We’ve all heard of the Louvre, stocked as it is with treasures, including the famous Mona Lisa . But the Louvre is by no means the end-all be-all of European museums. From the National Gallery in London to Museum Island in Berlin, Europe is brimming with art history and world-class institutions to put on your travel bucket list .
You could spend a lifetime touring museums across Europe — especially since some of the best can be closed for renovation at any time (looking at you, Centre Pompidou).
Here are the museums to start with:
1) The Louvre: Paris
With over 35,000 works of art, the Louvre is a global treasure, the most visited museum in the world and a piece of European history. Originally a fortress, the building expanded alongside the fortunes of Revolutionary France and the Napoleonic era.
From its glass pyramid out front to its interior salons and arched glass roofs, the Louvre is iconic and picturesque. You might go to see world-famous sculptures like the Venus de Milo or to simply pay homage to the building itself, but a trip to Paris isn’t complete without a visit to the Louvre.
Tickets to the Louvre are €32 for a standard non-European adult ticket and €22 for Europeans.
2) British Museum: London
Another emblem of Europe's past empires, the British Museum is a treasure trove of global art and artifacts. Holding the world-famous Rosetta Stone, collections of samurai swords and more, it’s a look at world history through the lens of British colonialism.
Located centrally in London, it’s just a hop, skip and a jump from the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace. The museum is also free, so it’s hard to justify not including it in your London itinerary. Use the money you saved on the ticket price to treat yourself to an exceptional bowl of curry.
3) Vatican Museums: Rome
There are few global institutions with collections as rich as the Vatican. Whether you travel to Italy to make a pilgrimage to the Holy See or you’re simply fascinated with world history and art, the Vatican Museums are one of the world’s great treasure troves, and they’re open to visitors.
The collection includes Michelangelo’s masterpiece in fresco, the Sistine Chapel, Caravaggio’s The Entombment of Christ and Raphael’s The School of Athens. The museum is one of the best places in the world to see Renaissance artwork, but it also houses much more.
Standard tickets are €20, with reduced-price tickets also available. If you choose to visit the Vatican Museums, it’s important to book well in advance, especially if you’re traveling to Italy in tourist season.
4) Uffizi Gallery: Florence
Florence’s Uffizi Gallery is a piece of Italian history. Step into the Renaissance, when Michelangelo worked with blocks of marble, hewn from the cliffs of Carrara. The museum has such masterpieces as Botticelli’s Birth of Venus , Michelangelo’s Tondo Doni and Titian’s Portrait of Francesco Maria della Rovere .
Since 2024, a ticket to the Uffizi Gallery can be bundled with a ticket to the newly restored Vasari Corridor, which takes you over the Ponte Vecchio, a covered bridge that crosses the Arno. The walkway runs through the protected path that the Medici themselves used to access the Boboli Gardens.
Standard tickets to the Uffizi Gallery start at €25.
5) Rijksmuseum: Amsterdam
Celebrate the artistic history of the Netherlands at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum . This stunning Amsterdam gallery is famed for its collection of Dutch masters and works by Van Gogh, but it doesn’t stop there. You’ll also see art and artifacts from around the world, early photography and examples of other art-making practices.
Stroll the nearby park and visit Vermeers and Rembrandts in the center of Amsterdam. Adult tickets start at €25.
6) Galleria Borghese: Rome
One could argue that the Galleria Borghese is to a Rome vacation as Parmesan is to a bowl of pasta: a near requirement. Housed in the Villa Borghese Pinciana, the gallery contains a breathtaking collection of paintings and sculptures, and the grounds justify a visit in their own right. The Borghese collection includes masterpieces by Bernini, along with paintings by Raphael and Caravaggio.
Because the museum allows entry in shifts of no more than 180 people, each lasting two hours, there are never more than 360 visitors at a time, ensuring a more contemplative experience without hordes of people snapping photos. Because of this, you’ll need to plan your visit more carefully than at other museums. Tickets start at €16, plus fees.
7) The National Gallery: London
Focused on the art of Western Europe, London’s National Gallery presides over Trafalgar Square in the heart of the city center. While the British Museum might be slightly more famous, the National Gallery is just as deserving of a visit. The museum includes masterpieces such as Titian’s Bacchus and Ariadne , as well as English works like Stubbs’ Whistlejacket .
As with London’s other major museums, the National Gallery is free to enter. You won’t want to skip this one.
8) Museo del Prado: Madrid
A true gem of Spain, the Museo del Prado is an extraordinary gallery with some of the most famous names from pre-20th-century Spanish art, including Goya. It also houses a wide collection of other masterworks, such as Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights .
You’ll need to go visit the Reina Sofia if you want to see lots of Picasso. But as one of Europe’s premier art museums, the Prado has more than enough masterworks to spellbind for a day.
Tickets to the Prado start at €15 for adults. However, there are numerous options for free visitation times and discounts for qualifying individuals.
9) Musée d'Orsay: Paris
Inhabiting the Gare d'Orsay, a Beaux-Arts train station, the Musée d'Orsay is one of Paris’ finest art museums. Focused on Impressionism and other French art from 1848 to 1914, it’s packed with crowd-pleasers from Manet, Renoir and Monet.
The museum’s tickets start at €14, with fees for certain ticket types and discounts available.
10) Tate Modern: London
The Tate Modern is London’s major modern art museum. Set in a colossal power plant, the museum awes in its scale. Walk inside and encounter a vast open space, then explore the galleries for a curated journey through modern and contemporary art. Visit exhibitions featuring iconic works by artists like Frida Kahlo and Tracey Emin, as well as experimental photography.
As with the other London museums on this list, the Tate is free to enter.
11) Museum Island: Berlin
Ok, this isn’t one museum, but as a UNESCO World Heritage site, Museum Island deserves a place on this list. In the center of Berlin, it houses a cluster of wonderful galleries and museum spaces. From the Altes Museum , which houses art and artifacts from antiquity, to the Alte Nationalgalerie , with its survey of Romanticism, Impressionism and other movements, there’s enough on Museum Island to fill multiple days of sightseeing.
While each museum charges separately, a Berlin Museum Pass starts at €32, enabling you to visit all the museums on the island and more.
12) Van Gogh Museum: Amsterdam
A quick stroll from the Rijksmuseum is Amsterdam’s other pilgrimage for museum-goers, the Van Gogh Museum . There are few characters from art history more famous than Van Gogh — few characters from history, really. A famously reclusive artist in his lifetime, his work continues to bedazzle subsequent generations.
The Van Gogh Museum collects many of the legendary painter’s works in one place and pairs them with complementary exhibits that help one appreciate his masterworks and creativity.
Standard adult tickets are €25.
