Quirky, bizarre and offbeat, some museums are all about offering visitors a wonderfully weird experience. From museums dedicated to everything from broken relationships to toilets, here are seven of the world’s strangest museums…
1. The Big Mac Museum
What to expect: America’s most iconic burger has its own shrine in western Pennsylvania where the Big Mac was first served in 1967. Inside the museum restaurant is the ‘world’s largest Big Mac’ standing 14 feet tall and 12 feet in diameter.
Location: Irwin, Pennsylvania, United States
2. The Museum of Broken Relationships
What to expect: The Museum of Broken Relationships — as you might expect — is not the kind of place you’d visit on a first date. Filled with the mementos left behind from shattered relationships, all objects on display have been crowd-sourced and include backstories that range from comical to heartbreaking.
Location: Zagreb, Croatia
3. Instant Ramen Museum
What to expect: Officially the CupNoodles Museum, ramen lovers can learn the history behind the invention of instant noodles and even create a highly customized cup of noodles onsite with thousands of possible ingredient combinations.
Location: Ikeda City, Osaka Prefecture, Japan
4. Torture Museum
What to expect: For those looking for a slightly darker way to spend an afternoon, the Torture Museum features over 40 instruments of punishment from throughout European history, including ‘skull crackers’ and something known as an ‘inquisition chair’ — which is much more horrifying than it sounds.
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
5. Toilet museum
What to expect: Given Japan’s obsession with high-tech toilets, it’s not surprising that they’ve dedicated an entire museum to the toilet’s history at the TOTO Museum, giving visitors a look at the toilet’s evolution over the years.
Location: Kitakyushu, Japan
6. Museum of Bad Art
What to expect: The Museum of Bad Art’s official motto is “art too bad to be ignored”, and it’s hard to disagree. The collection celebrates some truly awful works of art, but it’s a unique experience that you won’t find anywhere else.
Location: Massachusetts, United States
7. Museum of Vampires
What to expect: Run by a self-proclaimed ‘vampirologist’, Le Musée des Vampires might be the only one of its kind in the world. On display are things like 19th century anti-vampire protection kits and a mummified cat. It’s most definitely a world away from Paris’ more refined cultural attractions.
Location: Paris, France