The world's best open-air and living history museums

[jw5]

Sovereign Hill, Australia -

Australia's top open-air museum, Sovereign Hill at Golden Point in Ballarat near Melbourne is a remarkable recreation of a mid-19th-century mining town, bringing to life the character and excitement of Australia's great 1850's gold rush era.

 

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Sovereign Hill, Australia -

Comprising over 60 historically authentic buildings staffed by costumed workers and volunteers, Sovereign Hill digs deep into the history of the times by way of workshop demonstrations, gold panning opportunities, and a tramway ride into a mine.

 

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Mystic Seaport, USA -

Mystic Seaport is the leading maritime museum in the United States. Settled in 1654, Mystic was once one of Connecticut's busiest ports, its harbor the location of several shipyards and other commercial buildings and workshops.

 

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Mystic Seaport, USA -

Today, Mystic stands as a 19th-century seafaring village replete with 60-odd historic buildings and where several vessels are moored as National Historic Landmarks, including the Charles W. Morgan (pictured), the only surviving wooden whaling ship in the country, launched way back in 1841.

 

[jw5]

Écomusée d’Alsace, France -

The Ecomusée d’Alsace is one of the largest and most visited open-air village museums in France. Located in Ungersheim, Écomusée d’Alsace recreates an Alsatian village from the early 20th century.

 

[jw5]

Écomusée d’Alsace, France -

Visitors can explore around 80 rural buildings standing as they would have looked over 100 years ago, a rare collection that includes half-timbered houses, a schoolhouse, chapel, several barns, and a sawmill.

 

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Weald and Downland Living Museum, England -

Tucked away in rolling hills near Singleton in southern England is this long established open-air museum. Created to preserve examples of regional vernacular architecture, the museum brings to life the homes, farmsteads, and rural industries of the last 950 years.

 

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Weald and Downland Living Museum, England -

The museum is very much hands on, with daily demonstrations of cooking, weaving, and traditional farming techniques set against seasonal shows and activity weekends.

 

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Black Forest Open Air Museum, Germany -

Created to preserve the rural architecture of the Black Forest in Germany's Gutach region, this important museum is centered on the fully furnished Vogtsbauernhof farmhouse (pictured), dating from 1612 and which still stands on its original site.

 

[jw5]

Black Forest Open Air Museum, Germany -

Vogtsbauernhof, together with five other farmhouses, form the core of the museum. Barns, cottages, and a chapel can also be explored. Waiting to greet visitors are locals dressed in traditional costumes like these women, whose hats are topped with pom-poms called Bollenhuete.

 

[jw5]

Strawbery Banke Museum, USA -

Strawbery Banke Museum stands in the heart of historic downtown Portsmouth in New Hampshire—the oldest neighborhood in the state, settled by Europeans back in 1630. Pictured is Peacock House, built in 1821.

 

[jw5]

Strawbery Banke Museum, USA -

As an outdoor history museum, Strawbery Banke features more than 37 restored building from the 17th to the 19th centuries, which help bring 300 or so years of American history to life.