When you are interested in dollhouses and miniatures, you might have already visited a museum on the subject or even have a subscription for dollhouse magazines or have bought books. But in general, thé best museums for kids ànd adults to have a nice day out and have fun for the entire family, are definitely miniature museums!
In this new article, I will try to put up a good list of all worldwide museums that I believe are the best and a must-see and that can give you loads of inspiration if you craft those tiny things yourselves!
To not make this article too long, I am going to focus on museums that have miniatures only and not mixed with other crafts, because that would take us a bit too far. Plus I will focus on the best ones.
$10 General $ 8 Seniors 65+/Military $ 5 Children aged 3-9 Accepting cash, checks, credit, or debit cards. Please note that children under the age of 15 must be accompanied by an adult. Admission is free for Museum members. No charge just to visit the Museum Shop.
My opinion, based on the website:
Take a look at the virtual tour. It looks like a small, but cozy museum. Really meant for amateurs like myself 😉 Honestly, I wouldn’t travel far for this one, but if I would be in the neighborhood, sure!
I could be biased, but this museum looks less ‘dusty’ than the first one. That could be because of the temporary exhibition of Kristy Thomas and her Fanciful Fairy Houses.
I just love her work! ( she exhibits in the museum until 18 October). Especially because she makes fairy houses made from natural and upcycled materials! Did I say already that I am also kind of ‘eco-freaks? 🙂
Looks like a pretty and fun museum to me, if I would ever take a trip to the USA, I would try to travel through that region and visit it.
– opening hours: is yet to be announced because they moved and because of Covid19, I presume?
– admission: is going to be announced as well
My opinion based on the website:
It is hard to tell if this museum is nice because it hasn’t reopened yet. But it looks promising, because of the silver collection and the beautiful Lynnwood House.
And it looks quite large as well because it has moved to a 3-story house (plus a lower level), so you can stroll around for hours. (at least I do, when I visit a miniature museum, don’t you ?).
Oh my gosh, the living room of the Lynnwood House looks gorgeous! Let’s hope you can visit again soon.
If you are interested in the social history of America, but in miniature form, then this miniature museum is the place to be. It has 3 major areas. The first is all about the history of the United States, from Native Americans through Colonial.
The second represents a complete miniature town circa 1910.
The third section contains a heavily forested fantasy land with fairies, elves, witches, trolls, and a walk-in dragon cave.
This last one makes it one of the best museums for kids, in my opinion 😉
I would definitely visit this one, sounds interesting! Even more, because it is number 1 on Trip-Advisor.
This looks like a very fun museum. It’s a bit on the more expensive side, but I think you will get to see a lot for your money! And talk about the best museums for kids, this looks like one of them!
They have over 85 miniature dioramas (would you like to know a little bit more about how to make miniature water dioramas: look here) and two of the world’s largest dollhouses and one of the world’s largest model railways. I want to just go and visit already! See you there someday?
They claim to have the world’s largest collection of fine-scale miniatures and one of the largest collections of historic toys currently on public display.
Doesn’t that seem like it would be worth paying a visit?
– opening hours: Wednesday – Monday, 10 am-4 pm
– entrance fees: General Adult Admission (Ages 18-64): $8, Age 65+: $7, Ages 6-17 and College Students (With ID): $5, kids: free.
My opinion based on the website:
Not only do you get to see a history of toys, which is fascinating for kids, but they have the largest miniature collection in the world! I’d say: when are we leaving? 😉
B.Europe.
Googling Europe for miniature museums, I noticed that 2 of them are missing for me at the least, that I have visited myself in the past. One in France, and one in Switzerland.
So what I am trying to say is that, when I missed one in the USA that I should have mentioned, please do tell me!
Obviously, I couldn’t skip this one, as it is located in my own country 😉
– 4,3 google reviews
– opening hours: because of Corona, it is important to make reservations beforehand.
Open every day, not in winter :
From 14/03/2020 to 30/06/2020 >>> 09u30am to 18u00pm
From 01/07/2020 to 31/08/2020>>> 09u30am to 20u00pm
From 01/09/2020 to 30/09/2020>>> 09u30am to18u00pm
From 01/10/2020 to 03/01/2021>>> 10u00am to 18u00pm
Admission : (mini-Europe ): Kids (till 11 years old and 1,50m) : 12€, adults :16,50€ , seniors (+65) : 16,50€, kids smaller than 1,15m : free
My opinion based on my own visit.
This ‘open-air’ museum definitely belongs to one of the best museums for kids, in Europe. ( I proudly say 😉 ). Well, at the least for miniature parks. Legoland in Denmark (and the one in Germany) is more expanded, and is amazing as well, but not really what I consider handmade miniatures and it’s more like a theme park, so I left those out 😉
I remember visiting ‘Mini-Europa’ as a kid, and then later again as a teenager. It is a wonderful world for children (making it one of the best museums for kids), but I would enjoy it as much again as an adult. The fun part is also that Mini-Europe represents the entire continent of Europe and all its famous buildings/cultures from Europe, during the centuries.
– opening hours: open every day, from 10 am to 6.30 pm
– admission : Adults 9,50€ / Children 6,50€ (from 5 to 15 years old, free under 5).
