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The top 10 museums in the world revealed

The Musée d'Orsay in Paris has been voted the best museum in the world

Cathy Adams
Thursday 06 September 2018 14:16 BST
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Samurai armour is centrepiece of new British Museum exhibition

The Musée d’Orsay in Paris has been voted the world’s best museum.

The art museum, in an old railway station on the Seine, is most-loved for its huge collection of impressionist and post-impressionist art.

It came out top in the latest TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice awards for museums around the world. The review and booking platform calculated the winners based on quantity and quality of reviews and ratings over a 12-month period.

Museums in New York took second and third place, with the 9/11 Memorial & Museum coming in second, followed by the city's landmark Metropolitan Museum of Art. London’s British Museum came fourth; and rounding off the top five was Madrid’s Prado National Museum.

Here's the full list:

Musée​ d'Orsay –​ Paris, France

The Musee d'Orsay is housed in a former railway station on the left bank of the Seine

This Parisian art gallery is housed in the former Orsay railway station, which was built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900. It’s well-known for its collection of impressionist art and Old Masters, including those of Paul Cézanne, Claude Monet and Auguste Renoir.

Entry fee: €14. musee-orsay.fr/en

The National 9/11 Museum and Memorial –​ New York City, New York

The reflective pool of the 9/11 Memorial in Downtown New York

This powerful museum in downtown New York commemorates the people who died in the 9/11 terror attacks. The museum, on the site of the former World Trade Center, tells the story of the attacks through displays, archives and artifacts. The memorial pool outside, inscribed with the names of everybody who died in the attack, is free; but the museum itself requires a ticket (and likely advance booking as there are long queues).

Entry fee: $24. 911memorial.org

The Metropolitan Museum of Art – New York City, New York

The Met Museum of Art also has a hidden rooftop that looks across Central Park

This landmark art gallery on New York’s Museum Mile has more than 5,000 years of art from across the world in its location on Fifth Avenue.

Entry fee $25. metmuseum.org

The British Museum – London, United Kingdom

The entrance of the British Museum is as impressive as the artifacts within

The UK’s best museum was founded in 1753, the first public museum in the world. It houses a number of antiquities, books, manuscripts and ethnographic material, including some high-profile pieces like the Rosetta Stone. Today it welcomes more than six million visitors.

Entry fee: free. britishmuseum.org

Prado National Museum – Madrid, Spain

Established in 1819, the Prado is considered the best collection of Spanish art and one of the world's finest collections of European art

Madrid’s premier art gallery houses work from some of Spain’s best painters such as Goya and Velasquez as well as a number of other masterpieces.

Entry fee: 15. museodelprado.es/en

Acropolis Museum – Athens, Greece

More than two million people visit the Acropolis Museum each year

This archaeological museum in Greece is focused on the findings from the Acropolis, which includes artifacts from the Greek Bronze Age to Roman and Byzantine Greece.

Entry fee: 5. theacropolismuseum.gr/en

Louvre Museum – Paris, France

Chinese-American architect IM Pei designed the modern pyramid entrance to the Louvre Museum

It would take years to see everything in the Louvre, Paris’ most well-known art museum. Its most famous painting is probably Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, although there’s an impressive selection of Italian Renaissance art too.

Entry fee: 15 at the museum, 17 online. louvre.fr/en

The National WWII Museum – New Orleans, Louisiana

New Orleans' National WWII museum was founded in 2000

The American experience of the Second World War is explored in this glass and concrete museum in New Orleans. Exhibits include a 4D film, war aircraft and permanent galleries examining the US contribution to the war.

Entry fee: $28. nationalww2museum.org

National Museum of Anthropology – Mexico City, Mexico

Mexico's National Museum of Anthropology is the most visited museum in Mexico (Getty )

A national museum of Mexico, the National Museum of Anthropology includes significant archaeological and anthropological artifacts from Mexico’s pre-Columbian heritage, such as the Stone of the Sun (or the Aztec calendar stone) and the Aztec Xochipilli statue.

Entry fee: 70 Mexican pesos. mna.inah.gob.mx

War Remnants Museum – Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Artifacts within the War Remnants Museum include a US army helicopter

The Vietnam War is examined at this powerful museum in Ho Chi Minh City, through often disturbing images and objects including a guillotine, brought to Vietnam by the French.

Entry fee: 40,000 Vietnamese dong. warremnantsmuseum.com

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