{"id":17877,"date":"2015-12-05T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-12-05T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/?p=17877"},"modified":"2021-10-28T16:45:15","modified_gmt":"2021-10-28T16:45:15","slug":"weird-museums-around-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.expedia.com\/stories\/weird-museums-around-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Weird museums around the world"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We\u2019ve all heard of the Smithsonian, the Louvre, and the Museum of Natural History. But there are a plethora of lesser-known weird and wonderful museums around the world that can be equally as fascinating and entertaining. Some even might teach you a thing or two.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5\">It\u2019s always fun to seek out at least one of these off-the-beaten-path collections of\u00a0the strange or unusual when traveling. Many are intriguing enough to build an entire vacation around.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5\">At the\u00a0<strong>International Spy Museum<\/strong>\u00a0in\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.expedia.com\/Washington-Hotels.d178318.Travel-Guide-Hotels\">Washington, D.C.<\/a>, for instance,\u00a0you will adopt a cover identity before you even enter. (After all, any spy worth his or her salt has an alias.) The museum houses interactive exhibits that get you thinking like a spy, as well as the largest collection of international\u00a0espionage\u00a0artifacts and memorabilia. Our favorite exhibits featured\u00a0film clips and artifacts from the 50 years of James Bond films.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.expedia.com\/New-York.d178293.Destination-Travel-Guides\">New York<\/a>\u2019s <strong>Museum of Sex<\/strong>\u00a0is located at\u00a0233 Fifth Avenue and 27th Street in Manhattan. Its name pretty much says it all. At this museum, you\u2019ll find everything from photography and fine art to history and technology\u2014all about sex. The museum also has costumes, a research library, and a multimedia library. The goal: To preserve the ever-growing collection of sexually related objects.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"full-width-image-container lansdscape-83e53ba7-50ee-63e1-bbde-ff000073f150\">\n<div class=\"full-width-image-shadow\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"full-width-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"landscape-83e53ba7-50ee-63e1-bbde-ff000073f150\" src=\"\/images\/default-source\/user-midlife-road-trip\/museums-1-[size_1230x470].jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"full-width-image-caption\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5\"><strong>Alcatraz Island<\/strong> once was home to some of the country\u2019s most notorious prisoners, such as Al Capone and Robert Stroud (a.k.a. \u201cThe Birdman of Alcatraz\u201d). Since 1972, however, the island prison has been one of the most visited sites in the National Park Service. When you go, you will get an in-depth look at the history of this infamous prison from its days as a military prison (called Fort Alcatraz), through the period in which it was a federal penitentiary and the time of Indian occupation.\u00a0The only way for visitors to get to Alcatraz Island is by ferry, which is located near Fisherman\u2019s Warf in\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.expedia.com\/San-Francisco-Hotels.d178305.Travel-Guide-Hotels\">San Francisco<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5\">The\u00a0<strong>Mus\u00e9e des \u00e9gouts<\/strong>, or the Sewer\u00a0Museum, is located between Quai d\u2019Orsay and the Seine in\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.expedia.com\/Paris.d179898.Destination-Travel-Guides\">Paris<\/a>. A 1,600-foot underground tunnel takes you through the history of Parisian sewers from the\u00a019th century through present day.\u00a0While\u00a0the\u00a0Mus\u00e9e des \u00e9gouts isn\u2019t about to give the Louvre a run for the money, it is interesting nevertheless.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"small-width-image-container lansdscape-dbe53ba7-50ee-63e1-bbde-ff000073f150\">\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"landscape-dbe53ba7-50ee-63e1-bbde-ff000073f150\" src=\"\/images\/default-source\/user-midlife-road-trip\/museums-2-[size_512x290].jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"Title\">\n<\/div>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5\">While it\u2019s not easy to out-do a museum about sewers, we\u2019ve tried our best with the\u00a0<strong>Sulabh International Museum<\/strong> of Toilets\u00a0in New Delhi, India. From fancy to functional, porcelain to solid gold, this museum flushes out all the details you\u2019ll ever want to know about the toilet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5\">The\u00a0<strong>Paul B. Johnson Pencil Sharpener\u00a0Museum<\/strong>\u00a0in Logan, Ohio, houses a collection of more than 3,400 pencil sharpeners. The collection was started by Paul B. Johnson more than 20 years ago, and is said to be the largest collection of\u00a0pencil sharpeners\u00a0in the United States. With every kind of sharpener one could imagine, from presidents to potties,\u00a0the museum\u00a0is\u00a0a nostalgic look at getting to the point (see what we did there?).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5\">The\u00a0<strong>Canadian Potato Museum<\/strong>\u00a0celebrates the almighty spud with a collection of agricultural and community artifacts. Located on Prince Edward Island, the Canadian Potato Museum has the largest collection of potato-growing and -harvesting farm tools in the world. You also can stroll through the Heritage Chapel, the Long Barn, the Little Red School House, and the Telephone Switchboard office.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 40px\"><span style=\"line-height: 1.5\">Viewfinder Tip: Many small museums change their hours without warning, so call ahead to confirm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5\"><strong>The Frietmuseum<\/strong>,\u00a0in Bruges, Belgium, is the first and only museum dedicated to potato fries. It is here that you will learn the history of the potato, fries, and the condiments with which we adorn them. If you ever asked yourself \u201cWhere does the potato come from?\u201d or \u201cWas the fry really invented in Belgium?\u201d you won\u2019t want to miss this exhibit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5\">You\u2019ll find the world\u2019s only\u00a0<strong>Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum<\/strong>\u00a0(boasting more than 20,000 sets) in\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.expedia.com\/Gatlinburg-Pigeon-Forge.d601691.Destination-Travel-Guides\">Gatlinburg, Tennessee<\/a>. The purpose of this museum is threefold. First: To show changes in society (as represented by the shakers) that can be found throughout the decades. Second: To expose the creative side of the shaker industry. Third: To bring together salt and pepper shaker devotees by sparking their fond salt and pepper shaker memories.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5\">Last, but not least, the answer to your sole searching, the\u00a0<strong>Museum of Shoes<\/strong>\u00a0in Somerset, U.K. Step on in and satisfy your inner Cinderella and view the evolution of the shoe. The museum is home to hundreds of shoes from around the world, as well as the tools and machinery used to make them.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"line-height: 1.5\">There are hundreds more museums like these around the world. Some are creepy. Some are quaint. All are intriguing. No matter where your travels take you, surely there will be a weird and wonderful museum nearby.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><span style=\"line-height: 1.5\"><strong>What is the weirdest or most wonderful museum you have visited?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Seeking the most offbeat museums on the planet<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":13549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1782,1778,1839,1780,1788,1810,1868,1833,1842,1889,1802,1962],"tags":[],"authors":[2221],"class_list":["post-17877","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-destinations","category-features","category-great-britain","category-inspiration","category-interests","category-museums","category-national-parks","category-new-york-city","category-paris","category-san-francisco","category-top-lists","category-washington-dc","authors-rick-sandi-griffin-mckenna","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Weird museums around the world | Expedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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