Berlin is an artsy sightseer’s candy store. If you love museums, you’ll love Berlin. It’s worth at least three full days of your sightseeing time. If you have more time, you’ll find lots more to do and see. It’s a big city with a whole lotta history.
We spent a week in Berlin when my husband Gregg Simpson had an exhibition there and didn’t come close to seeing everything we wanted to. Check out Gregg’s paintings at Gregg Simpson Art.
In this post I feature the highlights I recommend in Berlin. To help you plan your time, I’ve grouped the sites in geographical order, moving from western Berlin through the historic core and Museum Island in eastern Berlin to the Kreuzberg neighborhood in south Berlin (where we stayed) and the fantastic Jewish museum.
Orientation to Berlin
The map below includes the places mentioned in this post. Click a number to find out more information.
Make use of Berlin’s efficient subway system. The city is spread out, and distances between the places you’ll want to see require a lot of walking. Save your legs for touring the museums! For information about transit in Berlin, see the Official Website of Berlin.
Western Berlin
The two major sites we enjoyed in the former West Berlin are the relaxing Tiergarten and the Kulturforum near Potsdamer Platz.
Tiergarten
Chill out in the fabulous Tiergarten (#1), Berlin’s massive central park that stretches from the Brandenburg Gate to the Berlin Zoological Garden. We spent the better part of a day there strolling the pathways and enjoying brunch overlooking a lake. From the Tiergarten, you can’t miss the Victory Column, built in 1864. Climb it to enjoy a panoramic view over Berlin.
Potsdamer Platz and
Kulturforum
Check out the modern skyscrapers and shopping malls in Potsdamer Platz (#2), then walk over to the Kulturforum where you’ll find a complex that includes the Gemäldegalerie and the Philharmonie Berlin.
In the complex, you’ll also find the Musical Instruments Museum (Musikinstrumenten Museum) and the Museum of Decorative Arts (Kunstgewerbemuseum (#3)), touted as Berlin’s version of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Head here if you’re a fan of the applied arts. The collection of women’s fashions over the centuries is especially good.
Gemäldegalerie
An impressive number of European masters grace the walls of this wonderful art museum. The sleek, modern building houses works by Rembrandt, Dürer, Brueghel, Rubens, and Vermeer along with Italian masterpieces by Giotto, Botticelli, and Caravaggio. On the Gemäldegalerie (#4) website, take a virtual tour of several of the main galleries.
Allocate a morning to enjoying the collection at the Gemäldegalerie.
Philharmonie Berlin
The magnificent home of the Berlin Philharmonic (Berlin Philharmoniker)(#5) will take your breath away. With its unusual tent-like shape and bright yellow color, the concert hall has been a landmark in Berlin since 1963, well before the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The Berliner Philharmonie concert hall in Berlin, Germany
We scored tickets to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring performed by the Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin. The orchestra’s concerts are less expensive than concerts featuring the Berlin Philharmonic, and the quality was fantastic. Hearing Stravinsky played in the iconic hall was a special experience.
Check event
listings for the dates you’ll be in Berlin and consider getting tickets to a
concert at the Philharmonie Berlin.
If you’re not able to see a performance, try to find time for a guided tour of the Philharmonie Berlin. One-hour tours are offered daily at 1:30 pm except during July and August and several days at Christmas. The tours are conducted in German and English.
Historic Core of Berlin
When you
arrive in Berlin, make your first stop the area around the iconic Brandenburg
Gate at the entrance to the Tiergarten. An 18th-century neoclassical
monument built by Frederick William II, the gate once stood forlornly in
no-man’s land between East and West Berlin.
Reichstag
The big-ticket site in Berlin is the Reichstag (#6)(Bundestag), Germany’s historic parliament buildings. Also located in no-man’s land between East and West Berlin throughout the Cold War, the Reichstag was rebuilt in 1999. With its glass dome dominating the skyline, the Bundestag has become a symbol of a unified Germany.
Entrance is free but you’ll need to make a reservation at www.bundestag.de. Be sure to get tickets well in advance or you may be out of luck. You’ll need to show your passport to pass through security.
Brandenburg Gate
Walk through the Brandenburg Gate (#7)—something you couldn’t do until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The weight of history hangs heavy over the gate. Stand in front of it and realize that armies from Napoleon to Hitler have marched through its massive archway.
Now it’s a
selfie stop.
Memorial to the Murdered
Jews of Europe
Walk into this labyrinth of 2,711 pillars of different sizes. The sobering—and gigantic—memorial (#8) to the six million Jews executed by the Nazis is a center of calm in the middle of bustling Berlin. In the Information Center, a continuously running soundtrack recites the names of known victims.
Regrettably,
the memorial attracts more than its share of selfie sticks with people posing
against the pillars and even climbing and jumping on them.
Go directly into the memorial to get away from the photography mayhem at the peripheries and to experience the dislocation and fear that inevitably arises when you try to find your way out again.
Unter Den Linden
The Unter Den Linden (#9) is the Champs-Élysées of Berlin. Stroll down it from the Brandenburg Gate and stop to sample a currywurst at one of the many kiosks in the center strip. A currywurst is Berlin street food consisting of a fried pork sausage (Bratwurst) cut into bite-sized chunks and seasoned with curry ketchup. Eat it with French fries. Fortunately, you’ll walk off the calories pretty quickly.
Traditional German currywurst, served with chips
I’ve tried currywurst once, and I’m good now. It’s an acquired taste, but when in Berlin…
Ampelmänn Stores in Berlin
At the corner of Unter den Linden and Friedrichstrasse—another main drag—you’ll find the flagship Ampelmänn shop (#10).
This place ranks high on my list of favorite souvenir stores. The entire store is devoted to selling products inspired by the iconic Ampelmännchen pedestrian crossing symbols.
You’ll always know when you’re in a neighborhood that was once part of East Berlin because you’ll see Ampelmänn on the illuminated pedestrian signals. The green striding one tells you to Go, and the red standing one tells you to Stop. Both Ampelmännchen wear jaunty, flat-topped hats.
I don’t know why, but I fell in love with Ampelmänn and even bought a plastic one for my keychain. Berlin has several Ampelmänn shops. Search for Ampelmänn on Google maps and you might find one near your hotel. At the very least, treat yourself to a tea towel!
Museum Island
Keep walking down the Unter den Linden and you’ll eventually arrive at Museum Island, home to five world-class museums.
You could spend days, weeks even, exploring the museums here. Each historic museum building was built under a different Prussian king, with the whole site declared a UNESCO World Heritage site.
I recommend
visiting Museum Island over two days. You can’t see all five museums in a day
without completely wearing yourself out, so don’t even try!
Neues Museum
Of the five, my favorite is the Neues Museum (#11), where you’ll find the bust of Nefertiti along with several floors of treasures from the prehistoric, Egyptian, and classical antiquities eras. The displays on Floor 3 are awesome. Here you’ll find the artifacts from the Stone Age, Bronze Age, and other cultures of the pre-Roman Iron Age.
All the displays are well described in English. You could spend days in this one museum alone.
Pergamon Museum
The Pergamon Museum (#12) draws the crowds because of its jaw-dropping buildings from ancient Babylonia, Assyria, and the Islamic world. Unfortunately, you won’t see the enormous Pergamon Altar until 2025, but exhibits such as the Ishtar Gate (46 feet tall and 100 feet wide), the grandest of Babylon’s gates built during the time of Nebuchadnezzar, are worth the price of admission.
Alte Nationalgalerie
The Old National Gallery (#13) is the place to see German art, including the work of David Caspar Friedrich which pretty much sums up Romanticism. Check out his craggy mountains, bare-limbed trees, and swirling clouds that celebrate nature in the raw.
The gallery
also includes works by French and German Impressionists.
Bode & Alte Museums
These two museums will appeal to connoisseurs of Byzantine art, historic coins, ecclesiastical art (Bode), and other classical antiquities from Etruscan, Greek, and Roman times.
If your time is limited, go to the Neues Museum and the Pergamon Museum on separate days, with one day split with the German History Museum (#14).
The museums on Museum Island are pricey. Consider purchasing the 3-day Museum Pass Berlin for €29 to gain entrance to just about every museum you’ll want to see in Berlin. See below.