My opinion based on my own visit.
I know that I said at the beginning of this article, that I was only going to mention museums that have miniatures and dollhouses only. BUT there’s no way I could exclude this little museum because it is the cutest ever!
The work of Dan Ohlmann, his miniatures ànd movie props are the bést I have éver seen! One word: FANTASTIC, what an artist! If ever you are in France and you love miniatures scenes-with a story-(we are not talking about your regular dollhouses here at all), then this is a MUST-see! (does it show how much I write this in CAPS haha) .
Take a look for yourself and decide why I am so crazy about it and it’s one of the best museums for kids, with this video ;-). ( the miniature scenes are to be seen at about 5 minutes into the video, especially the little dinosaur skeletons, how did he even do that ? )
Euhm, this one could potentially be a cute little museum, where you even need to look through binoculars to even just see the miniatures, but I can’t seem to find how to read the website in English? And my Czech is kind of rusty 😉 Can you figure it out?
– opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 18 pm, in December, daily from 10 am to 18 pm
– admission: Standard CHF 7.00, children and youth up to 16 years of age are free when accompanied by an adult.
Seniors and persons with disabilities (persons accompanying persons with disabilities who can’t visit the museum on their own qualify for free entry): CHF 5.00
My opinion based on my own visit.
This is really a dollhouse and miniature museum for amateurs who are obsessed with the hobby ;-). Maybe a little bit less suited to spend a long amount of time with children, when as an adult you like to look at every little detail in this museum. Children might not have the patience for this one honestly.
But this is really a very big miniature museum, that you can spend hours in. (there are also lots of dolls and other toys) And it is nicely organized with lots of different dollhouses and miniature scenes.
I would advise a visit to everyone interested in dollhouses and miniatures for sure.
Not many miniatures to be seen in this video, but rest assured, there are plenty!
5. Melide, Switzerland: Swissminiatur
– 4,3 google reviews
– opening hours: from 28 March – 1 November 2020, Every day from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (last entry 5:30 p.m.)
This miniature outside-park is also one of the best museums for kids to visit in Europe. It is a similar park to the one in Brussels, where all famous buildings and cultures are showing outdoors in a miniature version of reality. Seems fun to go with your kids when you are in the neighborhood!
– opening hours: opens again on 23 July. Opening hours vary because you need to book in advance now.
– admission: England is expensive to visit museums! To visit Windsor Castle (the dollhouse is included), you need :
Adults £27.50, Over 60 £24.70, Under 17 / Disabled £16.50, Student £24.70, Under 5 Free, If you are a disabled visitor we offer a free access companion ticket.
My opinion based on the website :
England organizes its museums and others very well, but the downside is the very expensive tickets. For that price, you do get the see quality, like the dollhouse off Queen Mary, which is located in Windsor Castle, so you also get to visit the building itself.
It is a real piece of art, the largest and most famous dollhouse in the world. 1500 artists and craftsmen have made this high-class, luxurious jewel. Complete with working lifts, electricity, and running cold and hot water.
I would love to visit Windsor Castle and this lovely dolls house, but I’m afraid I will need to win the lottery first 🙂
Have a look at this video about the house:
Final Conclusion.
There probably are a lot more miniature museums that you can visit worldwide, but I think that the ones I have mentioned, are the most known ones and are a part of the best museums for kids as well as adults.
If you disagree, please let me know in the comments! (I haven’t covered outside of the US or Europe, because then this article would turn out way too long, sorry for that ).
I now have a Facebook group as well, where you can share your work or just chat about miniatures!
Happy crafting!
Kind regards,
Lizzy
PS: the main picture was taken by Jordiferrer – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, commons Wikipedia and it represents the Sagrada Família in miniature version!
2 thoughts on “The Best Museums For Kids ànd Adults are miniatures museums – a worldwide list”
What a great article to read to know more about The Best Museums For Kids and adults are miniature museums!
I’ve always loved miniature houses and I used to make some miniature quilts for miniature houses, it was fun to make them.
After reading your article, it amazed me how many miniature museums anyone can visit around the world, could be fantastic to be able to visit them all, but today with the internet, we all can see more about each one and get to know how great work they offer to anyone who visit them and wants to learn more about miniature.
Las year I visited Puebla, Mex, and this city has a beautiful miniature museum or part with many great work of miniature buildings from around the world, it worth the visit!
What a great article to read to know more about The Best Museums For Kids and adults are miniature museums!
I’ve always loved miniature houses and I used to make some miniature quilts for miniature houses, it was fun to make them.
After reading your article, it amazed me how many miniature museums anyone can visit around the world, could be fantastic to be able to visit them all, but today with the internet, we all can see more about each one and get to know how great work they offer to anyone who visit them and wants to learn more about miniature.
Las year I visited Puebla, Mex, and this city has a beautiful miniature museum or part with many great work of miniature buildings from around the world, it worth the visit!
Hi Alejandra,
Thank you so much for adding the miniature museum of Puebla, I appreciate it very much !
Happy (quilts)- crafting !
Kind regards,
Lizzy