7 Quirky Museums in Las Vegas

Las Vegas is a name that’s synonymous with entertainment, casinos and all-things-fun. The glitz and glamour of ‘Sin City’ is something that overshadows everything else Las Vegas has to offer.

However, if you look closer, you’d see that it has countless other tourist attractions that keep you occupied even if you’ve been to the city a couple of times before.

This blog names a few of the many museums in Las Vegas that are sure to pique your interest. When you visit the city, you can have a great time exploring the exhibits of these intriguing, quirky and informative museums.

1. The Mob Museum

It is said that organized crime laid down the foundation on which the great city of Las Vegas was built. Documenting all the movie-like stories and legends that go with this thought is the Mob Museum.    

Here you get to see how the mobsters did what they did, its consequences and the effects it had on society. This is where you get to learn about the rise and fall of ‘the great ones’ hated by many, loved by some and feared by all.

If you love crime boss movies, then this is a must-visit place for you. So, make your way to the Mob Museum in Las Vegas and delve into the life and death of those notorious mobsters.

2. Pinball Hall of Fame

Most kids these days have no idea what a pinball machine is. This is one of the reasons that you absolutely must visit this museum if you’re travelling to Las Vegas with your kids.

If they love gaming, then they might love to know a thing or two about the evolution of the gaming industry and how things have changed so much over the years.

And to be honest, it’s a given that they would love to play a few rounds in one of the pinball machines. It costs  $0.25 to play on the older models while the newer ones cost  $0.50.  

Even if you or your kids don’t feel like playing, you can simply admire the beauty and mechanism of these classic arcade games. Entry and parking at this museum comes for free.

It is a great way to travel back to the yesteryears, reminisce about the good old times and show the kids (or grandkids) how it was done back in the day.

3. Hollywood Car Museum

Hollywood and its stars are all about making everything ‘larger than life’. When it comes to this mantra of living their lives, their cars are no exception.

However, that’s not what this museum is about. It is about all the cars that were once a part of movies or T.V. series. Cars that people loved, admired and dreamed of driving.

These cars looked pretty cool on screen and admittedly featured in dreams of many car lovers. But, what happens to these cars after filming ends?

Well, to provide a home to these cars and to bring them closer to admirers, the Hollywood Car Museum was conceived.

The favourites from its collection are the stunt cars used in the Fast and the Furious movies, a micro-jet from Octopussy and cars from retro T.V. series like Knight Rider.

Though there are other car museums in Las Vegas, the Hollywood Car Museum is deemed to be the best one.  

4. Neon Museum

The moment you hear the words ‘Las Vegas’, the first thing that flashes across your mind are all the buildings of the city, drenched in bright lights.

The important part of that sparkling image are all the neon signs that grab eyeballs. These neon signs are also the reason why the city has been given the nickname of ‘the Neon Capital of the World’.

The multi-coloured neon signs are a significant part of Las Vegas’s identity and have been there since the city started getting developed as a centre for world-class entertainment.

But the thing about signs, lights and hoardings etc. is that, with time, as the world around them changes, so should they. Hence was born the Neon Museum.

This museum is home to numerous neon signs that once graced places like shops, casinos, hotels and other businesses. These signs have been preserved properly with some even having fully functioning lights.    

The museum consists of four different sections named Downtown, the Strip, Motels and Businesses. It also has an outdoor exhibit called the Neon Boneyard.

The Neon Museum is not just another quirky museum in Las Vegas, it is considered to be a historically, artistically and culturally important museum by the residents of the city.

5. Zak Bagans' The Haunted Museum

This offbeat museum was founded by Zak Bagans who has been fascinated about the paranormal since he was about 10 years old.

As time passed by, his curiosity grew into a passion and he set out on a lifelong journey of trying to find answers to the burning questions he had about the afterlife.

He not only visited haunted places but also tried to study the science behind these happenings. Over the years, he had collected many objects and artifacts that have been known to be haunted or were once a part of a haunted location.

Even the property (built in 1938) where the museum is housed is said to be haunted by the hostile spirits of the family members of the original owner who lived there.

Numerous visitors and staff of the museum have claimed to have seen a black-cloaked figure roaming the premises of the museum. How scary is that?

If you love getting spooked or are interested in unexplainable things, then the haunted museum in Las Vegas is a must-visit place for you.

6. Erotic Heritage Museum

Believe us when we say, Erotic Heritage Museum is unlike any other museum you’ve ever seen. Spread across an area of 24,000 sq. ft., the museum has a separate space for education, performances and exhibits.

The permanent and rotating exhibits are there to quench the curiosity of visitors who want to learn more about sexuality and sexual expression. About 17,000 sq. ft. of space has been dedicated to the history of erotica.

Harry Mohney is the grand patron of this museum. Established in the year 2008, it is managed by Harry Mohney Erotic Museum LLC (a Nevada based company). The Erotic Museum in Las Vegas is a rare museum and till now, only a handful of such museums have been established around the world.

Visitors need to be atleast 18 years old or they won’t be allowed to enter the museum.  

7. Bodies: The Exhibition

When you think about it, the way that the skin, bones, muscles and tissues in a human body work in tandem for it to keep functioning properly is quite amazing. Displaying this marvelous phenomenon of the human body is the museum called Bodies: The Exhibition.    

This is where you get to see well-preserved real human organs and bodies (without a skin). The museum’s collection consists of 13 whole-body specimens and about 260 organs. They also have partial body specimens that are being used to highlight a particular organ.

Bodies: The Exhibition is counted amongst the best museums in Las Vegas. Besides, where else will you get a chance to witness the rawness and true form of the human body from such a proximity?

Hence, your trip to Las Vegas isn’t complete until you visit this awesome place. However, this quirky museum is not for the faint-hearted. So, if you get scared easily, it is best to avoid this museum.