The World's 12 Most Beautiful Museums
![](https://cdn-v2.theculturetrip.com/20x11/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/56-3620279-1422277863c8f09fba7ded4264b8128aec540d9cb9.webp)
From converted train stations to medieval ruins, museums across the world are just as inspiring as the exhibits they contain. We bring you the most striking cultural destinations from across the globe.
1. Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Building, Museum
![Musée dOrsay interior](https://cdn-v2.theculturetrip.com/10x/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/56-3620259-1422277742bc2035dd4217423cabe04c9e2a279e52.webp)
2. The Natural History Museum, London
Building, Museum
![](https://cdn-v2.theculturetrip.com/10x/images/default_location.webp)
Although many millions visit London’s Natural History Museum every year, many miss the purpose-built beauty of the building itself. Fitting the natural history subject matter, the walls, pillars and ceilings of the building are teeming with paintings and carvings of animals, flora and fauna that make every room a delight. From the tiny details of the stone monkeys climbing up the pillars around the main museum block to more recent additions like the atmospheric Earth Room, this building deserves just as much scrutiny as the exhibitions contained within it.
3. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Art Gallery, Building, Museum, School
![Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, New York, USA.](https://cdn-v2.theculturetrip.com/10x/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/awh6k8.webp)
4. Guggenheim Bilbao, Bilbao
Building, Museum
![](https://cdn-v2.theculturetrip.com/10x/images/default_location.webp)
5. The Hanoi Museum, Hanoi
Building, Museum
6. The Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto
Building, Museum, Park
![](https://cdn-v2.theculturetrip.com/10x/images/default_location.webp)
7. Monet's House and Gardens, Giverny
Bridge, Museum, Park
![The famous bridge over the waterlily pond in Monets garden](https://cdn-v2.theculturetrip.com/10x/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1993149.webp)
8. Moscow State Historical Museum, Moscow
Building, Museum, Store
![8. Moscow State Historical Museum, Moscow](https://cdn-v2.theculturetrip.com/10x/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/historical-museum-2210325_1280.webp)
9. Hedmark Museum, Hamar
Cathedral, Museum, Ruins
![Protected Cathedral Ruins at the Hedmark Museum](https://cdn-v2.theculturetrip.com/10x/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/56-3620273-14222778132f0eb05c1b484ddca42a1be1e3b68677.webp)
10. The Louvre, Paris
Museum, Building
![](https://cdn-v2.theculturetrip.com/10x/images/default_location.webp)
Officially the world’s most visited museum, the evolving architecture of the Louvre offers masterpieces to compete with the ‘Mona Lisa’ or the ‘Venus de Milo’ contained within. The building offers everything from the museum’s original medieval fortress foundations (visible in the crypt) to its famous glass pyramid built in 1989 and inverted pyramid finished in 1993. Across its 60,000 square meters we find some of the most beautiful architecture in France, a building that was expanded throughout the centuries.
11. The Museum of Islamic Art, Doha
Museum
![](https://cdn-v2.theculturetrip.com/10x/images/default_location.webp)
12. The Dali Museum, St. Petersburg, FL
Museum, Building
![The back of the Salvador Dalí Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida](https://cdn-v2.theculturetrip.com/10x/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/dan-lundberg-flickr.webp)