World’s Most and Least Disappointing Museums

After the influx of visitors when museums reopened to the public after the pandemic, visitor numbers have now returned to their “natural levels”. [1] But “natural” is still a colossal amount. According to The Art Newspaper, over 197 million people visited the top 100 museums in 2024. But considering that the entrance fees to some of these prestigious institutions can be steep (for example, many major American museums have set their standard adult ticket price at $25), you want to make sure the trip – or in some cases, the queue to get in – is worth your while.

We analyzed 82,445 visitor reviews of 100 of the most visited museums (including galleries) in the world, to find out which museums deserve a visit – and which to skip. The study used 102 keyword indicators for positive and negative experiences, such as “beautiful” or “boring” to find the percentage of reviews that indicated a positive experience and a negative experience. The percentage of positive reviews was then divided by the percentage of negative reviews in the study to give an overall score, expressed out of 100. You can find further explanation and the complete list of rankings in the methodology.

Key Findings:

The National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C., is the world’s worst museum (scoring just 7.5 out of a possible 100 in the study).
The Science Museum, London, is the world’s 2nd worst (scoring 8.2), and the American Museum of Natural History, New York, is the world’s 3rd worst (scoring 8.7) out of 100.
The National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C., is the world’s best museum (scoring 76.9 out of a possible 100 in the study).
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow, comes 2nd (scoring 75.9), and the National Museum of Korea, Seoul (scoring 74.1), is the world’s third best museum.
Three museums in Washington, D.C. feature in the bottom and top rankings: two in the top 10 and one in the bottom 10.
On average, 50.6% of all museum reviews are positive, and 8.5% are negative.
Negative reviews have doubled in a decade: In 2014, 5.3% of museum reviews were negative; in 2024, this rose to 9.9%.

The world’s most disappointing museums

1. National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C.: 7.5

A Smithsonian museum was the best on the list, and another was the worst. Only 35.3% of reviews for The National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. were positive, and 15.7% were negative. This leaves the aviation and space museum with the lowest score of 7.5 out of 100 in the study.

17.7% of all negative words counted in the reviews for this museum were for the word “dull”, the highest percentage in the study per museum and far above the 1.5% average. The museum is undergoing an extensive renovation that began in 2018 and is expected to be nearly fully completed in July 2026 (in time for the museum’s 50th anniversary). Hopefully, once finished, the visitor experience will also improve. [2]

2. Science Museum, London: 8.2

The second-worst museum also has the greatest proportion of explicitly negative reviews (18%). Four in ten (42.8%) reviews of the London Science Museum were positive, and the Science Museum received an overall score of 8.2.

The Science Museum houses over seven million items related to science, technology, engineering, and medicine (including a piece of the moon!). [3] The museum was built from a surplus of money from Prince Albert’s Great Exhibition in 1851, but the opening of the ‘Children’s Gallery’ in the 1930s marked a shift towards making the museum accessible to the general public, rather than science specialists. [4]

Considering the positive reviews, the museum had the greatest mentions of being “interactive” (20.3% compared to the 2.4% study average). However, 35% of all negative keywords counted mentioned words related to “disappointment”, higher than the 25.6% study average.

3. American Museum of Natural History, New York City: 8.7

The American Museum of Natural History in New York is the third-lowest-achieving museum on the list, with a score of 8.7 (42.4% of reviews being positive, and 18% negative).

The museum was founded in 1869 by Albert Smith Bickmore, and was already an iconic New York institution when it was made even more famous by the 2006 fantasy-comedy film Night at the Museum. [5]

But visitors expecting to recreate their own magical experience of the museum may be left disappointed. Considering the negative words in the study, the museum had double the average mentions of rudeness in the study (9% compared to 4.5%). The museum was also found to be outdated (4.7% mentions compared to 0.5%). The most common complaint to occur in reviews was related to crowds or crowding (appearing in 26.2% of all negative reviews).

