The Best Museums To Visit In Italy

Most first-time visitors to Italy start out their trip in the capital city of Rome. Almost immediately after they arrive in Rome, they head over to the Capitoline Museums. Located smack dab in the middle of the city, the Capitoline Museums are comprised of two different buildings that each offer a unique array of treasures to discover. It's best known for being the oldest museum on the entire planet. Seriously — The Capitoline Museums opened all the way back in 1471. That's more than 550 years in business! The museum holds some of ancient Rome's most notable paintings, statues, and other pieces of priceless art throughout history. 

The Capitoline claim to fame is its stunning statues, including "The Dying Gaul", the "Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius", the "Colossus of Constantine", "Furietti Centaurs", and "the Bust of Medusa". You'll really get a feel for Rome's influence and backstory through artifacts at the Capitoline Museums. Its vast collection of exquisite Roman art and notoriety as the oldest museum out there makes the Capitoline one of the world's most cherished museums. You can't get the true experience of a trip to Rome without visiting this gem of a museum.

While Rome is best known for its ancient art and culture from centuries past, there is also plenty of modern work in this prized Italian city. One of the best places to dive into the city's modern art scene is the National Museum of 21st Century Art, also known as MAXXI. Even the building of the MAXXI museum itself is an esteemed piece of architectural art designed by a brilliant architect named Zaha Hadid. It stands out among other plain structures by incorporating various types of materials and shapes to create something completely original. So, it's definitely worth a visit when in Rome to see the exterior of the MAXXI Museum alone. 

Once you step inside the facade of the MAXXI museum, you'll stumble into a whole world of contemporary art and unique spaces. The complex includes the modern art museum itself, along with an auditorium, an architecture museum, a library, and open spots for temporary exhibits. You can get to know pieces from artists who work with varying mediums from architecture to photography. The MAXXI features more than 400 works from artists like Alighiero Boetti, Carlo Scarpa, William Kentridge, and Olivo Barbieri. It's a modern art haven that every aspiring artist or just intrigued tourist should visit at least once in their lives when they're in Italy.

Florence has quite a few of its own distinguished museums, starting with the Uffizi Gallery. Noted as one of the most outstanding museums that Italy has to offer, the Uffizi Gallery boasts an extensive and gorgeous art collection. You can quite literally take a stroll through history when you visit this Italian museum. Taking you past ancient sculptures from the Middle Ages, paintings from the Renaissance, and even some works from the modern era. 

Even if you know nothing about Italian attractions or artwork, you're probably a little familiar with some of the treasured works of art inside the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. Here you'll have the opportunity to discover pieces that are quite literally etched in history, like "The Birth of Venus" by Sandro Botticelli, "Annunciation" by Leonardo da Vinci and Andrea del Verrocchio, and "Doni Tondo" by Michelangelo. If you've ever wanted to get your eyeballs on a famous Italian artist's work, you can likely find it at the Uffizi Gallery. 

Most museums showcase history through artifacts and pieces of art. The Bargello National Museum in Florence, however, is part of the historical attraction itself. This extraordinary museum is housed in a building with more than 750 years of history and counting. Throughout those years, the structure has worn a lot of different hats, including living out days as a home to the city's police chief and even becoming a jail at one point. It wasn't until the 1800s that it was officially converted into a museum welcoming visitors. 

Today, the Bargello continues to live out its days as one of the foremost museums for sculpture work in the entire world, let alone just Italy. The museum is organized into a variety of rooms, including the Donatello room, the Michelangelo room, and the Verroccio room. Inside these rooms are sculptures that will leave your jaw dropped. Some of the most awe-inspiring pieces at the Bargello National Museum are Donatello's "Bronze David" and Michelangelo's "Bacchus". In addition to the most well-known pieces, you're bound to stumble across some more low-key wonders across the museum that are equally as enticing.

If you want the chance to see some of Milan's best Renaissance and Baroque artwork, look no further than Pinacoteca di Brera. Actually, rectify that statement to being some of the best artwork on the planet. The Pinacoteca di Brera features an eclectic art collection with pieces that span from the 13th century to the 20th. There are some big-name artists tucked away in this museum too, like Giovanni Bellini, Raphael, and Caravaggio.

Even though the Pinacoteca di Brera parades a very impressive art collection, it's much less popular than some of Italy's other notorious museums. If you're the type of person who gets overwhelmed by hectic crowds at overly hyped museums, this might be the perfect solution for a trip to Italy. You'll still get to see all the glory of Italian artwork without having to bump shoulders with hoards of other tourists the entire time. 

Don't get sick of Italy's stunning artwork before spending at least an afternoon at the Capodimonte Palace and Museum located in the historic center of Naples. The building of the Capodimonte Museum itself has lived many lives. It started off as a palace that was created by the House of Bourbon dynasty. Back then, they used the place as a nice, little summer home and even as a hunting lodge. Since the 1950s, though, the Capodimonte Palace has been transformed into a world-class gallery and beloved museum that houses a boatload of significant pieces of Neapolitan artwork.

There is quite a lot of different artwork to see at this Italian Museum, featuring more than 47,000 pieces in total. The collection is also fairly diverse, including art that dates all the way back to the Middle Ages and contemporary art pieces all living peacefully under the same roof. The museum features works by powerhouses in the Italian art movement, such as Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, Ribera, Artemisia Gentileschi, and more. So, no matter what your artistic tastes are, you'll find something that sparks your interest at the Capodimonte Museum.

You're probably the most familiar with the famous Guggenheim Museum in New York City, but there are actually five different Guggenheim Museums around the world. New York was just the first. Italy's version is called the Peggy Guggenheim Collection and it's located right in Venice. Just like all its other cousin Guggenheims, this one boasts a remarkable art collection. It's one of the best art museums in the entire city, showcasing works of European and American art from the 20th century. 

This museum is an especially cool visit because the personal collection is actually situated in the famous art collector Peggy Guggenheim's old house right on the Grand Canal of Venice. It adds an extra layer of intrigue to an already great museum knowing it's all inside the collector's real home. Peggy procured tons of legendary pieces, including pieces by Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, Berenice Abbott, Edmondo Bacci, and many more. You can see them all right here in Venice. 

Everyone learns about ancient Egypt when they're in school, but did you ever think you'd actually get the chance to see artifacts from this era right in front of you? You would think you'd need to make an excursion to Egypt itself to see artifacts of this caliber, but you can actually find them right in Italy at the Egyptian Museum of Turin. It holds one of the oldest collections of Egyptian artifacts that you can still find today, dating back more than 270 years. 

It started off with just a few hundred pieces at the establishment, but it's grown into something much larger. A comprehensive testament to Egyptian culture throughout history. Inside this fascinating museum, there are more than 4,000 years' worth of history to dive into, and 30,000 artifacts. These exhibits are the real deal, including a bunch of different human and animal mummies, statues of gods and goddesses, tombs, and even the ancient Temple of Ellesyia. If there is a little kid who is obsessed with Egyptian culture hiding deep in your soul, don't miss the opportunity to visit the Egyptian Museum in Italy.