The World's Strangest Museums
The world is a weird place—and it’s about to get weirder.
Believe it or not, there are many places around the globe that celebrate the most unusual objects. From instant noodles, condoms, and even tap water, there is a weird museum for everything.
Here are 40 of the world’s strangest museums, that probably shouldn't exist.
The SPAM Museum
The SPAM Museum is located in Austin, Minnesota. Here, you can learn all about everyone’s favorite meat cube. From ingredients and shelf life, to unusual uses, die-hard SPAM fans will get a kick out of this museum.
Take advantage of the free guided tours that run hourly on weekends.
The Washington Post, Getty Images
The National Mustard Museum
The National Mustard Museum is located in Middleton, Wisconsin. It houses a collection of over 6,000 types of mustard from around the world.
Check out the shop that sells 500+ varieties, and offers free taste testing.
Wwahammy, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Neon Museum
The Neon Museum is located in Las Vegas, Nevada. This place is filled with loads of old, iconic and rescued neon signs. It has both an indoor exhibit and an outdoor exhibit known as the Neon Boneyard.
This museum hosts events like weddings and conferences, and also has "portrait hour" for people who want to go there specifically for photography.
Beijing Tap Water Museum
Located in China, the Beijing Tap Water Museum is a former pipe-house that has been converted to a museum dedicated to tap water. From history to techniques, anyone strangely interested in the uses of tap water would find this place intriguing.
The Museum of Bad Art
The Museum of Bad Art is located in Boston, Massachusetts. It’s the only museum in the world dedicated to “the collection, exhibition, and celebration of bad art in all its forms.”
There are over 900 pieces of art, each with a descriptive narrative specific to its origin.
The Dog Collar Museum
The Dog Collar Museum is located in Kent, England. It is a “fascinating collection of canine neckwear”. Believe it or not, this museum has existed for five centuries and is more popular than you’d think.
Here, you’ll find rare collars, ancient collars, and collars made from all and any materials.
British Lawnmower Museum
Located in Merseyside, England, the Lawnmower Museum showcases various lawnmowers from around the world. From royal lawnmowers belonging to Prince Charles (not likely used by him though), to the world’s most expensive lawnmowers, this museum will pleasantly surprise you.
Don’t miss the fully-functioning lawnmower that is only 5cm high.
Dual Freq, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Iceland Phallological Museum
The Phallological Museum is located in Reykjavík, Iceland. It stands as the best place to learn all about the male reproductive organ. It is likely the only museum in the world to contain an entire collection of male genitalia.
From the tiniest hamster member (2mm) to the colossal parts of a sperm whale (1.7m), and even a human exhibit of a 95-year-old man, you will certainly learn a lot at this museum.
International Cryptozoology Museum
The International Cryptozoology Museum, located in Maine, USA, features full sized art sculptures of your favorite monsters.
Cryptozoology is “the study of unverified animals, mystical creatures” only rumored to exist by legend or belief, such as the Yeto or the Loch Ness Monster.
Instant Ramen Museum
The Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum is located in Japan and it boasts and incredible collection of instant noodles.
Not only can you learn the history of ramen noodles, but you can also make your own in their visitor’s kitchen.
The Museum of Death
The Siriraj Medical Museum (Museum of Death) is located in Thailand, and it definitely not for the weak. As soon as you walk in, you’ll be greeted with the skeleton of the museum’s founder.
You’ll also find hemorrhaged brains, severed limbs, and punctured organs—among many other graphic exhibits.
Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center
The Clown Hall of Fame and Research Center is another one of America’s strange museums. Located in Wisconsin, this place is home to all the clowns who joked, and terrified, their way through America.
It features the world’s largest archive of clown artifacts.
Corey Coyle, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Hair Museum
The Avanos Hair Museum is located in Turkey, and houses the world’s largest collection of hair.
Actual hair gathered from more than 16,000 women covers the walls of this museum, and even includes names and addresses of the people who provided the hair.
Nevit Dilmen, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Bread Museum
The Bread Museum is located in Germany. The museum houses 16,000 artifacts related to the history of bread, but no actual bread.
It’s more about the cultural history of bread, and the various ways to make it.
Schnute22, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Celebrity Lingerie Hall of Fame
The Celebrity Lingerie Hall of Fame is located in California. This museum proudly displays Hollywood undergarments, from Tom Hanks’ boxer shorts in “Forrest Gump” to the undies of the entire cast of “Beverly Hills 90210.”
Paramount, Forrest Gump (1994)
Museum of Enduring Beauty
The Museum of Enduring Beauty is located in Malaysia. The museum is “a monument to the extremes people will go to feel pretty.”
From bound feet and molded heads, to lip discs and dyed skin—there is definitely something that will shock you.
Underwater Museum of Art
The Underwater Museum of Art is located in Cancun, Mexico. It displays more than 500 submerged sculptures.
To visit this museum you must put on a wetsuit and descend about 6 meters into the water.
Museum of Broken Relationships
The Museum of Broken Relationships is located in Croatia. Here, you’ll find displays of books, coffee pots, spoons, shoes, Valentine’s gifts, and more—all memorabilia from relationships that have ended.
Most of the artifacts are from the personal collection of the founders, but some were also donated by friends and family who also experienced heartache.
The Poop Museum
The Poop Museum is located in Italy, and it displays various sculptures made out of cow manure. These sculptures were created using the poop of more than 2,500 cows.
