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September 30, 2025 — 2:31pm
Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, London, New York, Madrid. The global epicentres of art in all of its creative forms, schools, eras and disciplines are well-known, well documented and well visited.
But art truly is everywhere in this world, although sometimes you wouldn’t know it, given the focus on those masterpiece-centred heavy hitters.
In fact, it may be that, in our travels around the world and in our own backyard, we’re missing out on a feast of cultural enrichment in cities we don’t realise are also home to some spectacular art.
In this extract from the new Lonely Planet book Art Destinations: 70 Places to See Great Art, Traveller highlights 10 lesser-known artistic hotspots as diverse as Seoul and Mexico City, Oslo and Los Angeles that don’t receive quite the degree of attention and appreciation they truly deserve. Well, at least not until now.
Oslo, Norway
Munch magic among the fjords
In the frame Whether seen in winter snow under a rave of Northern Lights or in the midsummer sun, Oslo is in tune with the outdoors. In this city – which sits near the dark, moody Oslofjord, where Vikings once set sail – nature ramps up the drama, and so do artists hailing from these Nordic parts, most notably expressionist Edvard Munch (1863–1944), whose trippy 1893 work The Scream sent shockwaves through the art world.
See + do Oslo is by no means a one-artist wonder. From the Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons originals at fjord-embracing, Renzo Piano-designed Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art to open-air Vigelandsparken (Vigeland Sculpture Park), showing more than 200 granite and bronze sculptures by home-grown legend Gustav Vigeland (1869-1943), art and nature here are as one. Elsewhere, the National Museum is a vast showstopper delivering a collection of art, decorative arts and design under one eco-friendly Kleihues + Schuwerk-designed roof. Make a beeline for Room 060 where you’ll find Munch’s The Scream, the most impressive of four versions on display in Oslo.
Don’t miss The 13-storey Spanish-designed MUNCH art museum is a modern-day “leaning tower” and a dominant feature of the Norwegian capital’s revitalised Bjorvika docklands. It houses the world’s biggest Munch collection: a staggering 1100 paintings and 4500 watercolours. See visitoslo.com; munch.no/en
Seoul, South Korea
Asia’s contemporary arts hub
In the frame South Korea is a superstar in the world of contemporary art and culture, with its capital, Seoul, the epicentre of the nation’s creativity. Pulsing with energy and bright ideas, the city has a proud history of artistic engagement which is evident in everything from the polychromatic decoration of its Joseon dynasty palaces to the dazzling array of treasures housed in its many museums.
See + do A day can easily be spent browsing the vast collection at the National Museum of Korea, while the Seoul Museum of Art (SeMA) puts on superb shows in its main gallery and scattered satellite branches, including Nam June Paik Memorial House. Elegantly designed and arranged, the Samsung Foundation of Culture-run Leeum Museum of Art balances traditional Korean art with contemporary works. A trio of celebrated architects (Mario Botta, Jean Nouvel and Rem Koolhaas) participated in various elements of the building’s design. Elsewhere, the Seoul Museum of Craft Art, housed in a former high school and adjoining new buildings, showcases gorgeous crafts, ranging from Joseon dynasty ceramics to folding screens of embroidered birds and flowers.
Don’t miss Thanks to city ordinances and planning policies Seoul is home to a wealth of public art. Check out giant sculptures such as Jonathan Borofsky’s 22-metre-tall Hammering Man and Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen’s Spring, striking against the backdrop of Cheonggyecheon Stream, a nearly 11 kilometres-long eco water park which flows through the heart of Seoul. See english.visitseoul.net
Mexico City, Mexico
Where art prevails
In the frame Politics may change but in Mexico City art endures. Head to Centro (historic centre) along Paseo de la Reforma, Mexico City’s grandest avenue. Here, in 2021, a feminist collective erected a sculpture on an empty plinth where a Christopher Columbus statue once stood. The modified monument, Glorieta de las Mujeres que Luchan (Roundabout of the Women Who Fight), commemorates resistance to gender violence with a defiant sculpture dubbed Justicia, flanked by the names of missing or murdered indigenous women.
See + do At the park Alameda Central, explore the restless inventiveness and curative colour schemes of Museo de Arte Popular; Jose Guadalupe Posada’s laughing-skeleton woodblock prints at Museo Nacional de la Estampa; time travel through 3000 years of Mexico’s finest moments at Museo Nacional de Antropologia; follow the crowds to nearby Zocalo where, since 1978, an entire Aztec pyramid has gradually emerged after centuries hidden in the shadows of the cathedral and presidential palace. Keep your eyes open for performance art on Mexico City’s downtown streets – you never know when sculptor Chavis Marmol might crush another Tesla with an eight-tonne stone replica of an Olmec head.
Don’t miss For landmark art with a side of wild romance, follow the footsteps of Frida Kahlo around Mexico City. Start at Kahlo’s birthplace and home studio, Casa Azul, where she created soul-searching surrealist self-portraits after a debilitating trolley-car accident.
