There’s something powerful – almost mesmerising – about stepping into a museum or gallery while travelling. Not just for what hangs on the walls, but for the spaces themselves.
From the Gothic silhouettes of Prague to the flowing, expressive forms of Antoni Gaudí’s Barcelona, where Gothic meets Art Nouveau in the most unexpected ways. In these places architecture becomes part of the artistic experience.
The Rijksmuseum rises like a fairytale, blending Gothic and Renaissance design, while The Frick Collection, set within a grand historic residence, offers quiet sophistication and intimacy. These are spaces that gently remind us to slow down, to look closer and to always to look up and down! Because sometimes the masterpiece isn't right in front of you, but above, as it is in the Sistine Chapel. Or sometimes, it’s beneath your feet, in centuries-old mosaics, each piece carefully carved and paved by hand. These moments ask us to truly see, to wake up, take notice and find ourselves fully present, taking it all in.
Where Art and Architecture Converge
Across the world, some of the most remarkable cultural spaces are not just about what they hold, but how they make you feel.
The Louvre Museum is a palace in every sense – layered with history, grandeur and some of the world’s most recognised works.
Just across the Seine, the Musée d’Orsay transforms a former railway station into a sanctuary of Impressionist beauty, while the Centre Pompidou turns architecture inside out in a bold expression of modern creativity. It is important to note the Centre Pompidou is currently under renovations from 2025 - 2030. However, you can check their website to see where the hosted artworks are being exhibited across Paris and other parts of Europe.
The home of the Frick Museum, the Frick Mansion was recently restored and renovated bringing it up to date within this new century whilst still maintaining its gilded age and neo classical approach as it aligns with this new era.
Italy offers its own layered narrative through the Uffizi and Accademia Galleries in Florence, not to mention the Leonardo Interactive Museum celebrating its 20 year anniversary in memory of Leonardo de Vinci and his inventions, or the refined halls of Pinacoteca di Brera and the innovation of the Museo del Novecento in Milan.
In Madrid, the Museo del Prado reflects the depth and soul of Spanish artistry, while the legacy of Pablo Picasso unfolds across both Barcelona and Málaga.
In London, the National Gallery and the British Museum bring together centuries of global history, making it open, accessible and deeply significant.
The Smithsonian Institution made up of 21 Museums includes one zoo and 14 research and education institutes. 18 of the museums, including the zoo, are located in Washington DC alone, and all are steeped in so much history and depth that it stretches our minds to create space just to fit it all in! New York hosts two of the other museums, Cooper Hewitt - Smithsonian Design Museum and the National Museum of the American Indian's George Gustav Heye Center, along with Virginia in the USA home to The National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
Then there are places that redefine what a museum can be – like teamLab Borderless, where light, movement and sound create an entirely immersive experience located in Tokyo, Japan.
New York: A Cultural Powerhouse
Few cities bring together art, history and architecture quite like New York City.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a world in itself, from ancient civilisations to Renaissance masterpieces. The Arms and Armor Hall, with its knights in full armour and war horses mid-charge, is nothing short of captivating. I felt so small here, so dwarfed by the sheer size of this, taking up what looked to me as a space larger than your average ballroom! It was one of the most magnificent displays I have ever seen.
Further north in Upper Manhattan, The Met Cloisters offers a completely different pace, Romanesque architecture, quiet gardens and a sense of stillness overlooking the Hudson River. I felt like I had just landed in a Medieval novel, set amongst the leafy Tryon Park, this place is worth a visit!
The spiral form of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum transforms the way you move through art – fluid, continuous and intentionally different.
As well as experiencing the spaces that invite reflection in a different way – like the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, where architecture, memory and storytelling in the truest, rawest and most authentic fashion, come together with such a quiet power that moves one through so much in such a short space in time allowing you to capture the before, then and now in the same space.
A Note on Experiencing It All
Museums aren’t meant to be rushed.
- Choose a few rooms.
- Pause longer than you planned.
- Let something unexpected stop you.
- Look beyond the obvious.
- And always look up, down and all around.
A Personal Reflection
As I reflect on running down the spiral form of the Guggenheim with a group of fellow 16-year-olds after Space Camp in Huntsville Alabama I realise how we were lucky enough to go to places like New York and Washington DC afterwards to see these incredible spaces, going back as an adult means more than I can say! Since then, I have been back to explored even more! Visiting the Frick, I’ve found myself standing in front of Fragonard’s Progress of Love, drawn into the delicate refinement of another time and swept up in Boucher’s Four Seasons. Staring at Marie Antoinette's beautifully hand carved furniture envisioning it in the days of Versailles!
I’ve paused before the many paintings of Monet’s Gardens of Giverny only to later walk through the very garden that inspired it. I’ve stood beneath the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, craning my neck in quiet awe – and stepped inside Sagrada Família, where light, colour and structure come together in a way that almost defies explanation. I’ve wandered the grand halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, then escaped to the stillness of The Met Cloisters, where medieval art meets gardens and river views.
Not to mention the last time I was in New York was 1995, finding my way back there in 2023 noting every single change like I had committed the city to memory so long ago, visiting the World Trade Centre had so much more depth and meaning having explored the towers previously, I committed to an early morning tour before it was open to the public and was the best thing I could have done there to do it justice.
The way a large modern-day city like New York conserves its history but also preserves its memory is also why I am looking forward to my next visit here to no doubt do it all again! As these are not just places you visit, they are places that ask you to pause… to feel… and to reconnect in and ground yourself in the surrounds, highlighting the importance in just being present in a moment.
Spain was my first taste of European Art where I embraced the Prado and Gaudi's Cathedral for the first time in 2000 along with the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, marvelling at Picasso's drawings throughout his schoolbooks! having been back to Europe in 2002 - 2003 for my working holiday in the UK, I sort more! The Gothic Architecture in Prague, then staring up at "The Night Watch" painted by Rembrandt in 1642, in Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, another moment I felt small against a painting spanning from floor to ceiling like those I saw in the Frick, I never knew paintings could go on like this and still stay with you decades later. “The Night Watch” measures approximately 363cm x 437cm, I am 161cm tall.
During my time in South America the Larco Museum in Lima Peru really stood out! As it is set in a very relaxed open Spanish Colonial Style with a stunning restaurant and bar attached, with a real classic colonial charm, a beautiful extension off the rooms that house so much history and art from centuries ago, allowing us all to string together a whole other moment in time that despite not being alive for are somehow privy too in relation to all of the findings linked to so many myths and legends along with so much tradition.
Story telling is still very much tradition here in South America with stories of the underworld, to the present to the future featuring the snake, jaguar and eagle representing each respectively are still very much depicted throughout their artisans today! This then leads me to the ruins of the Incas where I felt it all swallow me whole as I walked around for hours through each site, a whole other era, where astronomy was treasured, as was high ground and the sun and moon came shredded with so much meaning with a temple honouring each! Are ruins not museums themselves?!
Whilst you reflect on what you’ve seen so far, consider what’s next on your list, and from there we can begin shaping your next journey into something truly immersive.
Curated Through the JLW Travel Lens
This is where travel becomes something more than just movement between destinations, but a deeper connection to them.
At JLW Travel, these experiences are thoughtfully woven into each itinerary as these are not just places one visits. They are spaces that elevate us – inviting us to see more deeply, to pause, to feel and to reconnect with ourselves, broadening our perspective.
It comes across as gentle reminder that, even amidst life’s challenges, there is still so much beauty in the world to behold and to explore.
If you’re looking to explore the world through a more thoughtful and connected lens, I invite you to get in touch. I’d love to create a journey just for you.