The 10 Best Museums in the World on TripAdvisor
Photo by iStock. Design by Lauren DeLuca for Yahoo Travel.
There is some stiff competition among the top museums in the U.S., let alone the world. But if you’re going to go anywhere to look at (but not touch) some epic exhibits this year, TripAdvisor’s users have decided: it’s the Met.
The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art rose up the ranks to be named the most popular museum in the world in the 2015 Travelers’ Choice survey. It moved up from third in the U.S. to beat last year’s world champion, the Art Institute of Chicago.
TripAdvisor determines the winners the winners by calculating the quantity and quality of member reviews for museums around the world over a 12-month period.
The Met reported last year getting 6.2 million visitors from around the world, so it’s no surprise that it’s No. 1 this year. (Photo: Courtesy Trip Advisor)
The Met may be the new No. 1, but it’s anything but a new museum favorite. In its present location in the Upper East Side since 1880, it has tens of thousands of items displayed at any time, including the largest collection of Egyptian art outside of Cairo; the most extensive display of 17th century Dutch art in the Western Hemisphere (including Vermeer and Rembrandt); and an impressive array of arms and armor.
Also, Yahoo Travel loved the Met enough to take an after-hours tour of it earlier this year.
The Art Institute of Chicago dipped to second in the U.S. this year after two consecutive years at No. 1. It’s No. 3 in the world rankings, and it remains a vital destination for modern art, with such famous works as Picasso’s Old Guitarist; O’Keeffe’s Black Cross; and Matisse’s Bathers by a River.
Grant Wood’s American Gothic, on display at the Art Institute of Chicago. (Photo: Courtesy Trip Advisor)
Paris placed two of its many famous museums in the world’s top five: the Musee d'Orsay at No. 2, and the Louvre at No. 5.
At No. 3 in the U.S. is the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, which includes the U.S.S. Tang submarine.
In a separate survey of 2,300 U.S. respondents that TripAdvisor recently released, 89 percent said they plan to visit a museum in the next 12 months, and 85 percent said they visited one in the previous 12 months.
Here are the rest of the most popular museums in the U.S.:
No. 4: The Getty Center – Los Angeles
The Getty Center (Photo: Courtesy Trip Advisor)
Related: 51 Weird Museums Across the U.S.
No. 5: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum – Washington, D.C.
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (Photo: Courtesy Trip Advisor)
No. 6: National Gallery of Art – Washington, D.C.
National Gallery of Art (Photo: Courtesy Trip Advisor)
No. 7: Frick Collection – New York City
Frick Collection (Photo: Courtesy Trip Advisor)
No. 8: Chihuly Garden and Glass – Seattle
Chihuly Garden and Glass (Photo: Courtesy Trip Advisor)
No. 9: USS Midway Museum – San Diego
USS Midway Museum (Photo: Courtesy Trip Advisor)
No. 10: American Museum of Natural History – New York City
American Museum of Natural History (Photo: Courtesy Trip Advisor)
And here are the 10 most popular museums in the world:
No. 1: Metropolitan Museum of Art – New York
No. 2: Musee d'Orsay – Paris
Musee d'Orsay (Photo: Courtesy Trip Advisor)
No. 3: Art Institute of Chicago
No. 4: Museo Nacional del Prado – Madrid, Spain
Museo Nacional del Prado (Photo: Courtesy Trip Advisor)
No. 5: Musee du Louvre – Paris
Musee du Louvre (Photo: Courtesy Trip Advisor)
No. 6: State Hermitage Museum and Winter Palace – St. Petersburg, Russia
No. 7: National Gallery – London
National Gallery (Photo: Courtesy Trip Advisor)
No. 8: The Rijksmuseum – Amsterdam
Related: 7 Museums for 7 Days in Amsterdam
No. 9: Vasa Museum – Stockholm, Sweden
No. 10: National Museum of Anthropology (Museo Nacional de Antropologia) – Mexico City, Mexico
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