Where to go on holiday: Top 10 cultural cities in the world unveiled as UK holidaymakers search for 'cultural holidays' booms

Searches for ‘cultural holidays’ by UK holidaymakers have boomed by 2,500% in the lead up to the summer holiday season. More and more travellers are keen to take a trip away to experience local cultures, with two in five travellers considered ‘cultural tourists’.

To help travellers choose just where to go this summer, Adobe Express curated the ultimate list of cities for culture lovers to visit in 2024, comparing key factors including the number of art galleries and museums, theatres, historic spots, attractions, libraries and artworks.

Paris was crowned as the world’s most inspiring cultural city, boasting a grand score of 8.52/10, thanks to the city’s rich artistic heritage, as well as having the highest number of street art hashtags on Instagram outside London. The romantic city boasts the highest number of artworks available to the public in comparison to London with less than half that amount.

Paris also harbours the highest number of theatres, tourist attractions and art galleries compared to other cities. Tokyo and Seoul are the only cities on the list with a higher number of museums, with all three cities possessing over 300 to explore.

In second place, London appears as another strong contender for culture, scoring an admirable 8.34/10. The UK’s capital offers a wealth of artistic activities to pursue, with over 500 art galleries and museums to explore. Compared with the surprisingly smaller city of New York, London boasts nearly double the tourist attractions to the big apple, and nearly three times as many historic places.

In third is Berlin (8.04/10). Berlin claims a top spot in regard to historic locations second only to Vienna. Despite Vienna’s rich history, Berlin claimed a higher spot with over double the amount of theatres and galleries, and a whopping 3,000 artworks available to the public compared to Vienna’s 794.

Taking fourth spot is New York (7.73/10), which surpassed its fellow US cities of Los Angeles, Washington DC and Miami. Rounding off the top five is also Barcelona, achieving a commendable cultural score of 7/10. 

Whilst known for its beautiful bridges and stunning canals, Venice landed in 40th place on the list, with a cultural score of 2.87/10. Joining Venice on this side of the rankings were the unique cities of Dubai (3.17/10), Miami (3.31/10), Bali (3.45/10), and Florence (3.52/10).

Listed below are the top 10 cultural cities in the world according to Adobe Express.

1. Paris

2. London

3. Berlin

4. New York City

5. Barcelona

6. Madrid

7. Los Angeles

8. Seoul

9. Tokyo

10. Munich