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One has to distinguish museums showing paintings of various periods or schools and museums devoted to a specific period or specific schools of art.
In the first category of "general" museums my preferences go to:
Rank 1:
The National Gallery, London.
Le Louvre, Paris.
Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.
Rank 2:
Musées Royaux des Beaux Arts, Brussels.
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid.
In the second category of "specific" museums my preferences go to:
Rank 1:
Musée d'Orsay, Paris. (modern art)
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. (Dutch school; the collection is only partially visible during the works)
Gemäldegalerie des Kunsthistorischen Museums, Vienna. (ancient paintings)
Rank 2:
Prado Museum, Madrid. (mainly Spanish schools)
Uffizi Galleria, Florence (Italian schools)
Alte Pinakothek, Munich (ancient paintings)
Of course there are more good museums to see in Europe but with my favoured ones you will already need 11 days, travelling not included.
(Note: The Hermitage, St-Petersburg, should probably be in the above list but I haven't been there).
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Under Antiquities I mean here Roman, Greek, Egyptian and Near Eastern artefacts.
My preferred museums are the following:
Multidepartment Museums:
Le Louvre, Paris.
British Museum, London.
Museumsinsel Berlin (Museum Island) with various museums like the Altes Museum, the Pergamon Museum and the Egyptian Museum.
Greek and Roman antiquities:
Capitoline Museum and the two Museo Nazionale Romano (Palazzo Altemps and Palazzo Massimo), Rome.
National Archaeological Museum and Acropolis Museum, Athens.
Vatican Museum, Rome.
Egyptian Antiquities:
Museo Egizio (Egyptian museum), Turin.
And Egyptian departments of Le Louvre, British Museum and Berlin Island museum (one of the best in Europe).
Of course there are others like Vienna's Kunsthistorisches Museum, Archaeological Museum of Olympia, Leiden, Brussels, etc., etc. but if you have time to visit my favoured ones you will already feel a happy cultured traveller.
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A look on VT at most popular destinations in Europe shows that the 20 most popular destinations are Paris, London, Rome, Prague, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Venice, Berlin, Vienna, Budapest, Florence, Madrid, Brussels, Dublin, Munich, Athens, Lisbon, Stockholm, Moscow, Milan.
My top 10 for Europe based on a "beautiful things to see" criterion would be:
Rank 1 : Paris, Rome, Venice, Prague.
Rank 2 : Vienna, London, Budapest.
Rank 3 : Madrid, Amsterdam, Brussels.
For me "Beautiful things to see" means: monuments, architecture, art, museums.
You will see that these top 10 are all state capitals with the exception of Venice, but Venice was a state.
On VT the second place of popular destinations in Europe is London. I certainly like this city but I think that this rank, just after Paris and before Rome, results from the fact that they speak (often!) English in London and that Anglophone travellers have a natural preference for destinations where their "lingua franca" is spoken or at least well understood.
I often read on VT that restaurant X in Rome, for example, was much appreciated because the staff spoke very well English. An Italian, French or Belgian customer would not mind about the language abilities of the staff but be concerned with the culinary talents of the "chef".
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As I was born just before WW II in a country which was twice in the centre of the cyclone I learned already as a child what war looks like. Having heard the sound of a V1 flying over Brussels or the roaring squadrons of Flying Fortresses high in the sky I wanted to know more about that war and I became interested in the military history which marked my childhood.
The Army Museum in Brussels was the first one I visited and I must say that from the numerous large or small military museums I visited it is now, after expansion and renovation works, one of the top WW I and WW II museums in Europe.
Here is my list of what I consider as the best museums; I visited most of them several times. I did not visit Russia so that the Moscow Armed Forces museum is not on my list but I presume it is worthwhile a visit.
World War I and II museums:
Army Museum - Musée de l'Armée, Brussels.
Imperial War Museum, London.
Invalides - Musée de l'Armée, Paris.
Heeresgeschichtliches Museum - Austrian Army Museum, Vienna
Medieval and Modern Times:
Invalides - Musée de l'Armée, Paris. (17th - 19th c. is closed for works)
Hofjagd- und Rüstkammer - Collection of Arms and Armour, Vienna
Heeresgeschichtliche Museum - Austrian Army Museum, Vienna
Museo del Ejercito - Army Museum, Madrid/Toledo.
Apart of these large museums there are numerous local museums and memorials.
The "In Flanders Fields museum", Ieper/Ypres, Belgium, is one of the most remarkable I visited about WW I.
I also remember a visit to the Armeria Reale (Royal Armoury), Turin, Italy in the nineties. Quite interesting for specialists in ancient weapons but a rather old fashioned presentation. I was the only visitor.
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After a few days in Paris, I concluded my trip to this city with a visit to Versailles. I was feeling tired from walking a few days after each other in Paris, trying to absorb as much as I could of the city. My feet were hurting quite bad by now, but that didn't stop me from visiting Versailles. I always dreamed of seeing Versailles one day, and here I was!
