Art destinations

One of Africa's cleanest, greenest capitals, rolling across hills dotted with art studios, cafes and lively craft markets.

Java's cultural heart, a gateway to the vast Borobudur and Prambanan temples and living batik traditions.

The valley's 'City of Beauty', an ancient Newar kingdom renowned for exquisite courtyards, metalwork and temple art.

The green heart of Uzbekistan's silk country, a leafy base for craft towns famed for ikat weaving and glazed ceramics.

The remote Karakalpak capital hiding the Savitsky Museum's world-class trove of Soviet avant-garde art near the Aral Sea.

Africa's megacity of hustle and creativity, where Afrobeats nightlife, contemporary art and ocean beaches collide.

South America's largest metropolis, a restless powerhouse of art museums, nightlife and the continent's best food scene.

The sunny southern port city with a redeveloped harbour, art warehouses and lantern-lit temples.

A creative central city known for bubble tea's birthplace, rainbow lanes and a grand opera house.

A pottery town built among thousands of Bronze Age burial mounds, where traditional kilns still fire clay wares by hand.

A gloriously ramshackle port city where century-old funiculars climb hills stacked with rainbow houses and street art.

New Zealand's compact harbour capital, big on craft coffee, film-making magic and a famously creative arts scene.

A graceful UNESCO-listed Andean city of blue-domed cathedrals, flower markets and cobblestone riverside lanes.

The stately federal capital of grand mosques, a Louvre outpost and Formula 1 on Yas Island.

The UAE's culture capital, a heritage-rich emirate of museums, restored souks and Islamic art.

The far-north gateway to the Golden Triangle, famed for its surreal all-white and deep-blue temples.

Qatar's west-coast oil town turned weekend escape, near the Zekreet desert's mushroom rocks and Richard Serra's steel monoliths.

A French-speaking island city of cobblestone old quarters, festival summers and a legendary café-bistro scene.

Australia's cultural capital, beloved for laneway cafes, street art, sport and a fiercely proud coffee scene.

Tasmania's harbour capital, blending colonial history, a bold modern art museum and rugged island wilderness.

The City of Light, where grand boulevards, world-class art and café terraces frame an iron-lattice icon.

A reinvented capital where Cold War scars, cutting-edge art and legendary nightlife share the same streets.

The baroque 'Florence on the Elbe', painstakingly rebuilt into a riverside skyline of domes and palaces.

The Eternal City, where ancient ruins, baroque fountains and Vatican treasures crowd every cobbled street.

A dreamlike city of canals and gondolas, where palazzos rise straight from the water.

The cradle of the Renaissance, packed with world-class art, Tuscan food and a marble-clad cathedral.

Italy's sleek fashion and design capital, home to a spiky Gothic cathedral and da Vinci's Last Supper.

A UNESCO-listed old town of clan houses, colonial shophouses and celebrated street art and food.

A Mediterranean beauty of Gaudi fantasy architecture, tapas bars and buzzing city beaches.

Spain's grand, high-energy capital of world-class art museums, leafy plazas and late-night life.

Birthplace of paella, blending a medieval old town with futuristic waterfront architecture.

Sun-drenched Costa del Sol gateway, birthplace of Picasso, with beaches and a hilltop fortress.

A reinvented Basque industrial city, transformed by Frank Gehry's shimmering titanium Guggenheim.

A world capital where royal palaces, riverside icons and 300-plus museums crowd both banks of the Thames.

Scotland's biggest city, a warm-hearted powerhouse of Victorian grandeur, live music and design.

Lakefront city of bold architecture, deep-dish pizza and a world-famous mirror bean.