Weirdest Museums Around the World

1. Sulabh International Museum of Toilets, New Delhi

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Ever wanted to know the history of the toilet? Then you're in luck. The Sulabh International Museum of Toilets holds a rare collection of objects relating to global sanitation and the history of the humble toilet, from 50 countries around the world. You can even see a Victorian toilet seat and a toilet that has been camouflaged to look like a bookcase. If you're still on the fence about this one, Time Magazine said it's a museum that's "anything but mundane."

2. The Icelandic Phallological Museum, Reykjavik

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Yep, phallological is just a fancy word for penis. And in this small museum in the centre of Reykjavik, they have all manner of exhibits relating to the penis, whether that's from a whale, walrus, or humans. In fact, overall the museum houses a staggering collection of 215 penises, so there's plenty to see on a visit here.

3. The Dog Collar Museum, Kent

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The website for the Dog Collar Museum calls this a "fascinating collection," but we suppose that depends how much you really like dog collars, or dogs for that matter. The Dog Collar Museum is housed inside the impressive Leeds Castle, and has over 130 'rare' dog collars, including some that date back to the 15th century. The collection was started by a Mrs Gertrude Hunt, who was an avid collector. For what reason? No one knows.

4. Meguro Parasitological Museum, Tokyo

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This small museum in Tokyo contains specimens that are the stuff of nightmares. The whole museum is dedicated to parasites in all of their forms, including things like the tapeworm - the museum even has the 'world's longest tapeworm', which is a horrifying 8.8 metres long. Elsewhere, you can also see photos detailing the effects of these deadly parasites on the human body - if you want to.

5. The Lingerie Museum, Los Angeles

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Frederick's of Hollywood Lingerie Museum built a reputation as one of the weirdest places in Los Angeles while it was still around, but it wasn't just a tacky museum - the museum collected real pieces of lingerie from celebrities including Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, and Madonna. Though it doesn't exist anymore, we had to include it on this list for its notoriety - Madonna's black bustier was stolen in 1992 and to this day, never returned.

6. Tap Water Museum, Beijing

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This museum probably sits in the same category as the Museum of Toilets - that is, museums that you have to be really interested in to visit. The Tap Water Museum is dedicated to drinking water, whether that's water treatment facilities, the history of providing tap water, and the water challenges of major cities.

7. British Lawnmower Museum, Southport

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One for all the avid gardeners out there is the British Lawnmower Museum. This institution is a leading authority on vintage lawnmower, and contains a collection of over 300 so-called 'garden machinery', including some of the fastest lawnmowers ever made and a very special lawnmower that used to be owned by none other than Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

8. Avanos Hair Museum, Turkey

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The Avanos Hair Museum was established in the late 1970s, when the owner of this small guest centre in Turkey asked for a lock of hair to remember a female visitor by. The tradition stuck, with more visitors and tourists offering their locks to the museum. Today, there are over 16,000 samples of hair in the badly-lit underground tunnel, making it both fascinating and very creepy.

9. Salt and Pepper Shaker Museum, United States

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Are you a fan of salt and pepper shakers? No? Well, this museum might convert you. In a strange Alpine-style shack in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, this museum holds over 20,000 pairs of salt and pepper shakers, collected from all over the world. You'll leave with a desire to replace any boring salt and pepper shakers with fun replacements, ones that are shaped like vegetables, chickens, wile animals, or trees.

10. Snow Globe Museum, Vienna

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A room full of snow globes? A little weird, but also totally charming. This small museum in the suburbs of Vienna is dedicated to the secret art of the snow globe. The art is tied to Vienna - it was here that Erwin Perzy created the first snow globe. At the museum, you can see his workshop and a selection of world-famous snow globes, like the one that features in the movie Citizen Kane.

11. The Kunstkamera, Russia

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The name of this museum doesn't immediately communicate how gross some of its collection is. The first museum in Russia, the Kunstkamera holds the collection of Peter the Great, who had a thing for oddities including deformed fetuses, decapitated human heads, and mutated human body parts.

12. Mumofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum, Japan

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Naturally, the world's only museum dedicated to instant ramen is located in Japan. It's a huge museum that takes visitors though the history of the cup noodle and even features a chicken ramen factory (the original flavour of cup noodle), a factory where you can make your own flavour of pot noodle, an interactive theatre, and the instant noodles tunnel that has over 800 products.

13. Museum of Death, Thailand

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Technically this museum is called the Siriraj Medical Museum, but Museum of Death is just so much more memorable. If you're a fan of biology you might even enjoy this creepy museum, which has thousands of specimens of human organs, as well as specimens that have been affected by some top killers, including cancer and heart disease.

14. International Clown Hall of Fame and Research Museum, United States

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Stay away from this weird museum if you have a phobia of clowns. The International Clown Museum is dedicated to 'the preservation of clown art', but we're sure it must freak a lot of people out. The museum holds objects related to some of the world's most famous clown acts like a clown trunk filled with clown shoes and portraits and paintings.

15. Museum of Bad Art, United States

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Why go to a normal art gallery when you could visit the Museum of Bad Art? It's a weird concept, but people still flock to the US museum to see of the worst (or best) examples of bad art. The gallery has some hilarious examples of truly terrible art from all over the world, and their collection has grown to over 800 horrible pictures, though you'll only see up to 50 on display at one time.

