Museum
Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza
The name may be a challenge for English speakers, but Madrid's newest art museum is very easy to love for individuals of any nationality. Drawn from the possessions collected over generations of a wealthy family, the contents form one of the greatest gatherings of paintings in the world.
Museo del Prado
One of the most visited tourist spots in Madrid, the Prado Museum is home to over 7,000 paintings. Though the emphasis is heavily on the three most famous Spanish masters - Goya, Velázquez and El Greco - there are major and minor masterpieces from dozens of other artists.
Hong Kong Museum of History
Hong Kong is a bustling, ultra-modern city with an ancient past. This contrast is captured and displayed to perfection in the Hong Kong Museum of History.
Madame Tussaud's & London Planetarium
Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum is one of the very few attractions in London that is both centuries old and completely modern.
Madame Tussaud learned her unusual craft of modeling figures in wax by creating death masks of those executed by guillotine in 18th and 19th century France. Among her 'clients' were Louis XVI and Marie Antionette. That mixture of precise art and macabre display is reflected in the modern museum - but with a much greater sense of fun!
The London West End
Soho is a short walk away. For those interested in the red-light district in the home of the Puritans, that's here - and has been for over a century.
But Soho is much more than strip bars and prostitutes. As the area, along with many parts of London, undergoes a rejuvenation, there are also expensive restaurants and shops to enjoy. Soho Square has places to sit and watch the city go buy in safety and comfort.
Along Whitehall in London
To many the name 'Whitehall' evokes 'British Government'. And, indeed, the Houses of Parliament are at one end of the road running north from Parliament Square.
The Natural History Museum in London
The building itself makes the trip worthwhile. Completed in 1880, the Italian Renaissance design sports an ornate terracotta facade with several stepped arches. It looks as much like a Gothic cathedral as a museum. Terracotta was popular, as it stood up well to Victorian soot. The exterior is festooned with hundreds of carvings that reflect the contents of the interior.
London, The National Gallery
Having no Royal collection with which to begin, the museum found its start with the purchase of a mere 38 paintings from the estate of a recently deceased banker, J.J. Angerstein. Housed in his home at 100 Pall Mall for the first 10 years of its existence, the National Gallery opened to the public there in 1824.
Finding the museum frequently overcrowded and ill-adapted for the display of paintings, the directors finally persuaded Parliament to sponsor a new home near Trafalgar Square. The move was fortunate and the collection expanded accordingly.
The Louvre, Paris
Unquestionably the most famous name in the world of art museums, The Louvre largely deserves its renown. Enormous and filled with irreplaceable treasures from around the world, this premier series of exhibits offers something for everyone.
The British Museum in London
Like most museums in London, The British Museum is free of admission, though some events and special exhibitions have an admission charge. But were it the most expensive attraction in the city, it would be worth the price.