My first excitement of being at Versailles tempered quite quickly when I got inside. The rooms were beautiful decorated, almost "too" beautiful. Not a patch was left untouched, it was all gold plattered, sculputered and there were decorations all over. The rooms themselves were quite empty, and the furniture was displayed behind a cord. The cord was important to stop the hundreds of tourist coming to close to those precious items. And that was where it went wrong for me.....
To tell the story in short.... it was way too crowded for me..... You can read all about my story on my Versailles page, and also see lots of beautiful photos of the Palace and the gardens. The gardens are just as amazing, or maybe even more amazing than the interior.
You can see and read much more on my Versailles page
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Now it is time for Sweden, my homecountry for over a year now. And what a beautiful country it is! I love to travel around and discover the beautiful nature of Sweden, the picturesque villages and of course Stockholm! In the next serie of tips I would like to give you an impression to the places I've visited and what you can expect to see in Sweden. It's impossible to mention them all, but I think this is a nice overview. For more tips about Sweden you can take a look at my Sweden page. Enjoy! Leave a Comment
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Stockholm, wow, what a wonderful city! I really love Stockholm, it is one of the best European cities in my opinion. Every time I visit Stockholm I am charmed by this place. And I want to share some of that with you on my Stockholm page.
In the must see tips on that page you can read all about:
Vasa Museum
Storkyrkan
Royal Palace and the Changing of the Guards
Gamla Stan
Riksdag
Medeltidsmuseum
Riddarholmen
Stadshuset
Sergels Torg
Skansen and the Skansen Akvariet
Naturhistoriska Museet and Cosmonova
Budget tip: visit museums for free
In the picture you can see the Stortorget in the Gamla Stan. Gamla Stan means 'old city' and that shows. I love this part of Stockholm, it is so picturesque. You really should take some time to explore this part of Stockholm. The square you can see on the picture is the Stortorget (meaning big square)
I've written much more about this fantastic city on my Stockholm page
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The Sigurdsristning is a special place with a lot of history. You can see it on the side of a quiet road, somewhere in between the trees. A little sign tells you where it is, and when you climb up the rock you see this: A huge rock with carved pictures surrounded by runic inscriptions. But what you feel is history, and lots of it. I find it an amazing place. It feels special to be here, where so many centuries ago someone was telling a story of a distinguished Viking family, by making these carvings in these rocks.
It’s an important historic place, but it is unprotected, it is just ‘there’ in the woods. And maybe that makes it even more special. I always feel peaceful when I am here, I don’t know why, I just feel at ease. The carvings are only a 5 minutes walk from my house. I don’t go here often though. Maybe it is because I want to keep it ‘special’, a place to visit so now and than and have that great feeling to connect with history.
The Sigurdsristningen are close to the city of Eskilstuna, about 1 1/2 west of Stockholm.
You can read all about the Sigurdsristningen on my Sundby page
Leave a Comment Directions: Sunbyholm is located in Svealand (Central Sweden) in the county of Södermanlands Län At Lake Mälaren, the south side of the lake Just north of Eskilstuna About 130 kilometres west of StockholmWebsite: http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/1c048/29f62/
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This is where I live! Sundbyholm! You could already read a bit about where I live in the previous tip. The Sigurdsristingen is a place that I like to walk to on a nice summer's day. But there is more that makes me like this place so much.
It is located on Lake Mälaren, a beautiful lake in the middle of Sweden. It has a little recreation area located right here at the lake. For me it means a nice place to walk to (it is only 10 minutes to go here) and relax. It has its charm as well in the summer as in the winter. Somehow the lake always looks wonderful. I love to watch the sunset over the lake and I try to take pictures of that whenever I can; as you can see in the photo.
There is also a little harbour here and even a castle! Sundbyholm castle has now turned into a restaurant but it is still a wonderful house to see. Sundbyholm is just a little dot on the map, some houses at the lake, a castle and a little harbour. But for me it is home and I absolutely love it here.
you can read more about this destination on my Sundby page
Leave a Comment Directions: Sunbyholm is located in Svealand (Central Sweden) in the county of Södermanlands Län At Lake Mälaren, on the south side of the lake Just north of Eskilstuna About 130 kilometres west of StockholmWebsite: http://www.virtualtourist.com/m/1c048/29f62/
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After lots of culture it is time for some more nature! And where better to find that then at Lake Tåkern! A bird watchers paradise! Lake Tåkern is a nature reserve and about 5400 hectares big. About half of it is open water and the rest is devided by woodlands, meadows and reedbeds. The aim of the reserve is to protect nature and preserve it for the future, as it is one of the most important nesting and resting places for wetland birds in the country. The area is rather easy to reach with two visiting areas in the south (Glänås and Dagsmosse) and two to the north-eastern part of the lake (Svällinge and Hov). As this a bird protecting area the area is closed during the from 1 April until 30 June, with the exception of specifically marked roads, visiting areas and footpaths.
In the photo you can see a nicerview over Lake Tåkern, taken from the viewpoint at Omberg.
you can read more about Lake Tåkern and surrounding area on my Omberg page
Leave a Comment Directions: Tåkern is located in Götaland (South Sweden) In the county of Östergötlands Län Close to Omberg
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on May 17, 2009
on February 10, 2007
