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Art Museums, be in America or Europe or Asia, are always part of the itinerary of an average tourist. Nowadays, most of these art museums have become destinations by themselves. One can spend at least an entire day strolling around the expanses of some of the most famous art museums around the world.

The one to top the list is of course the Musée du Louvre, Paris, France, the world's most visited arts museum. It houses around 35,000 works of art under eight curatorial departments. A number of Egyptian, Islamic and Oriental works are part of the museum. The most popular paintings are Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa, The Virgin and Child with St Anne and Madonna on the Rocks and Delacroix' Liberty Leading the People. The statue of Venus De Milo is another important exhibit.

The Vatican Museums at Vatican City, Rome, Italy display the collection of the Roman Catholic Church and spans about nine miles. The museums are about 500 years old. The stunning collection includes original paintings by Caravaggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Fra Angelico, Giotto, Raphael, Poussin and Titian. The famed Gallery of Maps, Sistine Chapel and the Niccoline Chapel are parts of the museum. A number of Italian sculptures and inscriptions are also displayed here. The museum is open to the public for free on the last Sunday of each month.

One of the largest museums in the world is the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. It houses about two million pieces of artwork, under nine curatorial departments. The main building is one of the world's largest art galleries. European paintings or Greek sculptures, or American and Modern art, you will find something or the other to interest you in this museum. It has extensive collections of musical instrument, costumes, weapons and armors from around the world.

The Uffizi Gallery, located at Florence, Italy is another of the oldest and famous art galleries in the world. It has a huge collection of original paintings my European masters. Michaelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Ucello, Fra Filippo Lippi, Raphael, Durer, Della Francesca are some of the names whose works are exhibited in this museum. The most popular exhibit in this museum is Botticelli's Birth of Venus.

The Tate is the national museum of the United Kingdom, and comprises of four art galleries - Tate Great Britain, Tate Liverpool, Tate St. Ives and Tate Modern. The four museums display collections of British art from the 1500, as well as international contemporary arts.

The Musée d'Orsay is Paris, France is known for its collection of painting by impressionists Renoir and Monet. It houses an intensive range of French art from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The Museo de Prado in Madrid, Spain, displays collections of European Paintings, coins, sculptures, medals, drawings and prints dating back to the twelfth century. Prado is home to some of the best Spanish painting collections, including those of Velázquez, Goy and El Greco. Las Meninas by Velázquez is the best known display of this museum.