4. Natural History Museum, London: 11.5

Continuing the trend of poorly-performing natural history and science museums is the Natural History Museum in London. Although over half of the reviews were positive (53.1%), the museum also had an exceptionally high number of negative reviews (17.6%). Overall, the museum scored 11.5 out of a possible 100.

Mention of “crowds” or “crowding” featured in half (52.7%) of all the negative mentions for this museum. Other words that appeared more often than average in a museum review include “noisy” (2.3% compared to 1.4%), “chaotic” (1.8% compared to 0.9%), and “unhelpful” (1.1% compared to 0.6%).

5. Grand Palais, Paris: 11.7

The Grand Palais in Paris, a museum and exhibition centre, received 47.8% positive reviews and 15.7% negative reviews, leaving it with a score of 11.7.

The museum is located on the corner between the Avenue Winston Churchill and the Champs-Élysées. The impressive landmark is the product of an architectural competition in 1897. When the organisers failed to decide on one winner, the four finalists joined forces to create what is now considered a masterpiece of Art Nouveau design. [6]

The museum featured above-average results for eleven negative keywords. Over half (53.4%) of the negative words in the reviews were related to crowding, considerably higher than the study average of 39.2%. The Grand Palais also had the highest percentage of mentions for the phrase “badly managed” (0.7%) and the joint third greatest percentage of mentions for “not worth it” (2.1% compared to 0.5%).

The world’s top 10 most disappointing museums
Rank	Museum	City	Country	Study score out of 100	Most common negative phrase
1	National Air and Space Museum	Washington, D.C.	United States	7.5	Disappoint*
2	Science Museum	London	United Kingdom	8.2	Disappoint*
3	American Museum of Natural History	New York City	United States	8.7	Crowd*
4	Natural History Museum	London	United Kingdom	11.5	Crowd*
5	Grand Palais	Paris	France	11.7	Crowd*
6	Vatican Museums	Vatican City, Rome	Vatican City	12.2	Crowd*
7	The British Museum	London	United Kingdom	13.6	Crowd*
8	Louvre Museum	Paris	France	13.7	Crowd*
9	Museo Nacional del Prado	Madrid	Spain	14.2	Crowd*
10	Tate Modern	London	United Kingdom	14.3	Disappoint*

*Conjugations were also included (e.g., crowded or disappointing)

The world’s least disappointing museums

1. National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.: 76.9

Over half (54.5%) of the reviews analysed for the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. were positive. On the flip side, only 3.5% of reviews had something negative to say about the gallery, less than half the 8.5% average typical of institutions in the study. Dividing the number of positive reviews by negative mentions, this gives the gallery a score of 76.9 out of 100, the best in the study.

The gallery is part of the Smithsonian Institution (a collection of 21 museums and education centers, which includes 17 in D.C). Founded in 1962 and opened in 1968, the museum may not be one of the oldest in the study, but it is home to more than 26,000 works, including Gilbert Stuart’s 1796 portrait of George Washington. [7] The words which most frequently appeared in positive reviews were “great” (31%), “beautiful” (17.1%), and “amazing” (11.2%).

2. Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Glasgow: 75.9

Hot on the heels of the Washington, D.C. gallery is the Glaswegian Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. This institution has the same small proportion of negative reviews (3.5%) and a similar amount (53.8%) of positive reviews. This gives the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow a score of 75.9.

Starting life in 1870 as a City Industrial Museum, the rebranded Art Gallery and Museum opened in 1901. More recently, the Kelvingrove reopened after three years of work in 2006. The £27.9 million refurbishment has clearly paid off. [8]

The collection includes art and artifacts not only from Scotland but across Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. It’s perhaps unsurprising, then, that the museum had double the proportion of words mentioning diversity than average (1.2% compared to the average of 0.5%). The museum also had double the mentions of friendliness (5% of positive mentions compared to the average of 2.4%).

3. National Museum of Korea, Seoul: 74.1

Covering a vast 3,180,000 sq ft, the National Museum of Korea in Seoul is the sixth largest in the world. [9] Just shy of half (48.1%) of reviews were positive, and 3.2% of reviews were negative, giving the museum a score of 74.1.