Other Museums in the Historic Core
Deutsches Historisches Museum
Not far from Museum Island is this massive museum which presents 2,000+ years of German history. Over 7,000 exhibits take you from the early Middle Ages to the present day.
It’s another exhausting experience so pace yourself!
DDR Museum
I enjoyed this museum which shows what life was like in communist East Germany—the DDR (#15)(Deutsche Demokratische Republik).
Many kitschy items are on display, including the reconstruction of a typical home from the period, complete with drawers and cupboards that you’re encouraged to open and rifle through.
Buy your tickets for this popular museum in advance to avoid long lines.
Spree River Cruise
On the river not far from the DDR Museum and behind Berlin Cathedral, hop onto a Spree River Cruise. For a relaxing hour, you’ll listen to an English audio guide and enjoy a riverside view of amazingly nifty modern architecture in the former West Berlin.
You can get off at the Tiergarten, like we did, for some quality nature time – or stay on the boat until it turns around and returns to the dock.
Two museums we enjoyed in this area of Berlin, near where we stayed in Kreuzberg in south Berlin, are the Asisi Panorama of the Wall at Checkpoint Charlie and the Jewish Museum.
Checkpoint Charlie
You can’t miss Checkpoint Charlie (#16), with its costumed guards and legions of tourists snapping pictures. In the souvenir shops on both sides of the street, you’ll find Soviet army hats and other kitschy memorabilia of the Cold War. The area is kind of a DDR Disneyland.
Between 1961 and 1989, Checkpoint Charlie, located in the middle of Friedrichstrasse, was one of the few places where people could legally pass between East Berlin and West Berlin. The giant back-to-back photographs of two young soldiers dominate the area.
Facing east, the photograph shows a young Soviet soldier (see below). Facing west, the photograph shows a young American soldier. The disconnect represented by the photograph remains a salutary warning that the Cold War wasn’t that long ago.
Photo of a young Soviet soldier faces east at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin.
Asisi Panorama–Die Mauer (The Wall)
While in Berlin, I became fascinated by its recent Cold War past. You’ll find museums and memorials commemorating the Cold War throughout Berlin, including the DDR Museum mentioned earlier.
I enjoyed the Asisi Panorama: Die Mauer (The Wall), located across the street from Checkpoint Charlie. The Panorama is a multi-storey immersive experience created by artist Yadegar Asisi in which you step back in time to 1980s Berlin and peer over the Wall from West Berlin into East Berlin.
Climb a set of stairs in front of a massive curved screen. You are five meters back and four meters up on the western side of the Berlin Wall, watching a day unfold over the course of 24 hours.
Sophisticated lighting effects cycle through changes from day to night every half hour or so in the shadow of the guard towers. You experience the contrast between the lively streets and graffiti-daubed wall on the West Berlin side and the drabness and aura of danger of East Berlin.
I was riveted–and fascinated that the scenes depicted on-screen in East Berlin happened a relatively short time ago.
The Berlin Wall existed for almost thirty years of my lifetime, and yet now when you walk around Berlin, you often have no idea when you’re in the former East Berlin. Your only clues are the pedestrian crossing signals (Ampelmänn!) and the stark utilitarian facades of some of the government buildings. Thirty years of unification have blurred the divisions, and pretty much everyone under the age of 35 has little or no memory of the Cold-War past.
Housed in a spectacular modern building, the Jewish Museum Berlin (#17) is a must-see. The museum chronicles Jewish history and culture in Germany from the Middle Ages to the present day.
The building itself adds to the compelling visitor experience, with its bold zigzag design and occasional empty spaces (called voids) that stretch the full height of the building and symbolize the cultural loss caused by the Holocaust.
In one space, metal discs representing upturned faces make weirdly disturbing sounds as you walk across them. The effect underscores the dehumanization of the Holocaust.
A room in the Jewish Museum
Exterior of the Jewish Museum
Stumble Stones (Stolpersteine)
As you walk around Berlin, particularly in the old Jewish quarter north of Museum Island, you’ll come across slightly raised stones set into the sidewalk and polished by the thousands of feet that have walked over them.
Called stumbling stones (#18), each 10-square-centimeter polished brass square is inscribed with the name of an individual or family that once lived in the building you’re passing.
The inscription on each stone begins “Here lived”, followed by the victim’s name, date of birth, and fate: internment, suicide, exile or, most often, deportation and murder.
Dr. Martin Happ and Sophie Happ were deported from their home in 1943 and murdered (ermordet) in Auschwitz.
Over 70,000 stumble stones are laid in sidewalks in more than 1,200 cities and towns across Europe and Russia.
I wanted to stop and read each one as we walked along the streets, but there were so many, it was heart wrenching. The stumble stones have been controversial, but I found them to be moving tributes to people who were going about their daily lives until ensnared by the horrors of fascism.
According to the Guardian, despite their international scope, the Stolpersteine are a grassroots initiative. Local groups – often residents of a street, or schoolchildren working on a project – unite to research the biographies of local victims and to raise the €120 it costs to install each stone.
Museum Pass & Other Tour Options
I recommend purchasing the three-day Museum Pass Berlin. At €29, the pass gets you into 30+ museums in Berlin, including the five Museum Island museums, the German History Museum, the Jewish History Museum, the Gemäldegalerie, and other museums in the Kulturforum area.
Considering admission to each museum on Museum Island costs €10, a Museum Pass makes sense.
The €18 Museum Island Pass saves you money if you tour two or more of the Museum Island museums on one day.
GuruWalk lists pay-what-you-please walking tours that connect tourists with tour guides all around the world. Check out their tours of Berlin!
More Berlin
Even after spending a week in Berlin, I hadn’t seen everything I wanted to. Depending on your interests, you’ll find many more museums, lively nightlife, and interesting neighborhoods to wander through.
Although we stayed in the Kreuzberg area in south Berlin, I recommend the trendier and more interesting Prenzlauer Berg in north Berlin. We enjoyed dining out in this area that features older buildings, lots of cool restaurants, and a youthful, neighborhood vibe.
Enjoying lunch at a sidewalk café in hip and happenin’ Prenzlauer Berg
Have you considered taking a cooking class while traveling in France? Paris is the place for cooking classes, but you’ll also find classes in other French cities such as Lyon.
Several years ago, guest poster Liz Reding moved with her husband Michael to France and settled in the charming city of Lyon. Every few months, she and Michael take trips to explore different areas in Europe.
One of the things Liz likes to do when she travels around Europe from her new French home is to take cooking classes.
Here’s what Liz has to say about taking cooking classes in Paris and Lyon.
Cooking in France by Liz Reding
Is cooking art? If you’ve ever seen a great chef at work or eaten a beautifully plated meal, I think you’ll agree that cooking is an art form.
Maybe you love to cook, maybe you don’t … but you have to eat, right? So, doesn’t it make sense to spend time perfecting your cooking skills?
Some might say, YES… but not while I’m on vacation. I say, YES, especially while I’m on vacation!
The quality of the local produce, cheese, seafood, and meat in French markets is outstanding. When you take a class taught by a local chef at a cooking school, you learn how to use local ingredients to prepare regional favorites.
Cooking Classes in Paris
Thanks to the ongoing popularity of French cuisine and French cooking, several culinary schools offer short-duration classes designed for travelers.
Paris is the undisputed center for cooking classes in France. Consider spending a morning or an evening taking a class. You’ll meet interesting people and learn new skills and cooking methods.
Several kinds of cooking classes are available in Paris. In some classes, you focus on how to make specific dishes, such as macarons or baguettes, while in others, you cook several dishes which you then enjoy along with a glass or two of wine.
The Market Class
My favorite type of cooking class is the Market Class.
Choose a market class that starts early in the morning and includes lunch or one that starts later in the afternoon and includes dinner.
You’ll start a market class by meeting up with the chef at a local outdoor market. With the help of the chef, you’ll choose whatever is seasonally available and then return to the kitchen to start cooking.
Several hours later, you’ll sit down to the wonderful three-course lunch or dinner that you and your classmates prepared. A glass or two of wine is often included, along with wine-tasting tips.
In some market classes, the chef decides ahead of time what you’ll make. You pick up the ingredients and then head to the cooking school to start learning and cooking. No surprises!
Seafood in a Paris market; photo credit: Liz Reding
Other classes take more of a let’s see what we can find approach. You go to the market with the chef and see what’s fresh.
