A couple look at paintings in a gallery.Getty Images
A new study has revealed the best European cities for art lovers, with Dublin ranking in the 11th spot.
‘Art tourism’ has become an increasingly popular reason to travel, and whether you’re a creative looking for inspiration or a tourist who enjoys looking at new art, these European cities will never leave you wanting!
Ubuy, a global e-commerce platform, has undertaken new research to find which of Europe’s capital cities offers the most opportunities to see art. The study investigated the number of art galleries, art galleries that offer free entry, statues and monuments and pieces of street art in each capital city. The cities were then ranked on each of these four factors, to earn a score out of 172.
“We really enjoyed putting together this research on the best places to see art in Europe. It was important to us to include street art and public art like statues as well as more traditional gallery spaces – it’s a totally different way of seeing art, when you explore the city looking for it, taking in all the sights as you go by! And when the city itself is your canvas you can play with size and scale a lot more,” says Faizan Khan at Ubuy.
“There are also lots of amazing pieces of street art by artists whose work you might not be able to find in galleries, although there are definitely a lot of artists who have crossover appeal like Bansky and the Portuguese street artist Vhils. Vhils’ outdoor work involves chiseling huge portraits into walls, but you can also find his work on display in galleries around the world as he’s become more popular.”
Dublin ranked 11th on the list with a total of 111 points, according to the study’s metric. Ireland’s capital city has 51 galleries, with 10 of these offering free entry. The city also has 77 monuments and statues and 15 works of street art.
In joint first place on the list are London and Paris, with both cities scoring 166 points, London had an impressively high number of galleries at 259, with 29 of these offering free entry. Meanwhile, Paris has a very high number of monuments and statues at 796, as well as being home to the most-visited art gallery in the world, the Louvre.
In second place, is Prague with a score of 155. The Czech capital has 236 galleries, including The National Gallery Prague which is Europe’s second oldest art gallery.
Berlin followed in third place, scoring 152. It has 618 places where you can see works of street art, with one of the most notable locations being the East Side Gallery, a mile-long stretch of the Berlin Wall.
Any of these cities would have a great deal to offer any art lover. See below for the complete top 20 list.
Every one of these capital cities has a thriving art scene where you can see work by the country’s best new artists. However, each city also has a strong sense of its artistic heritage, with national galleries where you can see beautiful examples of paintings, sculptures, photographs and works in other art forms that have been created in the country over the centuries.
The full study can be found here.
