The most beautiful museums in Europe you should visit at least once

Less a museum and more an immersive wellness experience for the soul, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is a window into the soothing balm of creativity. The most visited art museum in Scandinavia, the Louisiana boasts a stunning location on the Øresund coast north of Copenhagen, and the sumptuous outdoor sculpture garden sets the stage for what’s to come. The interior is all glass corridors and minimalist magic, and the rotating exhibitions are set in pure elegance. Museums don’t come much more aesthetically pleasing than the Louisiana.

Address: Gl Strandvej 13, 3050, Humlebæk
Opening hours: Tuesday to Friday, from 11am-10pm; 
Saturday and Sunday, from 11am-6pm; closed Monday
Expect to pay: DKK 145 for general admission

Frank Gehry’s extraordinary creation on the banks of the Nervión River divides opinion, but it is difficult to deny the striking nature of this Deconstructivist monolith. Completed in 1997, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao is a chaotic celebration of light, a mass of titanium that seems to shimmer with the skies, blending into the urban landscape as it does. The curved walls make for a dramatic structure, one that almost single-handedly brought new life to the Basque city’s previously neglected port area. The museum’s exhibition program regularly features internationally acclaimed artists, but the building itself is undeniably its most celebrated work.

Address: Abandoibarra Etorb., 2, Abando, 48009, Bizkaia, Bilbao
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, from 10am-7pm; closed Monday
Expect to pay: €18 for general admission

Set in the stunning Beaux-Arts Gare d’Orsay train station, the Musée d’Orsay might just be Paris at its most romantic. Heady praise, without doubt, but it doesn’t take long for the fuzzy joy of love to take over once you arrive, as sunlight pours into the building through its huge glass roof. Converted into a museum in the middle of the 1980s, the Musée d’Orsay is home to the largest collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces on the planet, and these iconic works are somehow accentuated by the graceful stonework and refined elegance of the building itself.

Address: Esplanade Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, 75007, Paris (7th arrondisement)
Opening hours: Monday to Tuesday, and Wednesday to Sunday, from 9.30am-6pm (last entry at 5pm); Thursday, from 9.30am-9.45pm (last entry at 9.45pm); closed Monday
Expect to pay: €14 for general admission purchased at the museum, and €16 general admission purchased online

A former grain silo might not be the most obvious location for one of the continent’s most beautiful museums, but who said beauty was predictable? Norway’s Kunstsilo is as striking as structures get, with towering concrete cylinders and imposing windows creating a thrilling marriage of modern innovation and industrial practicality. The tender grace of the interior is somewhat at odds with the imposing certainty of the original structure, showcasing Nordic minimalism at its very best. A waterfront location in southern Norway is the icing on the cake.

Address: Sjølystveien 8, 4610, Kristiansand
Opening hours: Wednesday to Friday, from 11am-9pm; and Saturday to Tuesday, from 11am-5pm; closed Monday
Expect to pay: NOK 210 for general admission

Rome’s Villa Borghese is another in the long line of sumptuous buildings in the Eternal City, but there is something special going on here. The marble halls and painted ceilings of this early 17th-century stunner are legitimate works of art, and the sense of refinement that flows from room to room creates the perfect atmosphere for the masterpieces on display. The spectacular gardens are so impressive that they have become an attraction in their own right. At the Galleria Borghese, beauty is everywhere. Is it a museum or is it a palace? Yes, yes it is.

Address: Piazzale Scipione Borghese, 5, 00197, Roma
Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, from 9am-7pm (last admission at 5.45pm); closed Monday
Expect to pay: €16 for general admission

One of the most magnificent examples of red-brick Gothic and Renaissance Revival architecture in a city overflowing with the stuff, Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum is well worth its lofty reputation. Designed by 19th-century Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers, the Rijksmuseum’s splendour is accentuated by the gardens, fountains, open squares, and statues that surround it. The building itself is the main event, and its intricate details lend extra weight to the masterpieces within, as famous works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, and others shimmer in the light pouring through vast windows. It all makes for an achingly gorgeous museum experience.

Address: Museumstraat 1, 1071 XX, Amsterdam
Opening hours: Open daily from 9am-5pm
Expect to pay: €25 for general admission

Where to begin with the magnificent Kunsthistorisches Museum (Museum of Art History) in Vienna? The city’s most famous gallery is a treasure trove of tremendous works, but the building itself is the true icon, a stunning imperial palace straight out of the grander side of the 19th century. Designed by Gottfried Semper and Baron Karl von Hasenauer, the palace is all frescoed ceilings, long corridors, golden columns, and marble staircases, an apt spot for Austria’s largest art museum. This is undoubtedly one of Europe’s most awe-inspiring settings, one that celebrates architecture as much as it does art. The Natural History Museum nearby is quite the looker, too.

Address: Maria-Theresien-Platz, 1010, Wien
Opening hours: Open daily, from 10am-6pm (Thursdays until 9pm)
Expect to pay: €22 for online general admission, €24 for on-site general admission

It only takes a moment for the drama of this stunner to kick in. Europe is home to a plethora of elegantly gorgeous museums, but there’s nothing quite like LUMA Arles, another Frank Gehry-designed masterpiece that divides opinion. A vividly intense structure made of thousands of stainless steel panels, Gehry’s design is born of the city’s rich artistic history, particularly the well-documented work and wanderings of Vincent van Gogh. The steel panels shimmer in the Provençal sun, while the interior’s imposing minimalist halls and dramatic staircases add another layer of grandeur to it all. LUMA Arles isn’t your traditional beauty, but there’s nothing like it.

Address: 35 Av. Victor Hugo, 13200m Arles
Opening hours: From October to March: Open daily, from 7am-6.30pm
From April to September: Open daily, from 7am-8.30pm
Expect to pay: €15 for high-season general admission, and €9 for low-season general admission