Will it be crayfish or lamb? New asparagus or an oozing camembert? Fresh tomatoes from Provence or foie gras from the Dordogne?
The chef accompanies you around the stalls and helps you make the selections.
Either type of class is a wonderful experience, but the laissez-faire version is more exciting and a test of the chef’s ability to create a yummy menu on the fly.
If you have a food allergy or other dietary restrictions, let the chef know. He or she will either tell you how to modify the recipe or will provide an alternative.
Recommendations in Paris & Lyon
I’ve taken four cooking classes in Paris (a baguette-making class and three market classes) as well as in Lyon, France, where I live. All the classes were conducted in English.
In the French baguette class, I learned an important lesson—read the reviews of the cooking class before you sign up! Two of the three ovens weren’t working which made the experience less enjoyable than it could have been.
Fresh baguettes made in the baguette class; Photo credit: Liz Reding
Nevertheless, I did learn how to make baguettes the old-fashioned way by smacking the dough against a granite surface. In my kitchen at home, I was able to adapt the baguette recipe and make it in my mixer with a dough hook. The results were fabulous!
Some of the cooking techniques I learned in cooking classes were fun but not useful. For example, I learned how to strain potatoes through a screen, but why would I want to?
No matter what type of class you take or where you take it, you’ll always learn new techniques and new recipes. And at the end of the class, you can relax and enjoy the meal you helped make, often with people from around the world.
Paris Cooking Classes
Here are the three cooking schools I attended in Paris. Typically, a cooking class that includes a meal costs between €150 and €200 per person. Some cooking schools offer group rates. If you’re traveling with a group, you may be able to save money by booking a private class.
I highly recommend adding a cooking class to your itinerary.
If you’re really into cooking classes, consider going on a cooking retreat. Plenty of options are available in places such as Tuscany and Provence.
About Liz Reding
Liz Reding is a retired computer textbook author who lives in Lyon, France. Born in Manhattan and having lived in Boston and New Mexico (Santa Fe and Albuquerque), she and her husband are discovering the joys of traveling and exploring the world. She enjoys learning French, cycling, and cooking nutritious meals.
Conclusion
Have you taken a cooking class while traveling? You can find them all over the world! I took a cooking class in Rome that I write about in Cooking in Roma with InRome Cooking.
Share your experiences in the comments below.
And here’s some more inspiration for cooking classes in Japan, Morocco, and Madrid.
If you love music, you owe it to yourself to plan a trip to Vienna in Austria. For over 250 years, this great city has celebrated and enjoyed its reputation as the City of Music. And no wonder!
Many of Europe’s greatest composers, including Haydn, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, and Strauss, lived and worked in Vienna. When you visit Vienna today, you’ll see evidence everywhere of the city’s illustrious musical past.
In this post, I describe options for enjoying music in Vienna, including music museums, composers’ houses, and concerts.
Hang out in the central square (Stephansplatz) near the imposing St. Stephen’s Cathedral, and within minutes, a young person dressed in 18th-century garb will hand you a flyer advertising the music concerts on offer.
Go for a walk in any park and you’ll soon be snapping selfies in front of statues of composers.
Saint Stephansplatz in Central Vienna
In the evening, wander the cobbled streets in the center of the city and you’ll hear snatches of melodies from chamber music and full orchestras wafting into the soft air from concert venues specializing in tourist-oriented programs usually dominated by the music of Mozart and Strauss.
A Map of Musical Vienna
The map below shows the location of all the music sites mentioned in this post. Vienna is a very walkable city. You can easily stroll between most of the sites in central Vienna and still have energy left to enjoy a coffee, a slice of torte, and a spot of people watching.
I recommend starting at the House of Music (#1) and venturing out from there to visit the museums dedicated to your fave composers, and then spend the evening enjoying a concert.
Vienna is chock-a-block with excellent museums. I’m a bit of a museum fan girl, so for me, this city ranks as one of Europe’s top museum cities. You could easily spend a week here and not run out of world-class museums to visit.
In this post, I focus on two of my favorite music museums: the House of Music and the Musical Instrument Museum, which is part of the Kunsthistorisches Museum.
House of Music
Make time for a visit to the House of Music, (#1 on the map above) also known as Vienna’s Museum of Sound or Haus der Musik.
Housed in the historical palace of Archduke Karl in the old city center, this museum is a must-see for everyone. And it is absolute heaven for music lovers.
On a recent trip, I spent half a day there enjoying its five floors (yes, five!) of installations and displays celebrating music and sound. Trust me, you won’t want to miss this place.
Highlights of the House of Music
Here are some highlights at the House of Music.
Virtostage
This is a multimedia and interactive production. When you move in front of the screen, you become part of the 15-minute opera “zeitperlen”. Members of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra recorded the music with vocals by opera star Natalia Ushakova. Technically and musically, the production is a remarkable achievement.
NAMADEUS
Namadeus is an installation created after Mozart’s musical game KV 516f. Included are the interactive Waltz Dice Game and an interactive application called Facing Mozart that lets you bring the composer’s portrait to life by controlling his head movements and facial expressions. Hours of fun!
Virtual Conductor
This installation allows you to “conduct” a video projection of the orchestra that responds to your conducting commands. If you conduct poorly, the musicians respond with criticism, so you need to keep time correctly!
Sound installations
These installations use state-of-the-art technology, including opportunities to visualize sound as waves, swirls, and grids.
Exhibits at the House of Music
The museum includes gloriously comprehensive exhibits of composers including Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, Strauss, and Mahler. I spent at least an hour in this section. Plenty of life-size figures and original musical instruments bring the subjects to life.
I especially enjoyed the Haydn portion of the exhibition.
During his long life, Papa Haydn exerted enormous influence on classical music. He even counted Beethoven and Mozart among his many pupils.
Haydn had a complicated relationship with Beethoven who criticized his teacher by saying “I never learned anything from Haydn” and then dedicated his set of three Piano Sonatas Opus 2 to Haydn. (reference: Beethoven and Haydn: their relationship)
The House of Music is located at Seilerstätte 30 in Vienna and you can get a discount with the Vienna City Card. The museum is open daily from 10 am to 10 pm.
You can also purchase tickets through GetYourGuide. If you love music, you really can’t miss the House of Music, aka Haus der Musik!
I always enjoy touring a good musical instrument museum, and this one is first-rate. Housed in the Hofburg Palace and part of the masive Kunsthistorisches Museum, the Musical Instrument Museum (#2 on the map above) exhibits five centuries of historical musical instruments. Its collection of Renaissance and Baroque instruments is considered one of the most important in the world.
You’ll see a particularly awesome collection of clavichords and Viennese fortepianos. A highlight for me was seeing pianos that had been played by Mozart, Liszt, Mahler, and Clara Schumann, who is the inspiration for my second novel, A Woman of Note.
Harpsicord made in 1745, Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Sammlung alter Musikinstrumente
The museum also includes replicas of historical instruments that visitors may play, and regularly holds concerts at which master interpreters of their professions play the original instruments.
The Musical Instrument Museum is located at Heldenplatz and is open daily except Wednesday from 10 am to 6 pm.
Composer Houses
Many of the apartments lived in by famous composers have been converted into museums. Download a map of Musician Walks from the excellent Wien Info website.
Here is information (in alphabetical order) about the museums dedicated to individual composers including Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, Schönberg, Schubert, and Strauss. Some of them are celebrated in more than one museum.
You can visit the six apartments of Beethoven, Strauss, Schubert, and Haydn with a special combination ticket from the Wien Museum website. Note that most of the museums close on Mondays.
Ludwig von Beethoven
Beethoven House
I’ve made two pilgrimages to the Pasqualati House (#3 on the map above), one of the many houses in which the great composer lived. Built in the 18th century adjacent to the city walls, the house is named after its owner (Pasqualati). Beethoven lived for eight years, off and on, in the 4th floor apartment at the top of a series of old stone staircases.
During my second visit to the apartment, I was writing A Woman of Note about a woman composer in 1830s Vienna. The novel starts with the funeral of Beethoven, and his influence is felt by the characters throughout the novel. As I mounted the old staircase to Beethoven’s apartment, I imagined my characters mounting similar staircases in buildings of the same vintage.
