area.

Cornwall is packed with bigger and more commercialized attractions, so consider this a bit of a breath of fresh air and something really unique for your trip.

Museum of Witchcraft, The Harbour, Boscastle, Cornwall PL35 0HD

 —submitted by Danni Lawson, a long-term traveler who blogs about living abroad at LiveIn10Countries and the best places to see while you’re there.

Small Museums in Asia

India

Karnataka

Kamalapur: Hampi Archeological Museum

Hampi is a UNESCO heritage site located in the south Indian state Karnataka. The archeological museum of Hampi is often skipped for the more celebrated locations of Hampi—the Hampi group of monuments and the Hippie island. However, a visit to this small museum can enrich your experience of exploring the ruins of this old city. It’s a humble museum. The entrance fee also includes entrance to the heritage sites of Vittala Temple complex and Zenana enclosure and is valid for one day.

At the entry, you will find a beautiful lawn with some pillars excavated from the ruins. The first thing you see when you enter the indoors is a large model of the city. This will give you a good orientation of Hampi and help you plan a Hampi itinerary. There are several relics excavated from underneath some of which date back to 9th century A.D. long before the Vijayanagara Kingdom came into existence.

All the exhibits are supported by information written in English, Hindi, and Kannada (the native language of the state).

Some of the notable collections here are the statues of Hindu deities and the coins of different eras of the glorious history of Karnataka. For a museum of its size, the museum boasts of a great collection and is very well-maintained.

Hampi Archeological Museum, Daroji-Kamlapura Rd, Kamalapur, Karnataka 583221, India

 —submitted by Sinjana Ghosh, a blogger at Backpack & Explore.

Laos

Vientiane: Lao Textile Museum

The Lao Textile Museum, located in Vientiane, Laos is a small privately-owned museum offering insights into the rich history and tradition of Lao weaving. Owned by the local Sisane family, the museum has two small permanent exhibits set in a traditional stilted wooden Lao house. The ground floor includes a variety of traditional wooden weaving looms, spinning wheels, and examples of how silk is produced.  The upstairs exhibit showcases a small but stunning personal collection of ancient Lao clothing, textiles, headdresses, and jewelry from various ethnic groups across Laos.  A neighboring covered pavilion displays the traditional plants and equipment used in dyeing the raw silk required for Lao weaving.

Set in a lush, green garden, the museum is a peaceful retreat offering visitors the chance to wander the exhibits and landscaped grounds.  There is also an on-site tea room, which offers refreshments such as a blue butterfly pea organic tea.

The museum is around six kilometers from central Vientiane, easily reached by taxi or tuk-tuk.

Lao Textile Museum, 151 Nongthatai Village, Chanthaboury District, Vientiane, Laos

—submitted by Marie Moncrieff, who is based in Vientiane, Laos and writes for A Life Without Borders, a travel blog sharing insider knowledge of Laos and lesser-known destinations in Southeast Asia.

Sri Lanka

Hikkaduwa: Tsunami Museum

The Tsunami Museum in Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka is a very special museum to visit. First of all, it is actually a private museum run by a family in their own home. Their house was destroyed in the 2004 tsunami that hit Sri Lanka. Years later they were able to rebuild a house, and now a portion of this rebuilt house is a dedicated museum to help educated locals about tsunamis, as well as help visitors understand the impact of this natural disaster.

This tiny museum is located about a 10-minute drive from the touristic town of Hikkaduwa. Its exact location is the 95th kilometer of Galle Road, but you will find it easily if you head north out of Hikkaduwa on the main highway as there is a huge sign that you just can’t miss.

In the museum you will find a huge collection of photographs from during the tsunami as well as the aftermath. The photos combined with their explanation and the facts about the tsunami leave a lasting impact. And if that wasn’t enough, the family who runs the museum is happy to answer any questions or explain their own story to you.

The museum is free but if you enjoyed it be sure to leave a small donation!

Tsunami Museum, 95th kilometer of Galle Road, Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka

—submitted by Bailey, who has a passion for adventure travel and learning about new cultures. These passions take her exploring all over the world while she works as a freelance writer and blogger on her own website, Destinationless Travel.

Taiwan

New Taipei City: Museum of World Religions

When in Taipei, many travelers visit the National Palace Museum, but few are aware of the much smaller Museum of World Religions. The latter offers a comparatively peaceful and introspective experience (we were the only guests when we visited!), yet the museum’s exhibits are unique and fascinating.

The Museum of World Religions was established by a Chinese-Burmese monk named Hsin Tao. After living an ascetic life in the hills around Taipei for many years, he decided to come out of seclusion and found the museum. His main goal is to promote unity among the world’s major faiths, and to teach local people and visitors about different religions, with equal weight given to each of them.

From the outside, the building housing the museum doesn’t look much different from an apartment, and it is located on a street like any other in Taiwan. But from the moment you enter via an elevator to the 7th floor, every element is imbued with symbolism. The most memorable feature are the 10 miniature replicas of religious structures from around the world. The detail that has gone into each of them is truly astounding.

The museum is located in New Taipei City, the suburbs of Taipei. It is a 15-minute walk from Dingxi MRT station.

