12 geeky travel destinations that will make you want to book an airplane ticket
12 travel destinations that curious people will love. Mark them down on your bucket list!
Note: This article was first published on 22 August 2018.
Pigment, Tokyo, Japan
Yoshihisa Nakano was inspired to build a store that would preserve and develop Japan’s pigment tradition. With more than 4,200 pigments, 600 paintbrushes, 200 antique ink sticks and 50 kinds of glue, Pigment is the premier store for the East Asian art geek. Image Source: Pigment
BMW Museum, Munich, Germany
Originally established in 1973, the BMW Museum underwent extensive expansion under architects Atelier Brückner. The Museum was reopened in 2008, right next to the BMW Welt and BMW Plant, which you can also visit. Around 120 original exhibits showcase more than 90 years of BMW heritage. Image source: Atelier Brückner
Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, New York City, United States
The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum is a collection of museums hosted on actual maritime ships, and its centerpiece is the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier. The Museum houses marvels like a Lockheed A-12 supersonic reconnaissance plane and the Space Shuttle Enterprise. Image source: Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Washington, United States
Star Trek fans can now see the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 in its full glory. The Smithsonian spent two years painstakingly restoring the 3.4 meter-long model used in the TV series, and it now proudly resides in the central atrium. Image source: Eric Long, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Seoul, South Korea
The Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) is a landmark for design and tech, located in South Korea’s fashion hub. It’s a blend of traditional and modern; a History and Cultural Park showcases historical relics, while the DDP was built using advanced methods. Image source: Virgile Simon Bertrand
Museo Galileo, Florence, Italy
The Museo Galileo houses one of the world’s greatest collections of historical scientific instruments. Part of the museum’s collection includes Santucci’s Armillary Sphere (pictured); an elaborate model of the world, with wooden carvings covered in fine gold leaf and a blue globe in its center. Image source: Museo Galileo
Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Germany
The Elbphilharmonie auditorium’s interiors are lined with 10,000 acoustic panels, each one designed by an algorithm, each one uniquely different. One million ‘cells’ altogether are carved onto the panels to shape sound, their unique shapes give the panels the appearance of seashells. Image source: Iwan Baan
CERN, Geneva, Switzerland
CERN, short for “Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire”, is best-known today as the site of the Large Hadron Collider. Located on both sides of the French-Swiss border, you can book a tour, which doesn’t normally include a visit to the LHC. However, CERN has held ‘open days’ in the past, where visitors have a short window of time to visit the LHC. Image source: CERN
National History Museum, London, United Kingdom
The National History Museum (NHM) is one of the most distinguished centers of natural history and research in the world. It houses more than 80 million specimens that span millions of years of natural history, from dinosaur skeletons to blue whales to gemstones. Image source: Trustees of the NHM, London
New York Transit Museum, New York City, United States
The New York Transit Museum is located in a decommissioned subway station from the 1930s. Besides the usual history and facts you get in any museum, the NY Transit Museum also houses real buses and old subway cars for you to climb and sit through, with vintage booths and artwork. Image source: Black Paw Photo
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, Orlando, United States
Enjoy a visit to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, currently at four Universal Parks & Resorts theme parks. The one at Universal Orlando Resort was the first, and it includes two parks, with Hogwarts Express stations to take you between both. Image source: Universal Orlando Resort
Good Design Store Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Japan’s Good Design Awards have been recognizing good design for almost 60 years, and now you can see a curated collection of the award winners in the Good Design Store Tokyo. While there are stores in Hong Kong and Thailand, this is the first time that one has opened in the awards’ homeland. Image source: Good Design Store Tokyo
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.