When I visited, the apartment was virtually bare of furniture and contained little in the way of exhibits. Two listening desks are set up for listening to various Beethoven pieces on headphones.
I indulged myself with the second movement of Symphony No. 7 for a while. I was the only visitor, so it was just me and the Maestro’s soaring melodies and the temptation to burst into tears.
Musical tourism doesn’t get any better.
In front of Pasqualati House in Vienna
Beethoven Museum
Want more Beethoven? Visit the Beethoven Museum (#4).
In 2017, the original 40-square-meter apartment at Probusgasse 6 in Heiligenstadt in the 19th district where Beethoven lived was extended to create a spacious, 14-room museum. Here you’ll find exhibits chronicling the history of the house, Beethoven’s move from Bonn to Vienna, his stay in Heiligenstadt, and many more related to the maestro.
Pasqualati House (or Pasqualatihaus) is located at Mölker Bastei 8 in Vienna and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 1 pm and from 2 pm to 6 pm except for public holidays. The Beethoven Museum is located at Probusgasse 6 and is also open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 1 pm and from 2 pm to 6 pm except for public holidays.
Joseph Haydn
Haydnhaus
Managed by the Wien Museum (as are most of the composer houses), Haydnhaus (#5) is the location where Joseph Haydn spent the last twelve years of his life and where he died on May 31, 1809. The museum includes the rooms of his flat on the first floor, recently restored so that the rooms are divided in the same way they were when he lived there.
Haydn was extremely famous during his lifetime, and exhibits at the museum reflect the esteem in which he was held both then and now.
The museum also has a room dedicated to Brahms.
Haydnhaus is located at Haydngasse 19 and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 1 pm and from 2 pm to 6 pm except for public holidays.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Mozarthaus Museum
Mozart lived in several houses in the city during his short and tumultuous life. The only one that survives is the Mozarthaus Museum (#6) at Domgasse #5, where he lived from 1784 to 1787.
Occupying 1,000 square meters on six levels, this museum is the premier pilgrimage site for Mozart fans.
And seriously, who isn’t a Mozart fan?
The museum immerses you in the great composer’s world. Exhibits celebrate his remarkable genius and creativity and feature his family, friends, and foes in the heady world of late-Baroque Vienna. Get tickets here.
Mozarthaus is located in St. Stephansplatz at Domgasse 5 and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm except for public holidays.
Arnold Schönberg
Arnold Schönberg Center
Established in 1998, the Arnold Schönberg Center (#7) celebrates and life and work of one of the 20th century’s most notable composers (and also a painter, teacher, theoretician, and innovator). If you’re a music history buff, you’ll know that Schönberg is associated with the method of composing with the 12-tone scale.
The museum includes exhibitions about Schönberg’s life, a gallery of his paintings, a replica of his study in Los Angeles, the city in which he died in 1951, and lots of concerts, lectures, and other events aimed at helping people understand and enjoy Schönberg’s music.
The Arnold Schönberg Center is located at St. Stephansplatz at Schwarzenbergplatz 6 and is open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm except for holidays.
Franz Schubert
I’m very fond of Schubert, who makes a cameo appears in A Woman of Note and who, like Mozart, died very young (he was just 31). He managed to compose an amazing amount of music in his short lifetime, much of it lived in poverty. Two museums in Vienna are devoted to Schubert.
Schubert Geburtshaus
The Schubert Geburtshaus (#8) is the house where he was born on January 31, 1797. He came from a large family that shared one room and a kitchen with an open fire. The exhibits include a pair of spectacles that belonged to Schubert and has apparently become quite an object of veneration for his fans.
Schubert Sterbewohnung
Schubert died at the Schubert Sterbewohnung (#9) on November 19, 1828. Although he lived in the small apartment for only a few weeks, he composed several works including the song “The Shepherd on the Rock.” Exhibits document the last weeks of his life, his death, and his funeral.
Schubert Geburtshaus is located at Nußdorfer Straße 54 and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 1 pm and 2 pm to 6 pm except for public holidays and Schubert Sterbewohnung is located at Kettenbrückengasse 6 and is open Tuesday to Sunday from to 10 am to pm and 2 pm to 6 pm except for public holidays.
Johann Strauss
Johann Strauss Wohnung
The Johann Strauss Wohnung museum (#10) is the apartment where the composer wrote “The Blue Danube” waltz which has become Austria’s unofficial national anthem. The museum includes his instruments along with furniture and paintings from his life, and references to the other musical members of the Strauss dynasty.
Strauss Museum
This new museum (it opened in 2015) is dedicated to the lives and work of the composers in the Strauss family, It’s a must-see for Strauss fans. Find pictures and documents from the period and listen to music at the various audio stations arranged in 15 themed areas. Here’s a detailed post about the museum on the Visiting Vienna website.
Johann Strauss Wohnung is located at Praterstraße 54 and is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am 1 pm and 2 pm to 6 pm except for public holidays. The Strauss Museum is to remain closed through 2021 and will reopen in 2022 at a new location.
Vienna Concerts
You can’t walk far without seeing ads for music concerts, particularly those organized for tourists and, as mentioned earlier, mostly featuring music by Mozart and Strauss (and occasionally Beethoven, Schubert, and Haydn). Check the current concert listings.
If you’re lucky, you might get to catch a performance by the Vienna Boys Choir, an opera at the opera house, or a performance by the Vienna Philharmonic (Wiener Philharmoniker). Following are descriptions of two concerts I enjoyed during a recent trip.
The Sala Terrena (#11) is a small concert hall next to a monastery in the centre of Vienna. Mozart lived in the building for about two months when he first came to the city as a young man. The room is frescoed from floor to ceiling with a cacophony of Italian Baroque splendor. You’ll see lots of fruit, cherubs, roses, urns, and even a leopard.
I chose the Sala Terrena concert rather than one of the flashier tourist concerts because Schubert was on the programme. Schubert makes a guest appearance in A Woman of Note, so I owed it to my imagination to hear his music played at least once in his home town.
Alas, ‘twas not to be. The programme was changed to include the American Quartet by Dvorak and some Hadyn string quartets. Fortunately, the performances were fantastic, so I had no complaints.
Concert Experience
Four musicians dressed in 18th-century garb (someone in this city must do a roaring trade in producing period costumes) entered the tiny salon and settled in to play. Unfortunately, as so often happens when I attend an evening concert soon after landing in Europe, jet lag hit me with a vengeance. I was seated in the front row, directly in the line of sight of the first violinist.
Despite my best efforts, my eyelids drooped, and my head started that awful bobbing thing that happens when you desperately fight falling asleep. What if I pitched face-first into the violinist’s lap? She might not appreciate the interruption.
In my defense, I defy any jet-lagged music lover to sit through an adagio without succumbing to the temptation to close one’s eyes and drift. In the intermission, I chatted with a young woman from Japan who was studying art in Florence. I love how traveling can connect you with people, including local artists and artisans, from all over the world.
The concert was a success, and I drifted out into the heaving mass of tourists and locals thronging the Stephansplatz. If I hadn’t been alone, I would have hung around for awhile to enjoy a slice of strudel and a glass of wine in the shadow of the floodlit cathedral. Instead, I let the atmosphere wash over me for about ten minutes and then caught the tram back to my apartment.
You can book tickets to a concert at the Sala Terrena below. The title says the Mozarthaus, but the concerts are the ones held in the Sala Terrena that I attended. Highly recommended!
While I was in Vienna, I was determined to see a “real” concert. By real, I mean a concert that does not feature costumed musicians and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (not that there’s anything wrong with that). But I wanted to attend a concert with local people.
Fortunately, I discovered that the five-day Schloss Laudon festival—a yearly classical music event held in the salon at the Schloss Laudon (#12), also known as the Water Palace about an hour outside of the city —was on during my visit.
Getting to Schloss Laudon
With e-ticket in hand, I boarded the metro for a ride to the last stop. For forty minutes, the bus wound through a maze of suburban streets toward what I hoped would be the palace.
I had absolutely no clue where I was and what I’d do if I was on the wrong bus (I didn’t have a Smartphone with GPS at the time). What if there was no concert at the end of the ride and no bus back? I’d be stranded miles from nowhere with only 60 euros in my wallet and a pathological fear of incurring data roaming charges on my phone because on that trip I hadn’t had the foresight to buy a European SIM card.