Museum of World Religions, No. 236, Section 1, Zhongshan Road, Yonghe District, New Taipei City, Taiwan

—submitted by Nick Kembel, the creator of Spiritual Travels, a website devoted to mindful travel in East Asia and beyond.

Thailand

Chiang Mai: Museum of World Insects and Natural Wonders

The Nimmanhaemin area of Chiang Mai is full of coffee shops, digital nomads, and trendy restaurants (I personally love the Salad Concept). Get off the main strip and discover a quieter destination that doesn’t always get the attention it deserves

This little oddball museum offers a diverse variety of world insects—over 10,000 species are claimed, though I didn’t take the time to count. They’re well-displayed in glass cabinets, so bring the macro lens if you have it! Be aware the gate may be closed. Ring the bell to enter.

The owners are a couple of older locals, including a quirky and extremely well-educated lady who has cataloged hundreds of new mosquito species. The owners tend to stay at the entrance, so you will have the collection to yourself, most likely.

As often happens in small, private museums, not everything’s in a logical placement, and sometimes good stuff is hidden behind other stuff. Look for the ‘wishing bell’ stone, which symbolizes good luck. Knock the bell to make a wish. Also around are signs encouraging you not to squish God’s creations.

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every day (until 3 p.m. on Sunday).

Museum of World Insects and Natural Wonders, 72 Soi Nimmanhemin 13, Sirimangkhalachan Rd., Chiang Mai, 50200. (GPS: ‎18.796128,98.970669).

 —submitted by Chris Backe (rhymes with hockey), who is the travel blogger behind Worthy Go and author of dozens of itineraries. When not traveling, he also makes board games.

Kanchanaburi: Hellfire Pass Museum

The Hellfire Pass Museum, 90 minutes north of Kanchanaburi, Thailand, commemorates Allied prisoners of war and local slave laborers who were forced to build the Thai-Burma death railway during World War II.  There is no street address for this museum, which is located close to the Konyu (or Hellfire) Pass, which the prisoners of war (POWs) cut from the rock by hand.  You’ll need to take a songthaew (open-backed truck) from Kanchanaburi to reach this museum.

The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is free.  It is small but augmented by the personally told stories of those who survived their time here. The museum includes an audio tour, which guides you through a walking trail along the course of the death railway.  This 2.5-kilometer trail is just a third of the daily route that POWs walked to their toil each day.

This museum is a place for quiet introspection, to understand the trials of the prisoners who lived and died or survived their time here. The time spent listening to the audio tour is very moving and very private. The dark, deep walls of the cutting of Hellfire Pass will remain with you as a memorial the men incarcerated here.

Hellfire Pass Museum, Kanchanaburi, Northern Thailand

—submitted by Sarah Carter, who, with Nigel Dockerty, writes about Gen X Travel with a Y Attitude at ASocialNomad. They like to travel slow, eat and drink local.  You’ll find them in museums, on wine tours, hiking trails, and exploring temples.  

Small Museums in Australia

Australia

New South Wales

The Rocks Discovery Museum. Photo credit: Rohini.

Sydney: The Rocks Discovery Museum

The Rocks is a little museum in the heart of Sydney city, housed in a sandstone building from 1850s. The museum details the history from pre-European settlement days onward. Also, it provides insights to the traditional custodians of the land.

It is an incredible experience to understand the history and the cultural significance of the Rocks itself. It preserves the stories about the first restaurant in Sydney and the first Europeans who arrived in Sydney. It indeed is a great experience to see the household items and clothes used by people who lived centuries before us.

The Rocks Discovery Museum is well-situated close to a lot of artsy pubs and The Rocks market itself. A very short walk away is Circular Quay train station and ferry wharf, which provides excellent public transport options to the museum.

Technology has been leveraged to make this small museum very interesting by its interactive touch screens and audio devices. Admission is free entry to the museum, which is open all days except Christmas and New Year.

Rocks Discovery Museum, Kendall Lane (enter via Argyle Street), The Rocks, NSW, 2000

—submitted by Rohini, an engineer by profession who loves writing about travel. See more of Rohini’s work at WhyYouWander.com.

Small Museums in the Middle East and Africa

United Arab Emirates

Dubai: Perfume Museum

Opened in 2019 as part of the Al Shindanga project, the House of Perfume Museum is a small and very niche museum that traces the history of perfumes in the United Arab Emirates and in Dubai as well as in the Arabic world.

The museum is located by the Creek, in the old part of town that is now seeing a revival and is housed in the former residence of Shaikha Shaikha Bint Saeed Al Maktoum, sister of the vice president of the UAE who passed away in 2017.

If you have walked across the malls and other public spaces in the UAE, you will have smelled the strong Arabic perfumes that are sold in specialty perfumery stores. At the museum you can learn more about their ingredients, where they come from, how they are processed so the smells can be extracted and how they are used. There is also a store where you can buy some of them.

Perfume Museum, Alshindagha Historical District, Al Khaleej Road, Dubai, UAE

—submitted by Mar, a luxury and out of the ordinary travel blogger and digital media consultant. Learn more at Once in a Lifetime Journey.

The 25 Best Small Museums were compiled by Lori Tripoli, who is the editor and publisher of Bashful Adventurer. Based in the New York City vicinity, she writes about travel for a variety of publications.

Contact Lori at loritripoli@bashfuladventurer.com.

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