Ice Cream, Motorcycles and Kites: 7 Cool Museums to Check Out For International Museum Day

For many travelers, museums are an essential stop on any trip. So in celebration of International Museum Day, we dug through Airbnb Trips for museums recommended by our community.

With over 1100 museums now included in Airbnb Guidebooks, it turns out there’s a museum for just about everything, in addition to thousands of listings within walking distance of the world’s most interesting museums.  This weekend, more than 60,000 guests will stay in Airbnb listings within one mile of a museum in the top markets listed below.

From world-famous art collections to offbeat curiosities, here are a few of our favorite museums in top markets for Airbnb travel.

Museum of Ice Cream, Los Angeles

Beyond a traditional museum, LA’s Museum of Ice Cream is an immersive experience celebrating sweet-toothed goodness. (And yes, you’ll sample plenty of frozen treats along the way.)  

Photo credit: Museum of Ice Cream

The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art & Natural History, London

Originally funded on Kickstarter, the museum’s eclectic collection includes natural oddities, strange knick-knacks and surrealistic art spanning several centuries. Interior designer David Carter, calls this micro-museum “totally bonkers” in his Eccentric London Guidebook.

There’s a tiny cocktail bar with a drinks list that’s as mad as the space. Try the absinthe-based Green Lady and reality will never feel quite the same again.

David Carter, Interior Designer

Photo credit: The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, Fine Art  & Natural History

Museum of Motorcycles, Barcelona

A must-see for any fan of moto culture, the Museum of Motorcycles displays over 70 unique motorbikes, each with their own unique history and story.

Photo credit:  Museu Moto

Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco

A mainstay of SF’s art scene, the freshly renovated SFMOMA blends old and new architecture across ten floors of contemporary art. Architectural historian, Braden Engel, lists this landmark museum at the top of his favorite places list for iconic architecture.

Coming in from Third street, note the oblique staircase Snøhetta added to Botta’s original atrium. Check out the new dynamic staircases at the back entrance, too.

 Braden Engel, Architectural Historian

Photo credit: 34842854@N07 (left) and  36594324@N02  (right)   on Flickr

The Kite Museum, Tokyo

This tiny, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it museum exhibits Japanese traditional kites along with an array of stunningly intricate kites from across Asia.

Photo credit:  62241943@N02 (left) and  68999255@N00 (right)  on Flickr

Centre Pompidou, Paris

Home to a vast public library, a modern art museum and a center for music research, the Centre Pompidou is a mecca for postmodern experimentation. Sculptor Alexandre Haulet recommends the inspiring sculpture seen throughout the center.

In front of the museum, stop to admire the work of another sculptor, Alexander Calder, and the Stravinsky fountain, or Fontaine des Automates.

Alexandre Haulet, Sculptor

Photo credit:  Sean X. Liu (left) and Shadowgate  (right)   on Flickr

Hyde Park Barracks Museum, Sydney

Originally a lodging for convict men and boys in colonial Australia, the Hyde Park Barracks Museum is now a pre-eminent historical site detailing convict life and European colonial expansion in the 1800s.

Photo credit: 67833801@N00 on Flickr

Additionally, a number of Airbnb Experiences offer expert-led access to the popular and lesser-known museums of the world: In Los Angeles guests can pair a trip to LACMA with a lesson in couture sculpting; in Paris, guests can get a lighter side of the Louvre with an art historian turned comedian.

Read more about Airbnb Experiences and Airbnb Places.