Naoshima Japan
Art island in the Seto Inland Sea
In the frame Naoshima, which sits in Japan’s Inland Sea, has evolved into one of the country’s most popular visitor attractions. The island town was facing a dim future of depopulation until the Fukutake family and its Benesse Corporation turned things around by transforming the island into an art destination. Featuring work by the renowned Japanese architect Tadao Ando and artist Yayoi Kusama, Naoshima has become a landscape of integrated museums and art installations recognised in art circles worldwide.
See + do An extraordinary building on Naoshima, designed by Tadao Ando, the Chichu Art Museum is a series of concrete-walled galleries fitted into a hillside. Natural light filters into the cool caverns to illuminate five of Monet’s water lily paintings. Elsewhere on the island, Benesse House Museum, also designed by Ando, combines a museum with a hotel and features interior and exterior artwork, including art in the guest rooms. The colourful outdoor pieces are mesmerising and are topped off by Yayoi Kusama’s famous Yellow Pumpkin, which sits at the end of its own pier at the peaceful beach. On Naoshima Island’s east side, burnished timber houses and temples in the fishing port of Honmura have been converted by Benesse into art installations, as part of its Art House Project.
Don’t miss The arts-and-culture recipe to revitalise dwindling island communities has been replicated on nearby Teshima and Inujima. Both islands now also include installations that are part of the wider Benesse Art Site Naoshima and are easy to visit on day trips while staying on Naoshima. See benesse-artsite.jp
Los Angeles, US
City of Angels and art movements
In the frame The LA art scene emerged alongside Hollywood’s golden age, with the arrival of collectors and curators and the founding of museums and galleries. Today, art aficionados can view famous works by both old masters and modern artists alike in museums such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Getty, The Huntington and the Norton Simon Museum in nearby Pasadena.
See + do Located on the hills overlooking LA, the Getty Centre is home to a world-class museum, research library and conservation institute. Visitors take a tram ride to access the campus’ bright architecture, scenic gardens and wide-ranging art collections. Check out van Gogh’s Irises, rooms of paintings, sculpture and decorative arts. There are rotating displays, including photography, in the West Pavilion. Elsewhere, LACMA houses a collection of more than 150,000 works, including pieces by Picasso, Magritte and Diego Rivera.
Don’t miss For an extra memorable experience, visit specialised collections – such as at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Hammer Museum and the Corita Art Centre. These venues trace LA’s fascinating history, not only as a global arts and entertainment capital, but also as a city that embodies multiculturalism and creative communities.
Doha, Qatar
Art and architecture in an Islamic context
In the frame Since the 2008 opening of the Museum of Islamic Art (MIA) in Doha, Qatar has grown into a hub for Middle Eastern and North African art. The government has made a sizeable government investment into cultural properties across the country, including locally inspired architectural forms at the National Museum, known for its “desert rose” design which emulates a rare sand crystal.
See + do An architectural work of art itself, the I.M. Pei-designed Museum of Islamic Art incorporates traditional Islamic motifs into a modern museum design showcasing 18 galleries of art work and artefacts from across 1400 years of Islamic history. The collection at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art invites viewers to explore the desert landscape via installation works and many works celebrate Qatari traditions such as falconry and pearl-diving as well as maritime themes.
Don’t miss Shadows travelling on the sea of the day is a site-specific installation by Olafur Eliasson near northern Qatar’s historic Al Zubara fort. Viewers can explore 20 mirrored circular shelters held aloft by steel rings, arranged in a symmetrical pattern inspired by Islamic geometrical design. See visitqatar.com
Bangkok, Thailand
An expressive legacy
In the frame Art is everywhere you turn in the Thai capital. The local culture’s deep respect for artistic expression stems from collective values that place beauty as inherently sacred. As such, royal and religious examples of architecture are multifaceted masterworks, with Bangkok’s famous Grand Palace blending vibrant Khmer- and Chinese-style with European and Renaissance-revival influences.
See + do Bangkok is one of the world’s most exciting cities for contemporary art. There are fantastic public urban installations and private galleries galore and these are also often free to visit. Meanwhile, a cool underground scene emerging in disused shop houses provide a space for young to create. Get up close and personal with artists and their work at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC), a 3000-square-metre powerhouse of commercial galleries and ateliers, as well as Chatuchak Market’s art section and the Thailand Creative & Design Centre (TCDC), home turf for young creatives who come together inside a gorgeous art deco building in the historic Silom neighbourhood.
Don’t miss Explore the graffiti-covered lanes in Chinatown’s Talat Noi neighbourhood, as well as the edgy “creative park” of Chang Chui, featuring gigantic installations and artist studios. See visit.bangkok.go.th
Mallorca, Spain
Miro’s island home
In the frame A short stroll around Palma quickly reveals Mallorca’s artistic legacy. Step into the magnificent cathedral, La Seu, rising above the harbour and the ancient sienna-toned city walls, and you’ll encounter shimmering stained-glass (including the second-largest rose window in Europe) beside a fantastical baldachin (altar canopy) by Antoni Gaudi, and a psychedelic-feeling chapel by local legend Miquel Barcelo. Other art-encrusted churches carpet the city.