Established in 1945, the museum was relocated to the Yongsan District, Seoul in 2005. The left of the museum symbolically represents the past, and the right, the future. To keep the 5,000 artifacts as safe as possible, the museum is designed to withstand fire and earthquakes, and utilises natural rather than artificial lighting.

You’d imagine it might be difficult to keep such a sprawling space pristine, but the museum more than manages. Visitors mentioned the word “clean” twice the study average (3.7% of positive mentions compared to the average of 1.5%). The word “peaceful” also came up twice as often as normal for a museum (1% compared to 0.5%).

4. Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid: 73.8

Half of the reviews for the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in Madrid are positive (50.9%) and 3.4% negative, giving the museum an overall score of 73.8.

The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum may not sound typically Spanish. That’s because it’s named after its founder, the Hungarian-German Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, who ran a Europe-wide competition to house his family’s impressive art collection. [10] The 18th-century Palace of Villahermosa in Madrid was the worthy winner. Today, the museum belongs to the “Golden Triangle of Art”, alongside the Prado and the Reina Sofía national galleries.

At one point, the collection of over 1,600 paintings was the 2nd largest private collection in the world. Today, the volume of work is still impressive. The museum had the highest percentage of mentions of the word “extensive” (3.3% compared to the 1.1% average). The museum also had the highest proportion of positive words relating to “diversity” (1.4% compared to an average of 0.5%).

5. Palacio de Cristal del Retiro, Madrid: 71.9

Another Madrid museum clinches the fifth spot, with a positive percentage of 52.4% and 3.6% negative. Overall, the Palacio de Cristal del Retiro achieved a score of 71.9.

The “glass palace” is a 19th-century conservatory that now hosts art exhibitions. You can find the domed, 22m high building in the UNESCO World Heritage site, the Buen Retiro Park. Its sparkling glass structure, pretty ceramic detailing, and picturesque location help to explain why 44% of all positive mentions were for the word “beautiful” in reviews – the greatest percentage for a museum in the study. [11]

The world’s top 10 least disappointing museums
Rank	Museum	City	Country	Study score out of 100	Most common positive phrase
1	National Portrait Gallery	Washington, D.C.	United States	76.9	Great
2	Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum	Glasgow	United Kingdom	75.9	Great
4	National Museum of Korea	Seoul	South Korea	74.1	Great
5	Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum	Madrid	Spain	73.8	Great
5	Palacio de Cristal del Retiro	Madrid	Spain	71.9	Beautiful
6	California Science Center	Los Angeles	United States	69.5	Great
7	National Folk Museum of Korea	Seoul	South Korea	65.2	Good
8	Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal	Montreal	Canada	62.1	Great
9	National Gallery of Art	Washington, D.C.	United States	56.1	Great
10	National Maritime Museum	London	United Kingdom	55.2	Great

Negative vs. positive reviews over time

When visiting a museum, you are almost six times more likely to have a good, rather than a bad, experience. Looking at the collected reviews across all museums, half (50.6%) were explicitly positive – and just 8.5% were explicitly negative.

However, our study shows that we are becoming increasingly critical. Between 2014 and 2024 (the last complete year of data), the percentage of negative reviews almost doubled. In 2014, 5.3% of museum reviews were negative, but in 2024, almost one in ten reviews were negative (9.9%).

Methodology

We collected 82,445 reviews from the 100 most visited museums in the world in 2024, according to the Art Newspaper’s list published on April 1st, 2025. [1] Museums with fewer than 500 reviews to analyse were discounted, leaving a final list of 80 museums.

To analyse which museums were the best and worst rated, we looked at the occurrence of a set list of keywords to determine the words that are most frequently used to describe a destination. 102 keywords were included in total, and the study discounted false positives (e.g., ‘not disappointing’). The following positive and negative words and phrases were then identified, accounting for misspellings and conjugations. These keywords were also translated into French, German, Spanish, Korean, and Japanese. Examples of keywords used include “beautiful”, “informative”, “crowds,” and “boring”. The top 30 performing positive keywords and 29 top performing negative keywords were then used for the close keyword analysis.