Update note: Thank goodness you can now conveniently buy an eSIM card for traveling anywhere in Europe!
Fortunately, I heard a couple on the bus mention Schloss Laudon, and minutes later the bus stopped and they got off.
I followed.
Exploring Schloss Laudon
The Schloss Laudon and its stylishly landscaped grounds were exquisite. I was extremely early for the concert but fortunately not for the bar. I sipped a glass of wine while wandering the sylvan pathways and making friends with the swans.
At Schloss Laudon for a concert
Experiencing the Concert at Schloss Laudon
The concert featured a trio – piano, violin, and cello—in the large salon in the Schloss Laudon. A Schloss is basically a palace or a castle, and this place certainly qualified. The salon was frescoed floor to ceiling with exotic animals (tigers, rhinos, elephants, etc.) and exotic scenes of idealized, vaguely New World native-looking people in turbans. Evidently, historical accuracy was not a priority.
I snagged a seat in the second row, in direct line of sight of the keyboard. As a pianist myself, I always like to get as close to the keyboard as possible so I can watch the performer’s hands.
Almost everyone around me was dressed to the nines. Most of the men wore suits and ties, and the women wore cocktail dresses and lots of jewelry and perfume. I might as well have had a neon sign on my head – turista. But whatever.
No one paid any attention to me—not even a wee smile of musical comradeship. I felt a tad isolated, but what could I expect? Solitary travel can sometimes be a bit, ah, solitary.
A drawback of sitting in the second row quickly became apparent. The large spotlight caught me in its glare, and soon I was sweating. The heat would have been tolerable if indeed there had been music to listen to. However, to my dismay, the festival director and an expert on the modern composer featured on the program both shuffled to the front and faced the audience.
The Pre-Concert Talk
Festival-Director Guy talked for about five minutes–a bearable length of time to listen to German and pretend to understand. Then, Composer-Expert Guy took over and talked for at least thirty minutes.
He stood directly in front of me, even making eye contact occasionally, so I had to look as if I was hanging on his every German syllable. I caught a few words—Mexico, Nazis, Anschluss, Franco. I snuck a peek at the concert notes–in German, of course and managed to decipher that the composer of the modern piece had left Vienna in 1938 and settled in Mexico by way of Spain.
That was not a whole lot of information to get from a thirty-minute lecture.
Haydn & Tchaikovsky
Finally, the three musicians entered and performed an early Beethoven piano trio in the style of Haydn. The heat, the somnolence engendered by Composer-Expert Guy’s talk, and those darned slow movements marred my enjoyment of the piece.
Again, I experienced more than a few head bobs along with the terror that someone might notice. What if I snored or drooled? After the Beethoven came the modern composer’s piece, which was actually pretty good in a dissonant, modern music kind of way.
At the break, I thought about giving in to jet lag and catching the bus back to the metro. I even walked out to the bus stop and checked the times. Then I came to my senses and trudged back into the palace for the second half—the piano trio by Tchaikovsky.
Holy Russian romantic! It was stunning—no danger of head-bobbing for this one. I cheerfully bought the CD.
Exploring Vienna
Here are some GetYourGuide tours in Vienna.
Vienna Walking Tours
GuruWalk lists pay-what-you-please walking tours that connect tourists with tour guides all around the world. Check out their tours of Vienna!
Concerts at Schoenbrunn Palace
For a wonderful classical music experience that throws in a world-class palace for good measure, consider going to a concert at Schoenbrunn Palace. The repertoire leans heavily to Strauss and Mozart with performances by opera singers. If you take a tour, you’ll often also get dinner and drinks, along with priority entrance to the palace.
Here are some GetYourGuide tours that will take you to concerts at Schoenbrunn Palace.
Vienna is not an inexpensive city, but if you can swing it, stay as close to the center as you can afford.
On my first trip to Vienna, I made the mistake of staying waaaaay out in the suburbs in a cheap apartment. Well, let’s just say that it was a disaster! After two days of cramped quarters, cold water showers, bland suburbs that could be anywhere, and long commutes into Vienna, we moved to a hotel close to the action. The extra money was well worth it.
Vienna, the City of Music, is a must-see for the artsy traveler who loves classical music. You can’t help but swoon when you walk into your favorite composer’s house, or when you hear a Strauss waltz played in the city where it was composed, or explore the awesome exhibits at the House of Music.
And when you want a break from music (why?!), Vienna has some of the best art museums in the world, including the Belvedere where you’ll see Klimt’s The Kiss and the always amazing Kunsthistorisches Museum.
For more information about what to see and do in Vienna and Austria, check out these posts
Have you visited any of the music sites in Vienna described in this post? Share your thoughts about music and Vienna with other artsy travelers in the Comments section below.
Are you a fan of modern art? If so, then you’ll find plenty of art thrills in Europe, where some of the best modern and contemporary art museums in the world are located.
In this post, I’ve chosen mostly large museums that feature a variety of artists.
My focus is on modern art so you won’t find museums like the Prado and the Louvre in this post. But you will find the Pompidou, the Guggenheim Bilbao and the Tate Modern!
As a life-long lover of modern art (check out my husband Gregg Simpson’s art and you’ll see why!), I’m a bit of a kid in a candy store when it comes to finding awesome modern art museums in Europe.
You’ll be spoiled for choice!
Highlights at a Glance
The iconic architecture of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao in Spain’s evocative Basque Country
Picasso’s Guernica at the Reina Sofia in Madrid, Spain–so much more powerful in person than in reproductions
The stunning outdoor art installations at the Kröller-Müller Museum near Otterlo in the Netherlands
The collection of 20th century modern masters on the 4th floor of the Pompidou in Paris
The location and ambiance of the Fondation Maeght in the hills above the French Riviera near the delightful village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence
Check for Exhibitions
Before you set off for Europe, take some time to check for special exhibitions in the places you’re visiting. Many times, I’ve changed my itinerary on the fly to catch an exhibition before it closes or to take in one at its start.
One of the great pleasures of traveling is switching gears halfway through a trip—to zig when you planned to zag. Stay open to possibilities when you travel. Often, you’ll meet someone who’ll tell you about a must-see art museum that you’ve never heard of.
On a recent trip to Porto in Portugal, we were told about a special exhibition of the work of M. C. Escher. What a treat! We never would have known about it because of its location in an exhibition space rather than a museum.
Chat with servers at dinner and strike up a conversation with other travelers you meet on the train or at your hotel. People love to share recommendations!
Modern Art Focus
As I mentioned earlier, this post focuses only on museums with significant and varied modern artcollections.
What do I mean by modern art? I’m a huge fan of 20th-century art from about the turn of the century to the 1960s. I also appreciate some (not all) of the contemporary art created post-1960.
Most of the art museums covered in this post primarily exhibit traditional modern art. That sounds like an oxymoron, but if you’re an art fan, you’ll know what I mean!
Modern art—as distinct from contemporary art—encompasses the work of a slew of big names. These include Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Henri Matisse, Georgia O’Keeffe, Rene Magritte… the list goes on and on and on.
In this post, I list only museums that works by modern masters in their permanent collections
Map of Modern Art Museums in Europe
Here are the locations of all the modern art museums covered in the post–from Bilbao (#1) in Spain to the Tate St. Ives (#12) in Cornwall, England.
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao (#1 on the map) is worth the hype and worth the trip. Located in the Basque region of northeast Spain, Bilbao isn’t on the beaten tourist path.
But please, if you’re in northern Spain and within striking distance of Bilbao, find the time to spend a night there.
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao was built to revive the failing industrial city. How marvelous that the city bigwigs used art to pull their city out of the economic doldrums and place it firmly on the world cultural map.
The move was bold, even audacious, but it’s paid off spectacularly, thanks to Frank Gehry’s awesome structure.
Now the Guggenheim Bilbao shows up in just about every Top Ten list of modern art museums worldwide.
Exterior of the Guggenheim Bilbao
The exterior of the Guggenheim Bilbao plays a major role in its spectacular appeal to art lovers. Stroll around outside the building to see the many amazing sculptures.
Most notable are Tall Trees and The Eye by Anish Kapoor, the massive spider Maman by Louise Bourgeois, and the wildly popular Puppy by Jeff Koons.
