257 museums · 48 countries · facts checked against official sites
World Museum Guide covers 257 museums in 48 countries with verified ticket prices, opening hours, free-entry days, must-see highlights and how long to allow — plus museum comparisons and a free-days calendar. No ads, no ticket commissions: every guide links to the museum's official website.
Ranked by annual visitors — prices, hours and time needed for each.
Paris, France
Art Museum · Best for art lovers & history enthusiasts
The Louvre is the world's largest art museum and a historic monument in Paris, France. A central landmark of the city, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the city's 1st arrondissement.
€22 for EEA visitors · ⏱ 3–5 hours · Closed Tuesdays
Vatican City, Vatican City
Art Museum · Best for art lovers & first-timers
The Vatican Museums are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of the most renowned Roman sculptures and most important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world.
€20 at the ticket office · ⏱ 3–4 hours
Seoul, South Korea
Art Museum · Best for history enthusiasts & art lovers
The National Museum of Korea moved to its current Yongsan home in 2005. The vast stone building frames a central 'Path of History' that aligns dramatically with distant Namsan tower.
Free entry · ⏱ 2–3 hours
London, United Kingdom
History & Archaeology · Best for history enthusiasts & families
The British Museum, located in the Bloomsbury area of London, United Kingdom, is a public institution dedicated to human history, art and culture. Its permanent collection of some eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence.
Free entry · ⏱ 2–4 hours
New York City, United States
Art Museum · Best for art lovers & history enthusiasts
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially 'the Met', is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments.
$30 · ⏱ 3–5 hours · Closed Wednesdays
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Art Museum · Best for art lovers & history enthusiasts
Founded by Emperor Nicholas II in 1895 as the Russian Museum of Emperor Alexander III, the State Russian Museum opened in 1898 in Carlo Rossi's Mikhailovsky Palace on Inzhenernaya Street.
700 RUB · ⏱ 2–3 hours · Closed Tuesdays
The best museums in each city, ranked and compared.
55 museums with free entry for everyone, city by city.
Free Sundays, free evenings and who gets in free at 69 more museums.
Louvre or Orsay? Met or MoMA? Side-by-side verdicts on prices and time needed.
Where to see the Mona Lisa, The Starry Night and 48 more masterpieces.
Prices and hours checked against each museum's official website.
The Louvre in Paris is the most visited museum in the world, with about 9 million visitors a year according to The Art Newspaper annual attendance survey. The Vatican Museums and the National Museum of Korea follow.
World Museum Guide lists 55 museums with free standard admission for everyone — including the British Museum, National Gallery and Tate Modern in London and the Smithsonian museums in Washington, DC — and 69 more with free days or free entry for some visitors.
For the Louvre, Vatican Museums, Van Gogh Museum, Uffizi and similar blockbusters, book a timed-entry slot two to four weeks ahead in spring and summer. Many free museums, such as the British Museum, also recommend a free timed ticket at busy times. Each guide says whether booking ahead is needed.
Each museum guide shows the date its admission prices and opening hours were last checked against the museum’s official website, and links to that source. The site has no ads and sells no tickets, so recommendations are independent. Corrections are published in a dated log.
