Many people visit museums when they travel to new places. Why do you think people visit museums? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer.

Many people visit museums when they travel to new places. Why do you think people visit museums? Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer. 

Traveling to new places is a universal phenomenon. Museums are a most important part of the itinerary for the traveler who seeks valuable insights into the culture, heritage and history of the place that he has traveled to. Museums are a convenient option for all tourists. Even tourists, who have come primarily for adventure sports, natural phenomenon and shopping, can make time to see museums rather than poring through books on the history, demographics, art and tradition of the place. A museum visit may be over in the matter of a couple of hours, but gaining information from other sources could involve a much longer time. So people go to museums because they want to take in some important facts as quickly as possible and then, maybe, reserve the rest of the time for leisure pursuits. Museums contain many artifacts that have stood the test of time for centuries and millennia on end and thus, museums are the only place one can go to see such artifacts. One example I would like to present in this regard is that of the ‘Victoria Memorial in my city- Calcutta (now Kolkata).  This museum contains the very dress that Queen Victoria wore to her coronation. If one were genuinely interested in viewing rare and old artifacts like this, the option one has is to go to museums. So people also go to museums because they can see several old and valuable things. Lastly, I believe that museums are the reflection of the culture, art, religion, tradition and heritage of an area. Thus, they provide a clear, unbiased and real picture of the culture of an area. This is probably the most common reason for people visiting museums while traveling. One example I would like to offer in this regard is that of the Nehru Museum in my city. It has several floors that are dedicated solely to Hindu Mythology and the great epic Ramayan is also enacted in a series of miniature exhibits. This is the best place for travelers to go if they would like to learn a little about our culture. So, the strongest reason for my belief is that museums are the true reflection of a place and this is the major reason that travelers flock to museums of areas that they visit. Thus, for all the above reasons, I would like to reiterate my belief that museums enjoy patronage from travelers due to the fact that they have much to offer for the traveler.