Travel and tourism is the perfect sport for any museum enthusiast, No matter where these people visit, they are always drawn to museums that provide insight into the cultural peculiarities of a certain place. You can easily spend a few hours or even all day immersing yourself in art, history, science and more at museums. However, there are all sorts of bizarre museums in the world worth visiting just for sheer novelty alone. Whether it is their odd architecture, strange subject matter, or the fact that they are totally underwater. Here are some weird and wacky museums with one-of-a-kind sights that are worth venturing off the beaten path to see.
1. Cancun Underwater Museum, Mexico
- Address: Cerrada Las Golondrinas Lote #24, Zona Hotelera, 77560 Cancún, Q.R., Mexico
- Founded: 2009
- Founders: Roberto Diaz Abraham
MUSA also known as the ‘Museo Subacuático de Arte’ is an initiative that wished to divert a large group of ocean divers disrupting the balance of underwater fauna in the Caribbean coastline. The Cancun Underwater Museum has nearly three such galleries that showcase a variety of themes reflecting the subtle nuances of the fishing community. This museum holds an interesting blend of statues ranging from themes such as capital greed to simplistic holistic living of the fishermen community. You would find sculptures ranging from simple objects such as time bombs to world-renowned art forms such as the ‘Vicissitude’ in close quarters. Diving without certification is not illegal in the Cancun Underwater Museum, however, certification would benefit you in ensuring a safe experience. Training would help in understanding safety risks and precautions such as gauging depth, how to put on pieces of equipment with proper breathing techniques.
2. Museum Of Broken Relationships, Croatia
- Address: Ćirilometodska ul. 2, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia
- Founded: 2010
- Founder: Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić
The Museum of Broken Relationships is a museum in Zagreb, Croatia, dedicated to failed romantic relationships. Its exhibits include personal items left by former lovers, along with brief descriptions. The “museum” began as a traveling collection of donated objects. He has since found a permanent location in Zagreb. He received the Kenneth Hudson Award for Europe’s Most Innovative Museum in 2011. The Museum of Broken Relationships is described by its founders as an “art concept which proceeds from the assumption that objects possess integrated fields—‘holograms’ of memories and emotions—and intends with its layout to create a space of ‘secure memory’ or ‘protected remembrance’ in order to preserve the material and nonmaterial heritage of broken relationships”. In 2011, the Museum of Broken Relationships received the Kenneth Hudson Award from the European Museum Forum (EMF) as Europe’s most innovative museum of the year. Conceptually, the museum is divided into three segments: the collection of physical items, a virtual web museum and a confessional. The items in the collection are presented with dates, places and short descriptions or stories by their donors. The virtual web museum allows registered visitors to donate their own items by uploading images and documents, while the confessional, an interactive segment of the museum, allows visitors to store their objects, post messages and record their confessions.
3. CupNoodles Instant Ramen Museum – Osaka, Japan
CupNoodles Museum Osaka Ikeda is a museum dedicated to instant noodles and Cup Noodles, as well as its creator and founder, Momofuku Ando. In this museums have an instant raman workshop allowing visitors to make their own “fresh” instant noodles. Walk through the Instant Noodles Tunnel, a visually overwhelming exhibition of all the varieties of cup noodles that Japan has to offer. The Cup Noodles Museum is one of the most interesting museums in the world. Right outside this museum, you will see a beautiful statue of the inventor, Momofuku Ando standing on a big cup noodle box, proudly showing his invention. The minute you enter this building, your mouth will instantly(pun intended) start watering. The Cup Noodles Museum has a variety of engaging activities, installations, souvenir shop, workshop and creatively displayed products to excite you throughout the day. This purpose of this museum is to honour the culinary genius Mamafuku Ando, provide information about the growth of the Instant Noodle industry and the Japanese food culture, as well as give tourists a memorable instant noodle experience.
4. International UFO Museum and Research Center – Roswell, New Mexico
- Address: 114 N Main St, Roswell, NM 88203, United States
- Founded: 1991
In early 1990, Walter Haut, who had been public information officer at Roswell Army Air Field in 1947, began promoting the idea of a home for information on the Roswell Incident and other UFO phenomena. The Museum continues to provide information to the general public on all aspects of the UFO phenomenon. People from all over the world come to Roswell to see what the museum has to offer and just “be in Roswell where it happened”. The museum’s exhibits include information on the Roswell incident, crop circles, UFO sightings, Area 51, ancient astronauts, and kidnappings. Exhibits are designed not to convince anyone to somehow believe in their subjects. Visitors are encouraged to ask questions. Many visitors come numerous times and some spend days or even weeks researching the library. Roswell is approximately 200 miles from major cities such as Amarillo, Lubbock, and El Paso, Texas, and Albuquerque and Las Cruces, New Mexico. A majority of visitors would like to come to Roswell to view the museum and be in the city where the most notorious UFO incident occurred.
5. The National Museum of Funeral History (Houston, Texas)
- Address: 415 Barren Springs Dr, Houston, TX 77090, United States
- Founded: 1992
The National Museum of Funeral History is a museum in Houston, Texas that contains a collection of artifacts and relics that aim to “educate the public and preserve the legacy of the care of death.” The 35,000 square foot museum opened in 1992. The museum houses “the largest collection of funerary artifacts in the country and features renowned exhibits on one of man’s oldest cultural customs,” according to its website. From a visual history of embalming to African fantasy coffins, the museum is a fascinating look at the history, science, and art of death. Featured in its unique collection is JFK’s original eternal flame, a diverse array of of funeral programs from famous people, and a collection of beautiful hearses, both horse-drawn and motorized, including a tragic funeral bus which more than lived up to its name. The specially designed funeral bus was meant to carry both coffin and mourners, but—when climbing a steep hill in San Francisco—it tipped over, sending both the living and the dead flying onto the street. It was quickly retired from service. The museum is also home to a school that teaches embalming.
6. Sir John Soane’s Museum
- Address: 13 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, Holborn, London WC2A 3BP, United Kingdom
- Founded: 1837
The Sir John Soane Museum is a house museum, located next to Lincoln’s Inn Fields in Holborn, London, which was once the home of neoclassical architect John Soane. It contains many architectural designs and models of Soane’s projects, as well as an extensive collection of paintings, sculptures, drawings and antiques that he acquired over many years. There are over 30,000 architectural drawings in the collection. Due to the house’s narrow passages, all adorned with Soane’s vast collections, only 90 visitors are allowed to enter the museum at any given time, and a queue formation outside for entry is is not unusual. The labels are few and the lighting is discreet; there is no information desk or cafe. During the year ending March 2019, the museum welcomed 131,459 visitors.
