From the ‘depressing’ London Dungeon to a New York attraction where one visitor felt ‘ripped off’ – tourists reveal the ‘worst’ museums they’ve ever visited. Have YOU ever been?
The world is full of fascinating museums. But also many bunglers.
As disappointed tourists recently showed in a discussion on Reddit.
User ‘MarathonMarathon’ started the thread on the ‘Travel’ forum asking: ‘What are the worst museums you’ve ever visited?’
Redditors felt shortchanged as descriptions of museums poured in. At the time of writing, the post had nearly 800 comments.
A famous attraction in Berlin quickly became a topic of conversation, with Redditors revealing they were far from impressed with the Checkpoint Charlie Museum.
‘Disorganized’: The Checkpoint Charlie Museum (above) has left some Redditors far from impressed
User ‘TLB-Q8’ described it as a ‘commercial tourist trap’ and claimed: ‘There are better ways to get a feel for what it was like to live in West Berlin.’
User ‘blergyblergy’, who had ‘high expectations’ of the museum, was also disappointed. They claimed it was ‘disorganised’ and ‘lack of effort’, while the information was in ‘zero chronological order’.
Karl Marx House Museum in Trier, Germany, also disappointed tourists. Redditor ‘Hungry_Bet7216’ commented, ‘I’m not sure if it was a museum or a crowd.’ They described the museum as ‘very crowded’ and said it was ‘not easy to absorb anything.’
While heading north, user ‘scavenger7’ described the Icelandic Phallological Museum in Reykjavik, or as they called it ‘The Penis Museum’, as ‘disappointing’. They wrote: ‘I expected it to be erotic, but it’s just a collection of animal penises ripped from their owners and pickled. Probably the least sexy thing I could imagine.’
Museum of GrainA wax museum in Rome featuring figures from popes to ancient Romans also fared poorly, with RomeVacationTips criticizing it as “breathtakingly incompetent.”
The Karl Marx House museum (above) in Trier, Germany, left one Redditor wondering whether it was a “museum or a crowd”
One Redditor described the Icelandic Phallological Museum (above) as “possibly the least sexy thing I could imagine”
Redditors claimed to have seen insects in the Museu de la Xocolata in Barcelona, or the Museum of Chocolate.
User ‘Lanxy’ wrote: ‘We just happened to stumble upon it and thought, “Hey, why not.” [It was the] worst 20 minutes of my life. Every single one, honestly, nicely done, was full of maggots.’
‘HoneyCakePonye’ added: ‘I didn’t see many bugs/maggots at the chocolate museum, but it’s still one of the worst places I’ve ever paid admission to.’
Heineken Museum in Amsterdam fared no better, with ‘moes23’ complaining that ‘you’d be better off taking a picture of the building and then going for a pint somewhere’. They added: ‘They just rush you through it really quickly and you don’t learn anything that a quick Wiki search wouldn’t tell you.’
France also has a flop, according to Redditors, with ‘notassigned2023’ referring to the Salvador Dali Museum in Paris as a “tourist trap,” an attraction that “looks more like a Dali gift shop that you have to pay to enter.”
‘CitizenDain’ added: ‘They have a handful of Dali sculptures and other than that it’s mostly photos of Dali, magazine covers of him and stupid holograms.’
Are there any museums in the UK that you can complain about? The London Dungeon drew the ire of ‘BlueHorseDungeon’, who complained that it was ‘utterly vulgar’ and a ‘depressing collection of torture devices’. (Note that complaints about The London Dungeon Tripadvisor page draws criticism: You have been warned.)
False: A Redditor who visited the Museum of Mathematics in New York said he felt like he had been “ripped off.” Photo courtesy of Creative Commons- license
A Reddit user described Barcelona’s Chocolate Museum as ‘one of the worst places I’ve ever paid admission to’
Edinburgh Castle National War Museum also failed to live up to expectations. ‘MungoShoddy’ said the museum is ‘undoubtedly great if you have a soft spot for dusty military uniforms and faded flags’.
Across the pond, Manhattan’s award-winning Museum of Mathematics (or MoMath) also disappointed, with one user labeling it one of the “most expensive, least rewarding museums in the world,” adding, “It was $25 to enter and there were only two rooms. Avoid.”
‘N0r5e’ feels the same way, complaining that they ‘felt ripped off when they walked in there to kill time’.
New York Skyscraper Museumis now a ‘total waste of time’, according to ‘WaddlingLion’. They wrote: ‘[It] has the same level of execution as someone who prints out Wikipedia pages and sticks them on the wall.’
The Salem Witch Trial Museum In Massachusetts it wasn’t impressive either, with user ‘climbing_headstones’ describing it as ‘disappointing’ and user ‘sols_gatsby’ agreeing: ‘Yeah, [it’s] ‘Just some tasteless mannequins and then a souvenir shop.’