Zde, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Vent Haven Museum
The Vent Haven Museum is located in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky. It’s known for it’s unique (and creepy) displays of ventriloquist dolls. It is the only museum in the world dedicated to the art of ventriloquism.
The museum has over 900 retired dummies, including some used by famous performers.
Bata Shoe Museum
The Bata Shoe Museum is located in Toronto, Canada. It started out as the private collection of a woman whose husband owned a shoe company.
Today, the museum has over 13,000 different pairs of shoes, dating back as far as 4,500 years.
International Spy Museum
The International Spy Museum is in Washington, DC. This museum isn’t “strange”, but rather very intriguing. It offers a unique look at the secrets of real-life espionage.
It boasts incredible interactive displays of tools and inventions used by spies all around the world.
The Parasite Museum
The Meguro Parasitological Museum is located in Japan. It features more than 300 parasite specimens, including the world's longest tapeworm, the insides of a dolphin’s stomach, and a turtle’s head that had been taken over by a parasite.
The National Poo Museum
The National Poo Museum, located in England, is different from the cow manure museum. This one includes displays of actual poop.
Resin spheres encase samples from different animals as well as humans.
PooMuseum, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Electric Ladyland Phosphorescence Museum
The Electric Ladyland Phosphorescence Museum is in Amsterdam, and it’s the only museum in the world dedicated to phosphorescent art.
The psychedelic UV-lit rooms also feature fluorescent fish, mineral samples, toys, and other glowing everyday objects.
Robin Sheat Eythian, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Kattenkabinet
The Kattenkabinet is a museum completely dedicated to all things cat. Not only is it filled with cat art and cat memorabilia, it also has several feline friends that roam around while you look.
The National Museum of Funeral History
The National Museum of Funeral History is located in Houston, Texas. Here, you can learn everything you’ve ever wanted to know about funerals. From historical funeral customs to funeral techniques around the world, there is a coffin for everyone here.
UFO Museum
The UFO Museum is located in Roswell, New Mexico. This museum was opened in 1992, by two men who were involved in the Roswell incident and wanted to document their conspiracy theories.
Here, you’ll find various artifacts, photographs, and stories related to alleged UFO sightings/landings.
Jirka Matousek, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Plastinarium
The Plastinarium is located in Germany. It’s a touring exhibit of corpses that have been preserved with plastic. More than 18,000 people have donated their bodies to this museum.
TheFlyingDutchman, CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Museum of Intimacy
In New York, there is a museum that documents the history of human intimacy. It includes displays of suggestive art, exhibits that explain how animals do the deed, and various toys used between lovers.
To add to the already fun atmosphere, you’ll find a bouncy house made of breasts.
Don’t forget to visit the gift shop!
The International Museum of Toilets
The Sulabh International Museum of Toilets is in Delhi, India. This museum documents the evolution of toilets—including commodes, urinals, and chamber pots from around the world dating all the way back to 2500 B.C.
The Museum of Mummies
The Museo de las Momias de Guanajuato, located in Mexico, displays actual mummified remains that were exhumed back in the 1860s when the city decided to enact a grave tax for people to keep their loved ones buried.
Families who did not pay had their loved one’s bodies exhumed. Eventually, there were so many that they built this place to house them all.
The Corpus Museum
The Corpus Museum is located in the Netherlands. This museum allows you to travel through the entire human body, as if you were shrunk down to the size of an ant.
Visitors enter through the knee and make stops throughout the body, such as the intestines where they witness the digestion of a cheese sandwich.
Willem Nabuurs, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
The Museum of Miniature Books
The Museum of Miniature Books is located in Baku, Azerbaijan, and it is the world’s only museum of mini books.
The collection was compiled over 30 years ago and currently houses more than 5,600 books published in 66 different countries.
Included is the smallest book in the world, which must be read by magnifying glass.
Stanislav Kozlovskiy, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
The National Hobo Museum
The National Hobo Museum is in Britt, Iowa. It was founded by three former hobos who wanted to preserve and educate others about the hobo lifestyle and customs.
Along with various artifacts and memorabilia, it also includes the personal collections of famous hobos like the Pennsylvania Kid, Connecticut Slim, and the Hard Rock Kid.
The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic
The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic is located in England. It houses the largest collection of witchcraft paraphernalia in the world.
The museum documents a variety of magic practices, superstitions, and rituals.
Ethan Doyle White, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Gopher Hole Museum
The Gopher Hole Museum is located in Torrington, Canada. It features dozens of stuffed gophers dressed and posed to resemble different citizens of the tiny town of Torrington.
Believe it or not, thousands of people visit this museum each year.
The Mutter Museum
Located in Pennsylvania, The Mutter Museum of medical history features 19th century medical tools, 100 human skulls, and preserved specimens like pieces of Albert Einstein's brain and the livers of conjoined twins.
Tabasco Museum
The Tabasco Museum in Avery Island, Louisiana is a tabasco museum that documents the sauce's invention. Also on site, you can tour a tabasco factory and their pepper greenhouse.
The Condom Museum
The Condom Museum is located in Thailand. It displays beautiful creations made strictly from condoms. Thailand is actually the world’s largest producers of condoms, so it makes sense they’d have a museum like this.
Not only do they have two-rooms completely dedicated to condom displays, but they also have an area dedicated to demonstrating their strength and durability.
