5 Wacky Museums In Amsterdam

The city of Amsterdam is full of the unique and the strange, and that includes its museums.

Of course you can find the usual kind, the ones that have fascinating archaeological finds or beautiful paintings housed within, but why not try something a little more… bizarre with these wacky museums ideas?

The Tattoo Museum

The Tattoo Museum is a great place to start. For those who love art, yet have had their fill of canvases, the Tattoo Museum will show you how the human body can be just as beautifully decorated as any other medium.

Here you will learn about the history of tattoos, the tattoo styles of different areas of the world (and different eras and subcultures too), tattooing artefacts such as needles and ink, as well as preserved skin with the most intricate designs (both pig and human).

There are 40,000 or so different objects to peruse as you make your way around the Tattoo Museum, and each one tells its own story.

Dutch Funeral Museum

Perhaps it is death that interests you, as it interests so many people. If it didn’t, the Dutch Funeral Museum wouldn’t exist, and you wouldn’t be able to enjoy (if that’s the right word!) it.

As it is, the Dutch Funeral Museum does exist, and it offers a captivating insight into the rituals and traditions of death and funerals in The Netherlands.

From funeral vehicles through the ages, to beautifully written, or rude, or nasty obituaries, as well as mourning clothes and a run down of royal funerals, this is the place to visit if you want to know more about mortality.

Sex Museum

Sex and death are often said to be linked – the beginning and end of life, perhaps – so once you’ve finished at the Dutch Funeral Museum, perhaps it will be time to visit the Sex Museum!

Known rather wonderfully as the Venustempel, this is definitely not one for the children (the minimum age of entry is 16). It is a palace of pleasurable pursuits that will certainly liven you up.

Said to be the oldest sex museum in the world, over 500,000 visitors pass through its doors every year; will you be one of them?

Photos, films, art, books, and all manner of strange and erotic instruments are on display here. Set in a beautiful 17^th century building, this really is a place in which you could spend all day.

Spectacles Museum

Another odd one is the Spectacles Museum. It is, quite literally, full of pairs of glasses. Hundreds of them.

This free museum tells the story of 700 years of spectacle wearing across the globe. How did they become the norm? Who invented them? How do optometrists do what they do? All the answers to these questions – and many, many more – are housed within these entertaining walls.

The Cat Cabinet

Finally, there is something for the animal lover. Or, more correctly, the cat lover. The Cat Cabinet is a shrine to these furry felines and, whatever your views on these creatures, whether you adore them or can’t stop sneezing around them, you’re sure to come away with a different view of them after visiting here.

There are paintings, sculptures, decorations, books, and plenty more to keep the cat crazy happy. As a bonus, the house that the museum is set in was used in the film Ocean’s Twelve!

The museum was created in honour of the founder’s kitty named John Pierpont Morgan. A wonderful name for a cat, and a wonderful museum to stop off at while you’re in Amsterdam.

Explore these quirky museums for yourself on a mini cruise to Amsterdam.