See + do Museu Fundacion Juan March, Es Baluard and Fundacion Bartolome March enliven both eyes and minds with thought-proving contemporary art and sculpture. The artist Joan Miro (1893-1983) felt such an affinity for his maternal homeland that he moved to Palma from his birth city, Barcelona. Mallorca’s horizons and colours, the “eloquent silence” and the patterns of Moorish and island folk art inspired Miro’s abstract work. Visit his studio, just outside Palma in Cala Major, for an inspiring walk through his life and creativity. Take the thrilling vintage train ride to Soller, his mother’s birthplace, where the train station has a room of his work.
Don’t miss The highlight of Joan Miro’s wonderful hilltop compound is the studio designed by his good friend, architect Josep Lluis Sert. See mallorca.com
Dakar, Senegal
West Africa’s contemporary art capital
In the frame The unofficial capital of Francophone West Africa, Dakar attracts art lovers in the same way as its music scene draws fans of local stars such as Youssou N’Dour and Orchestra Baobab. You’ll see traditional woodcarvings, batik, pottery and souwere (under-glass painting) at the Museum of Black Civilisations and craft markets such as Kermel and Soumbedioune, while a lively gallery scene has put Dakar on the international art map.
See + do Since 1996, the Dakar Biennale (Dak’Art) has contributed to a cosmopolitan scene that attracts major artists, such as American portraitist Kehinde Wiley. Wiley, who famously painted Barack Obama, set up Black Rock Senegal, an artist-in-residence scheme that hosts cultural events, while South African-Australian artist Loman Pawlitschek turned her Dakar villa into the multifaceted Loman Art House. Central Dakar has several galleries exhibiting up-and-coming West African artists, such as Oh Gallery and Galerie Le Manege. On UNESCO-listed Goree Island, site-specific artworks commemorate the enslaved people who were once shipped across the Atlantic.
Don’t miss In the vibrant Medina neighbourhood, check out the recycled art at Creas I Am gallery. This space encourages local women to transform plastic and other urban detritus into art, furniture and fashion. See visitezlesenegal.com
Nicosia, Cyprus
Art that spans the divide
In the frame Europe’s last divided capital, Nicosia (Lefkosia) approaches art from two different perspectives, one Greek and one Turkish. Young Cypriot artists are now using creativity to bring the two communities together. Funding from the UN and other international bodies has given extra vim to art projects on both sides of the Green Line dividing Nicosia into Greek and Turkish enclaves.
See + do In old Nicosia, surprising art spaces spill out of tangled medieval lanes and provide a contemporary counterpoint to the ancient ceramics, sculptures and religious paintings found in the Cyprus Museum, Leventis Museum and Byzantine Museum. In the south, the Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre (NiMAC) is the hub for an arty district buzzing with exhibitions, talks and screenings. North of the Green Line, Side Streets explores ideas about language, art and culture, while the ARUCAD Art Space shows the output of the Arkin University of Creative Arts and Design.
Don’t miss Small galleries selling work by local artists pop up all over Nicosia. Stencil artist Christos Kakoulli’s Gallery 37 and Diachroniki are rewarding stops. Don’t overlook the outspoken street art blossoming around the Green Line, and the sprawling new city beyond the Venetian walls, home to innovative art spaces such as Stand in Line. See visitnicosia.com.cy
This cover story is an edited extract of Art Destinations of the World: 70 Places to See Great Art, published by Lonely Planet, $65 rrp. Contact shop.lonelyplanet.com
FIVE MORE ART DESTINATIONS CLOSER TO HOME
Wellington, New Zealand The waterfront of the Kiwi capital is best known for its Te Papa Tongarewa, the National Museum. But the city is also home to the quirky World of Wearable art (WOW), dubbed the “most lavish catwalk in the world” with the event held three weeks from late September. See wellingtonnz.com
Noumea, New Caledonia A charming mix of French and Melanesian culture, the diminutive capital of Noumea is home to the Renzo Piano Tjibaou Culture Centre. A masterpiece of tall, curved wooden structures, the centre showcases the indigenous Kanak culture which is represented by sculptures, paintings and photographs. See au.newcaledonia.travel
Melbourne, Australia Along with cultural institutions such as the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV), the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), the Koorie Heritage Trust and the Ian Potter Centre, Melbourne has won fame for its CBD laneway art. Look out for the colourful wealth of murals, stencils, paste-ups and stickers. See visitvictoria.com
Central and Northern Islands, Vanuatu These islands have a unique tradition of sand-drawing. The beautiful and often symmetrical works and can be seen at festivals, such as the two-day event on Ambryn Island. Elsewhere, at the National Museum of Vanuatu in the capital of Port Vila, daily demonstrations of this form of art are a highlight. See vanuatu.travel/au
Tasmania, Australia The transformation of Tasmania into an artistic powerhouse is often credited to MONA (Museum of Old and New Art). But the island’s original artworks – hand-stencilled patterns in ochre and blood, created by traditional owners 15,000 years ago – are found on the walls of caves such as Ballawinne and Wargata Mina. See discovertasmania.com.au
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