I defy anyone to stand in front of Puppy and not smile. He is adorable. That is, if a 43-foot tall, flower-encrusted West Highland Terrier can be called adorable.
The museum’s interior is as compelling as its exterior.
On one of our visits, we were lucky to catch a major exhibition of recent landscapes by David Hockney. The massive galleries and thoughtful curatorial choices made the exhibition one of our favorites, which is saying something.
We were also taken with the massive installations by Frank Serra.
The whole complex with its gorgeous setting on the Nervion River really is miraculous. The museum attracts over 20 million visitors annually.
Now, that’s an art success story!
Exhibitions at the Guggenheim Bilbao change frequently, so check what’s on and then plan your visit accordingly. You won’t regret devoting time to exploring the Basque region of Spain.
Practical Information for the Guggenheim Bilbao
Guggenheim Bilbao is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 7 pm. It’s closed on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Museum admission currently costs €15 for adults, €7.5 for seniors (65+) and students. Youths under 18 and Museum members are admitted free. The website has the latest rates.
Tours of the Guggenheim Bilbao
A great way to see the Guggenheim Bilbao is on a private tour if you have the spare funds or a small group tour for the more budget-conscious. Modern art is sometimes not so easy to understand, and having a guide can really help you make sense of what you’re looking at.
You’ll also learn a lot about the stunning architecture and permanent installations such as Puppy and Maman. Here’s a guided tour offered through GetYourGuide.
Where to Stay in Bilbao
On both my trips to Bilbao, I stayed in excellent four-star hotels. Both were within walking distance of the Guggenheim Bilbao.
Catalonia Gran Vía Bilbao: In downtown Bilbao, this place is truly lovely with a very friendly staff and a good location for exploring more of Bilbao beyond the Guggenheim.
Hotel Meliá Bilbao: Situated right on the river, the modern hotel has all the amenities and is fairly easy to drive to.
Bratislava, Slovakia: Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum
Situated on the Danube as the name suggests and about 20 kilometers from Bratislava in the Slovak Republic, the Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum is billed as “one of the most romantic museums of modern art in Europe”.
The museum, opened in 2000, was founded by Gerard Meulensteen of Eindhoven, a Dutch collector and art patron, and Slovak gallerist Vincent Polakovič.
The collection includes works by artists from the experimental CoBrA group in the Netherlands, such as Karel Appel and Eugen Brands . Also included are works by Sam Francis, Christo, Corneille, Pierre Alechinsky, and others.
Plenty of quirky and colorful outdoor sculptures along with the dramatic setting on the Danube make this museum a must-see if you’re traveling to Bratislava.
Practical Information for the Danubiana Meluensteen Art Museum
Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm. Museum admission currently costs €10 for adults, €5 for seniors (62+) and students. Children under 6, seniors (75+) and Museum members are admitted free. The website has the latest rates.
Where to Stay in Bratislava
The Danubiana Museum is a few kilometers up river from Bratislava itself where you’ll find these two hotels. Both are located in historic buildings and highly rated.
Marrol’s Boutique Hotel: Located in Bratislava city center, this hotel is rated 5-star, but the price is more like a 3-star. It looks amazing!
Arcadia Boutique Hotel: Centrally located in a 13th-century building in Bratislava’s Old Town. Rooms include antique furniture.
London, England: Tate Modern
I’ve visited the Tate Modern in London a few times and have mixed feelings about it, to be honest! It’s a monumental place and a huge accomplishment from an architectural perspective.
I mean, seriously—a power station?
It’s pretty darned amazing that Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron could convert the Bankside power station into an art gallery and still keep much of the building’s original character.
View of the Tate Modern from the Thames in London, England
I can’t say I loved—or even liked—all the art exhibited in the Tate Modern. Several exhibits comprise contemporary and installation art, most of which was kind of hit or miss, in my opinion.
However, the special exhibitions can be spectacular. I saw a wonderful retrospective of the work of American artist Georgia O’Keeffe on one visit, and an exhibition of international surrealism on another visit. My husband, Gregg Simpson, was honored to be included in the catalog for the latter exhibition.
Location of the Tate Modern
The location of the Tate Modern on the south side of the Thames, right across the new Millennium Bridge from St. Paul’s Cathedral, is a selling point. You can see the Tate Modern in the morning and then stroll across the bridge and visit St. Paul’s and the City in the afternoon.
You can also take in two Tates in a day. A good strategy is to start at the Tate Britain upriver. Check out the paintings by William Blake and some of the best works by the pre-Raphaelites. Then, hop on the Tate Boat at Millbank Pier and sail downriver to Bankside Pier to see the Tate Modern.
The Tate Boat runs every twenty to thirty minutes along the Thames.
And if you happen be down in St. Ives in Cornwall, don’t miss the Tate St. Ives.
Practical Information for the Tate Modern
Tate Modern is open daily from 10 am – 6 pm and the admission is free.
Tours of the Tate Modern
Why not take a tour of the Tate Modern with an expert guide? You’ll learn about the history and architecture of the gallery along with highlights of the collection. Here’s a guided tour offered through GetYourGuide:
I always stay around the West End so I’m within walking distance of the theaters, Trafalgar Square and two of my favorite art museums–the National Gallery and the Courtauld.
Here are three places I’ve stayed in that I recommend and that won’t break the bank (and are still four-star and comfy):
Wilde Aparthotel Covent Garden: Located steps from the Strand in the center of the action, the Wilde Aparthotel Covent Garden is an excellent choice. I even wrote a whole post about my stay there!
The Cavendish near Green Park is in a posh area and close to just about everything. When I stayed there, I was able to walk or take a bus everywhere I wanted to go. I didn’t once need to take the Tube!
Park Plaza Victoria London Hotel is located right across the street from Victoria Station and is a remarkably good deal for a modern, four-star hotel in the heart of London.
Madrid, Spain: Reina Sofia
The Reina Sofia is home to one of the most famous paintings of the 20th century—Guernica by Pablo Picasso.
You’ve likely seen Guernica many times in reproduction. However, seeing the “real thing” is a different story.
The massive mural in the Reina Sofía has pride of place in a room of its own. You can sense how enraged Picasso must have felt as he painted it. Its graphic depiction of the bombing of the old Basque city of Gernika in April 1937 has become an iconic image of the brutality of war.
Outdoor reproduction of Guernica by Picasso / Image by Almudena Sanz from Pixabay
The Reina Sofia is a beautifully designed gallery that combines a modern area with the arched hallways and barred windows of an old hospital. In several rooms, films representing specific 20th-century periods are running. Most are silent-era films, which makes following them a lot easier if your Spanish is minimal.
Included in the Reina Sofia are masterpieces by Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, and Juan Gris, as well as a collection of over 22,400 works divided into three sections titled: The Irruption of the 20th Century: Utopia and Conflict (1900-1945), Is the War Over? Art in a Divided World (1945-1968), and From Revolt to Postmodernity (1962-1982).
Visiting the Reina Sofía
The museum is located on the Art Walk (Paseo del Arte)—a one-kilometer stretch that also includes the must-see Prado Museum and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.
Reina Sofia is open from daily except Tuesdays from 10 am to 9 pm (Sundays until 2:30 pm). Museum admission currently costs €12. The website has the latest rates.
Tours of the Reina Sofia
Explore the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Spain’s national museum of 20th-century art, on a guided tour and learn about the diverse collection.
Stay as close to the centro as you can in Madrid. Largely traffic free, the centro is full of narrow streets and grand plazas, and not too far from Madrid’s three big museums, including the Reina Sofia.
ApartoSuites Jardines de Sabatini: I stayed here for two weeks and loved it! The location right across the street from the Royal Palace puts it about a ten minute walk from the centro, but still outside the traffic limited zone so you can drive there and park in the parking lot right next door. The staff are wonderful and the one-bedroom apartment spacious and comfortable.
nQn Aparts & Suites Madrid: This place is even closer to the city center within steps of the Plaza Mayor.
Munich, Germany: Pinakothek der Moderne
The Pinakothek der Modern in central Munich is one of three Pinakotheks in Munich’s Kunstareal (art district).
The museum features an excellent collection of the works of German Expressionist artists. In addition, you’ll find works by modern masters, including Picasso, Miró, Kandinsky, Klee, and Marc.
Other exhibits are related to form and function in a section that features modern industrial design and manufacture, furniture, and appliances.
