Museums
Remarkable Small Museums
Sir John Soane's Museum at 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, was preserved by Act of Parliament in 1833. Soane, the architect of the Bank of England, left strict instructions that nothing should be moved. Today you can stand in his breakfast room exactly as he left it, including the convex mirrors he installed to compress the space, the sarcophagus of Seti I in the basement crypt, and the Hogarth paintings that fold out of the walls on hinges. The visitor count is capped daily to preserve the floors.
These eight museums are small (one or two rooms, never more than five) and personal (founded by a single collector, artist, or eccentric). The result is that they feel like houses people just left, rather than institutions.
Below: opening times, the room to sit longest in, and which single object to remember.
Late afternoon light, looking east. Photo by our regional correspondent.
Why This Place Matters
Sir John Soane's Museum, London — the architect's 1833 home preserved exactly as he left it; the Picture Room has Hogarth's Rake's Progress on hinged walls.
Karen Blixen Museum, Rungstedlund (Denmark) — the author's family home outside Copenhagen, with her writing room and bird sanctuary on the property.
Casa Azul, Mexico City — Frida Kahlo's childhood home in Coyoacán, painted cobalt blue, with her wheelchair still positioned in front of her unfinished last painting.
A Short History
Museo Sorolla, Madrid — the painter Joaquín Sorolla's home and studio, preserved by his widow exactly as in 1923. The garden, designed by Sorolla himself in three styles (Andalusian, Italian, courtyard), is reason enough.
Vigeland Museum, Oslo — Gustav Vigeland's atelier next to Frogner Park; the sculptor's plaster originals for the park's 200+ stone sculptures stand in his cathedral-scale studio.
Hans Christian Andersen House, Odense — opened in 2021 by Kengo Kuma in HC Andersen's hometown, including the actual childhood house of the storyteller.
What You Will Actually See
Soane Museum, London — the Picture Room (hinged Hogarths), the Egyptian sarcophagus of Seti I (1815 acquisition), the candlelit evening tour the first Tuesday of every month.
Casa Azul, Mexico City — Kahlo's studio with her last painting on the easel, the kitchen with hand-painted tiles, the bedroom with the mirrored ceiling she used to paint self-portraits in bed.
Karen Blixen Museum, Rungstedlund — the writing room with original typewriter, the African collection from her Kenya years, the burial ground in the bird sanctuary.
Museo Sorolla, Madrid — the artist's studio with paintings on the easels, the Andalusian courtyard garden.
Vigeland Museum, Oslo — the plaster casts for the Monolith sculpture, the artist's preserved apartment.
HC Andersen House, Odense — Kengo Kuma's underground museum loops around the original childhood house.
Hill–Stead Museum, Connecticut — preserved Beaux-Arts farmhouse with original Monet, Manet, Degas in their first hanging positions.
Museum of Innocence, Istanbul — Orhan Pamuk's novel-as-museum, 83 vitrines corresponding to chapters in his book.
The kind of detail you only notice on the second visit.
Interesting Facts
A few quick notes on remarkable small museums before the section below.
These are the details our correspondents most often get asked about by readers planning a trip.
Practical Information
Soane Museum — free, but timed tickets must be booked online for weekends. Evening candlelit tours (£25) sell out months ahead.
Casa Azul, Mexico City — book online; weekend mornings sell out. The combined ticket with Diego Rivera's nearby Anahuacalli Museum is worth the metro ride.
Karen Blixen — closes Mondays; free shuttle from Rungsted Kyst train station.
Museum of Innocence, Istanbul — half price with a copy of Pamuk's novel inscribed with a museum admission stamp on page 511.
Interesting Facts
- Sir John Soane's Museum has been preserved unchanged by Act of Parliament since 1833, the longest-standing such preservation order in the UK.
- Casa Azul (Museo Frida Kahlo) opened to the public in 1958, four years after Kahlo's death, with most of her personal belongings still in their original positions.
- Karen Blixen wrote Out of Africa at Rungstedlund and is buried in the property's bird sanctuary; her family home was a hospital for wounded soldiers in 1864.
- Joaquín Sorolla's Madrid house was donated to the Spanish state by his widow Clotilde in 1925 and contains over 1,200 of his paintings.
- The Museum of Innocence in Istanbul opened in 2012 and won the European Museum of the Year award in 2014; it is the world's first novel-museum to be planned in parallel with its companion book.
Most travellers walk straight past this corner. Stop and look up.
How To Visit
London Soane: Holborn tube, 5-min walk to 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields.
Mexico City Casa Azul: Metro Coyoacán line 3, 20-min walk.
Copenhagen → Rungstedlund: 20-min train to Rungsted Kyst.
Madrid Sorolla: Iglesia metro, 5-min walk.
Final Thoughts
Small museums tell larger stories than the Louvres because the curator was a single person with a single obsession.
Go alone if you can. Stay 90 minutes. Sit on a bench for at least 10 minutes in the room that most surprised you.
If you can only do one: Soane Museum, London, on a candlelit evening tour. Soane designed his house to be lit by oil lamps; the daylight visit is a different building entirely.
If you read this article and noticed something we got wrong, please write to us. Reader corrections shape what we publish next.
Tomas Halvorsen
Regional correspondent for WIGO Trips. Writes about overlooked places and quiet histories.