A “satisfaction score” was found by dividing the percentage of positive reviews by the percentage of negative reviews. This score was then proportionally converted into a number between one (the worst possible score) and 100 (the best possible score).

The complete rankings can be found below:

Complete rankings of the most to least disappointing museums
Rank	Museum	City	Country	Score out of 100
1	National Air and Space Museum	Washington, D.C.	United States	7.5
2	Science Museum	London	United Kingdom	8.2
3	American Museum of Natural History	New York City	United States	8.7
4	Natural History Museum	London	United Kingdom	11.5
5	Grand Palais	Paris	France	11.7
6	Vatican Museums	Vatican City, Rome	Italy	12.2
7	The British Museum	London	United Kingdom	13.6
8	Louvre Museum	Paris	France	13.7
9	Museo Nacional del Prado	Madrid	Spain	14.2
10	Tate Modern	London	United Kingdom	14.3
11	National Museum of China	Beijing	China	14.4
12	Royal Academy of Arts	London	United Kingdom	14.7
13	Saatchi Gallery	London	United Kingdom	15.8
14	Fondation Louis Vuitton	Paris	France	16.1
15	Centre Pompidou	Paris	France	16.5
16	Van Gogh Museum	Amsterdam	Netherlands	18.3
17	V&A – Victoria and Albert Museum	London	United Kingdom	19.3
18	Guggenheim Museum Bilbao	Bilbao	Spain	19.6
19	Topography of Terror	Berlin	Germany	20.4
20	Mucem	Marseille	France	20.6
21	Museum of Fine Arts, Houston	Houston	United States	21
22	Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía	Madrid	Spain	21.1
23	National Museum of American History	Washington, D.C.	United States	21.5
24	Gallerie Degli Uffizi	Florence	Italy	22.5
25	The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)	New York City	United States	22.6
26	Mori Art Museum	Tokyo	Japan	22.8
27	Tate Britain	London	United Kingdom	22.9
28	Somerset House	London	United Kingdom	23.6
29	National Palace Museum	Taipei	Taiwan	23.9
30	Museum of Fine Arts	Boston	United States	24.1
31	Metropolitan Museum of Art	New York City	United States	26.1
32	Museu Picasso	Barcelona	Spain	26.4
33	Museum of Contemporary Art Australia	Sydney	Australia	27.1
34	Galata Tower	Istanbul	Turkey	27.5
35	National Gallery	London	United Kingdom	29.3
36	The Houston Museum of Natural Science	Houston	United States	29.6
37	Dali Theatre-Museum	Figueres	Spain	30.1
38	San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)	San Francisco	United States	30.2
39	National Gallery Singapore	Singapore	Singapore	30.4
40	Neues Museum	Berlin	Germany	31.5
41	Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac	Paris	France	31.5
42	National Portrait Gallery	Washington, D.C.	United States	32.2
43	Acropolis Museum	Athens	Greece	32.3
44	Mevlana Müzesi	Konya	Turkey	33
45	Rijksmuseum	Amsterdam	Netherlands	33.1
46	Museo Soumaya	Mexico City	Mexico	33.3
47	Los Angeles County Museum of Art	Los Angeles	United States	33.5
48	Belvedere Museum	Vienna	Austria	33.7
49	Galleria dell’Accademia	Florence	Italy	33.8
50	Pergamonmuseum	Berlin	Germany	34
51	Doge’s Palace	Venice	Italy	37.9
52	Art Gallery of Ontario	Toronto	Canada	38.1
53	National Galleries of Scotland: National	Edinburgh	United Kingdom	38.3
54	National Gallery of Victoria	Melbourne	Australia	39.2
55	Melbourne Museum	Melbourne	Australia	40.6
56	Art Gallery of New South Wales	Sydney	Australia	40.8
57	Musée d’Orsay	Paris	France	41.2
58	Renwick Gallery	Washington, D.C.	United States	41.5
59	Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna	Vienna	Austria	41.6
60	The Art Institute of Chicago	Chicago	United States	42.3