On Sundays, the admission price is significantly discounted—at least it was when I visited. After strolling through the galleries, stop by the café.
Practical Information for the Pinakothek der Moderne
Pinakothek der Moderne is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 6 pm (Thursdays to 8 pm). Museum admission currently costs €10 for adults, €7 for seniors (65+) and students. Youths under 18 are admitted free. The website has the latest rates.
Interesting Art Tour in Munich
After touring the Pinakothek der Moderne, keep the art juices flowing by taking this intriguing-looking street art bike tour with GetYourGuide. There’s a lively street art scene in Munich, a city that pioneered the graffiti movement in Germany in the 1980s.
Boutique Hotel Splendid: Located in the center of Munich within easy walking distance of many attractions. Comfortable rooms.
Andaz Munich Schwabinger Tor, By Hyatt: This is a bit of a splurge, but its location next to the English Garden is great if you’re looking for a stroll in nature after touring Munich’s museums. The buffet breakfast here was the most opulent I’ve ever seen.
To say that the Kröller-Müller blew me away that first visit would be an understatement. Fresh off the plane from North America, I’d seen nothing like it in my North-American life.
The Kröller-Müller Museum is light, airy, and filled with famous works by van Gogh and a load of other great painters.
Even better, the museum is smack in the middle of the Dutch National Park. This amazing park teems with deer, rolling sand hills, intriguing forests, and miles of bike paths.
Visiting the Kröller-Müller Museum
When I revisited the museum with Gregg recently, I was thrilled to discover that the Kröller-Müller and the park are as awesome as I remembered.
Everything about the place is perfect!
The museum includes dozens of paintings by van Gogh, room after room of other greats from the 19th and early 20th centuries, a massive sculpture garden, and even a bustling outdoor café with excellent food.
The word that comes to mind when touring the sculpture garden is serendipity. The sculptures are modern and diverse and often positioned in unexpected places.
Every turn of a pathway through forests and across green clipped lawns reveals yet another vista and another sculpture—stone or wood or marble, some moving, some static, some aesthetically stunning, some quirky, a few ugly, and yet all perfect.
Floating sculpture on the grounds of the Kröller-Müller Museum in the Netherlands
Getting to the Kröller-Müller Museum
If you’re a fan of van Gogh and modern sculpture but haven’t visited the Kröller-Müller, then go.
Take a day tour from Amsterdam, or better, drive and stay a few days in the area. We combined our visit to the Kröller-Müller with a bike ride around a portion of the 55-square-kilometer national park.
Explore a remarkably varied landscape that includes stunningly beautiful forests, heathlands, and sand dunes. You’ll spot impressively antlered deer, wild boar, foxes, sheep, and more.
Red deer stag in the Dutch National Park at Hoge Veluwe
Practical Information for the Kröller-Müller Museum
Kröller-Müller Museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm. Museum admission currently costs €13.50 for adults, €6.75 for youths (13 – 18). Children under 12 are admitted free. The website has the latest rates. Plaese note that the museum is located in the middle of De Hoge Veluwe National Park. Therefore, you also have to buy a ticket for the park that costs €13.40 for age 13 and older, and €6.70 for ages 6 -12.
Tour to the Kröller-Müller from Amsterdam
This full-day tour is a great option if you don’t have your own transport. The tour goes from Amsterdam and includes time to explore the awesome Hoge Veluwe National Park.
The Kröller-Müller Museum is in a lovely rural area of the Netherlands. You can choose to stay near the museum or in nearby Arnhem. Here’s the place I stayed in:
Fletcher Hotel-Restaurant De Buunderkamp: This place is nestled in the woods not far from the Kröller-Müller Museum. Rooms are spacious and there’s an indoor pool. You can even rent bikes to explore the area, which we did and it was gorgeous!
Paris, France: Centre Pompidou
My most recent experience with the Pompidou Center (one of my absolute favorite modern art museums in Europe) was fraught with pure terror.
Gregg and I were trying to find an art gallery on an obscure side street that even Google Maps couldn’t find. The gallery was hosting an exhibition of Gregg’s work, so finding it was a matter of some urgency.
I directed Gregg to turn down what I trusted was the right street. He drove a short block over cobblestones to emerge into a wide, pedestrian-only space that butted up against the back end of the massive Pompidou Center.
Mon Dieu!
I looked up at the crazy exoskeleton of pipes and glass that had horrified Parisians when it was first built and yelled a few choice curses into my phone. The Google Maps lady was not impressed. She continued to insist that we drive across the square.
Exterior of the Pompidou Center in Paris
Luckily, the space was relatively empty of people (a rare event) so Gregg was able to execute a hasty U-turn and head smartly down the correct street. The only problem was that the street was one-way, and we were barreling down it the wrong way.
Fortunately, we found the gallery without having a head-on collision. A few hours later, after unloading the paintings and hanging the show, we were swanning about the vernissage (the opening), champagne glasses in hand.
Phew!
Visiting the Centre Pompidou
Every time we visit Paris, we make a beeline for the Pompidou. Its special exhibitions are almost always excellent.
Check what’s on before coming to Paris and adjust your dates accordingly. One of our favorite special exhibitions featured the work of Gerhard Richter way back in 2012. I was impressed both by the range and styles of Richter’s work and the thoughtful way in which the exhibit was curated.
No matter when you go to the Pompidou, you’ll always have the legendary fourth floor to wander through. This floor features the museum’s permanent collection and is a veritable “who’s who” of early 20th-century modern art.
All the most famous names are represented. Enjoy strolling through the rooms picking out your favorites and reveling in the glorious mishmash of colors and forms that characterizes 20th-century modern art.
After sighing your way around the art, take the escalator to the rooftop to relish one of the best views of the Paris skyline.
Practical Information for the Pompidou Center
Centre Pompidou is open daily except Tuesdays from 11 am to 9 pm. Museum admission currently costs €18. The website has the latest rates.
Tour of the Pompidou Center
This 2-hour private tour of the Pompidou lets you skip the line and provides expert commentary on the world’s largest collection of contemporary art. It’s a bit pricey but you’ll learn a lot!
I favor staying on the Left Bank when I’m in Paris, preferably Saint Germain, although that area is getting pretty very expensive. In Paris, an apartment or aparthotel may be your best bet. Hotel rooms tend to be very small.
Here are three of my recommendations for places to stay in Paris on the Left Bank.
Hotel de L’Université: I love the location of this boutique hotel–close to Boulevard Saint Germain and the Seine but a bit removed from the busiest areas of Saint Germain. Rooms are quite spacious (for Paris) and the old beams in the ceiling are a nice touch.
Citadines Saint-Germain-des-Prés: This aparthotel is part of the Citadines chain and is good value considering the excellent location right on the Seine in the 6th arrondisement.
Le Clos Medicis: Located very close to the Jardin du Luxembourg, this charming boutique hotel has attractive rooms and a very comfy lobby.
Rome, Italy: National Gallery of Modern Art
Rome’s National Gallery of Modern Art (Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna) is conveniently located on the edge of the Borghese Gardens, surely one of Europe’s most beguiling parks.
View of the Temple of Asclepius at Villa Borghese Gardens in Rome
The gallery features an excellent collection of 20th-century Italian painters, including Giorgio de Chirico (a particular favorite), Amedeo Modigliani, Antonio Canova, Giacomo Balla, and Giorgio Morandi.
You’ll also find works by Rodin, Degas, van Gogh, Monet, Duchamp, Man Ray, and Pollock.
Unlike the Vatican and the other Renaissance and ancient Roman attractions of Rome, the National Gallery of Modern Art is sparsely attended and therefore extremely pleasant.
After your visit, stroll along the shaded pathways of the Borghese Gardens.
Practical Information for the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome
National Gallery of Modern Art is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 9 am to 7 pm. The admission currently costs €10. The website has the latest rates.
Tour of the Borghese Gallery
The very popular Borghese Gallery is close by. Here’s an option that inclues a guided tour with your tickets. The Borghese is well worth a visit, and houses one of my favorite Baroque sculptures by Bernini.
I favor staying in apartments when in Rome because I’m usually staying at least a week. Here are two of the apartments I’ve stayed in that provided excellent value in great locations:
Viam 16b Suites: I loved this place! It’s located on a tiny side street close to the Piazza del Popolo and the Spanish Steps in an upscale area of Rome. Unlike many apartments in Rome, the Viam 16b Suites is staffed during the day. Our suite included an outdoor terrace.