16. The Museum of Bread Culture, Germany

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If you had to choose one normal food item to make a museum for (cup noodles excluded), why shouldn't it be bread? The beloved food has a 6,000 year history, and this museum chronicles all of it, even down to bread making utensils and the bread oven. However, you won't actually find any bread inside the museum, as the curators believe that it should not be a museum artefact in itself.

17. Funeral Museum, Vienna

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This museum should make for a fun day out. The Funeral Museum is undoubtedly a weird museum, housed beneath a historic chapel and containing facts about a traditional Viennese funeral ceremony and the funeral industry. You can see an original 'fourgon' (a coach for transporting dead people) and a heart palpitation knife, as well as a unique folding coffin. It may be morbid and weird, but we bet you'll remember your visit until you die.

18. Museum of Vampires and Legendary Creatures, Paris

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Moving on to another pretty morbid museum: the Museum of Vampires. This institution was started by an eccentric collector with an interest in vampirism and mythical creatures. Here, you can find a vampire killing kit, Dracula toys, and antique books. It's really a feast for the eyes, and is probably the only museum of its kind in the world.

19. Museum of Broken Relationships, Zagreb

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This one isn't just weird, it's also quite sad. The Museum of Broken Relationships contains objects related to failed love relationships. Each object is something personal that has been donated by someone, and includes a brief description, and could include rings, photos, clothing, or even obscure things like a frog ornament. It's hard hitting and fascinating, and that makes it one of the weirdest museums in the world.

20. Museum of Miniature Books, Azerbaijan

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If a museum of actual books is just a library, then a museum of miniature books is really a weird museum. This is the only museum for miniature books in the world, and contains a huge collection of tiny novels that were mostly published in post-revolutionary Russia. Many of the books are rare editions by famous authors including Dostoyevsky, while others are religious books.

21. Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft, Iceland

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Magical staves, pants made of human skin, and a milk-sucking demon: all of these things are on display at the weird Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft. It very specifically recounts ancient beliefs and acts of sorcery that occurred on the island of Iceland, and even has detailed instructions on how to craft some of the items of sorcery yourself.

22. Vent Haven Museum of Ventriloquism, Kentucky

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This horrifying museum is dedicated to the art of ventriloquism, or performing with a doll or dummy so that it seems like you are speaking through the dummy. If you're not a fan of dolls (they're a horror movie favourite for a reason) then maybe don't visit this one. Impressively, the museum's collection has more than 900 retired dolls.

23. Bata Shoe Museum, Canada

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If you've ever felt the urge to learn about shoes then Canada is the place to be. The Bata Shoe Museum is a one-of-a-kind museum with exhibitions on shoes old and new, from a collection of over 15,000 examples. This includes Egyptian sandals, platform boots, and chestnut-crushing clogs (whatever they are).

24. The National Poo Museum, Isle of Wight

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Yep, you read that right. This museum is entirely dedicated to feaces, in all its forms. Supposedly it contains 'pooey artefacts from all over the world', which includes real poo that has been dried and contained in resin balls, so you can pick it up and marvel from close-up. Just maybe don't eat before visiting if you're squeamish.

25. Electric Ladyland Phosphorescence Museum, Amsterdam

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This is one of those museums where you were probably never aware that it existed but now you really want to go. This weird museum is dedicated to fluorescent art, and is hidden away in a basement under the Electric Lady gallery. Here, you'll be immersed in the wonders of phosphorescence, making for a real psychedelic experience.

26. UFO Museum, Roswell

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Naturally, Roswell has a UFO museum. The home of UFO sightings and a secret military base since 1947, this museum has been collecting info about sightings and conspiracy theories since 1992. Even better, it was started by two people who were involved in the original 1947 'Roswell incident' - so maybe it's genuine?

27. The Plastinarium, Germany

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If you're squeamish, look away now. The Plastinarium is probably the world's only museum dedicated to human corpses that have been preserved with plastic. Anatomist Gunther von Hagens is the inventor of the process to preserve dead bodies in plastic, and you can see the process (if you want to) at the museum, plus all of his most famous works, including giraffes and human beings who donated their bodies to the doctor.

28. The Underwater Museum of Art, Mexico

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This one-of-a-kind museum is situated entirely underwater, which makes sense considering that people floc to Cancun in Mexico precisely to discover the beautiful seabed by snorkeling. The museum contains 500 sculptures that seem to be growing beautiful coral reefs on them, making for an impressive spectacle.

29. Gopher Hole Museum, United States

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Yep, you read that right - this museum is dedicated to those pesky little animals, the gopher. In the museum, you'll find a number of exhibits featuring real stuffed gophers acting out scenes from human life, from travelling to camping. It's completely wacky but is definitely memorable, even if you're not a fan of gophers (who is?)

30. Museo de las Momias de Guanajuato, Mexico

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We're ending on a really creepy note. The Museo de las Momias de Guanajuato is probably the only museum that displays over 100 real mummies that have been dug up from nearby cemeteries. These are naturally mummified bodies, and you can see them up-close and on-display - if you have the stomach for it.