Sant’Angelo Apartments: The location deep in the ancient Jewish Ghetto is a big selling point and the apartment itself is comfortable, albeit a bit dark. But walk out your front door and you’r’re steps from Roman ruins.
Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France: Fondation Maeght
The Fondation Maeght makes just about every list of must-see art museums in Europe. While not the largest modern art museum in Europe, the Maeght is one of the most respected and also the most beautifully situated.
On the grounds of the fabulous Fondation Maeght in the south of France
I can’t say that every exhibition we’ve seen at the Fondation Maeght has been great. However, you still ought to visit if you’re in the area. When the exhibitions are good, they are extremely good.
The Fondation Maeght is a private foundation that was conceived and funded by Aimé and Marguerite Maeght to exhibit modern art. The Maeghts had several artist friends, including Georges Braque, Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Alberto Giacometti, Fernand Léger, and Joan Miró, who from the get-go donated or sold their work to the Foundation.
As Miró emphasized, the Fondation Maeght “…must before all be a place for art that remains alive.”
Visiting the Fondation Maeght
We first visited the Fondation Maeght in the 1990s during our first family trip to Europe with our young daughter. It was love at first sight!
Highlights include the giant sculptures by so many of the great 20th-century modern artists, including Miró, Giacometti, Arp, and Calder; spectacular views across the hills of the Riviera to the turquoise Mediterranean; and an airy modernist gallery.
You can visit the Fondation Maeght on a tour, but you’d be best off spending at least a few nights exploring the area and visiting the Maeght for a few hours at the beginning or end of the day when the light is best for photography.
Practical Information for the Fondation Maeght
Fondation Maeght is open daily from 10 am to 6 pm (July and Augusut to 7pm). The admission currently costs €18 for adults, €14 for youths (16 – 18), students, press and unemployed visitors. Children under 16 and disabled visitors are admitted free. The website has the latest rates.
Tour of Medieval Villages
If you don’t have a car, this tour of medieval villages that goes from Nice stops in Saint-Paul-de Vence for 1.5 hours, which is enough time for a flying visit to the Fondation Maeght.
The village of Saint Paul-de-Vence has been well and truly discovered and accommodations there are not budget-friendly. Here are two options:
Le Hameau: Located in an 18th-century farmhouse with a view of the valley and the village of Saint-Paul-de-Vence, this place is close to the Fondation and includes a gorgeous pool
Hotel Marc-Hely: Located a few kilometers away in La Colle-sur-Loup, this comfortable hotel room included a balcony and very friendly properietors.
Venice, Italy: Peggy Guggenheim Collection
If I were to pick a favorite modern art museum from this Must-See list, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice would rank in the top three.
Located right smack on the Grand Canal in the Dorsoduro district of magical Venice between Santa Maria della Salute and the Gallerie dell’Accademia, the Peggy Guggenheim Collection just makes me smile. I can’t visit it often enough!
Carol next to a statue of a horse in front of the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice.
The museum houses Peggy Guggenheim’s personal collection of 20th-century art, including masterpieces of cubism, surrealism, and abstract expressionism.
Gregg is a huge fan of Max Ernst,to whom Peggy was married for a time. Several of Ernst’s marvelous paintings are featured in the collection. Other artists in the permanent collection include Picasso, Kandinsky, Miró, Braque, Giacometti, Klee, Magritte, Dali, Pollock, de Chirico, Brancusi, Braque, Duchamp, and Mondrian.
It really is an embarrassment of 20th-century riches.
If you’re in Venice, take a break from the Renaissance and cross the canal to visit the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. Wander the cool halls of her renovated palazzo to view the paintings and sculptures, then descend the steps to the edge of the canal and watch the boats go by.
Venice panorama city skyline at Venice Grand Canal, Venice Italy
Practical Information for the Peggy Guggenheim Collection
Peggy Guggenheim Collection is open daily except Tuesdays from 10 am to 6 pm. The admission currently costs €16 for adults, €14 for seniors (70+), €9 for students under 26. Members and children under 10 are admitted free. The website has the latest rates.
Art Tour in the Dorsoduro
This private art and culture tour includes both the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and the wonderful collection of Venetian art at the Accademia.
Venice is expensive, but splurge and stay in a central area of this remarkable city rather than in nearby Mestre. Venice at night is the best. Streets that are thronged during the day become dark and empty and you’re bound to get lost on your back back to your accommodations. But you’re on an island and eventually you’ll find your way through alleyways that look like they haven’t changed in centuries, which is pretty much the case.
San Teodoro Palace: This one-bedroom apartment is huge by Venice standards and located steps from the Rialto Bridge in a very lively and touristy area.
Ca’ Mirò: Settle into this two-floor apartment in a quiet area of Venice not far from the train station and become a temporary Venetian. It’s gorgeous.
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art Near Copenhagen, Denmark
The Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (#11 on the map at the top of this post) is about a 30-minute train ride north of Copenhagen. It’s world-renowned as one of Europe’s best modern art museums, and therefore a must-visit for the Artsy Traveler!
Check what exhibitions are on, but even if they don’t appeal, visit the museum anyway. It makes for a lovely morning out from Copenhagen. You reach it by train (covered by the Copenhagen Card) followed by a pleasant 20-minute stroll along a suburban road to the museum.
After visiting the exhibitions, head outside where the real stars of the museum are located.
Sculpture at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art near Copenhagen, Denmark
Practical Information for the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art
Louisiana Museum of Modern Art is open from 11 am to 10 pm on Tuesdays to Fridays and 11 am to 6 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. The admission currently costs DKK 145 for adults, DKK 125 for students. Louisiana members and youths under 18 are admitted free. The website has the latest rates.
Day Tour from Copenhagen
Here’s a private day tour to Louisiana Museum of Modern Art from Copenhagen with Viator, or on another day, consider this day trip from Copenhagen with GetYourGuide to three interesting destinatoins outside Copenhagen: Kronborg, Frederiksborg Castle and Roskilde:
Here are two recommended places to stay in Copenhagen, both in the atmospheric Nyhavn area. See my post about both places for more details.
Sanders Haven: This huge apartment is one of the best places I’ve stayed anywhere in Europe (which is saying something). If it’s available, book it!
Phoenix Copenhagen: A stylishly upscale hotel in the Nyhavn area with friendly staff.
Tate St. Ives in Cornwall, England
The Tate St. Ives (#12) is a delightfully compact and easy-to-tour museum overlooking the sea in lovely little St. Ives. I visited on a recent trip to Cornwall, and was lucky to sit in on two curator talks about local artist Robert Lanyon. Here’s one of his pieces.
Lost Mine by Peter Lanyon
Practical Information for Tate St. Ives
Tate St. Ives is open daily from 10 am to 4:20 pm. The admission currently costs £13.50 and visitors aged under 18 is admitted free. The website has the latest rates.
Entry to the Barbara Hepworth Museum
A few minutes’ walk from the tate St. Ives is the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden. This place is well worth a visit if you’re a fan of world renowned sculptor Barbara Hepworth. Here’s a link to tickets to the site.
Tregenna Castle Resort: Why not stay in a castle! This place is about a kilometer from St. Ives and overlooks the Cornish coast. It even has a heated indoor swimming pool and an outdoor seasonal heated swimming pool.
Sightseeing Tips
I highly recommend purchasing tickets ahead of time when you’re traveling in Europe. Major art museums are increasingly crowded, with long lines that sap your sightseeing energy. Who can enjoy art after standing for an hour under the hot sun waiting to buy tickets?
Purchase your tickets well in advance of your visit or even the night before from your hotel room. Then enjoy a leisurely breakfast before strolling straight into the museum past the long lines of tourists who did not book ahead.
You’ll be sighing in front of some of the world’s great masterpieces in no time!
I prefer to use just a few websites to book all my tickets so I can easily keep track of which venue I’m seeing on which day. You can also book tickets directly with most of the venues.
Have you visited any of these modern art museums in Europe? What are your suggestions and recommendations for fellow artsy travelers? Please share them in the Comments below.
Looking for more great art? Here are posts on a few more of my favorite art museums in Europe:
