Most holidays are planned around sunny beaches, glossy tourist attractions, and impulse spending. But there’s another type of holiday that might appeal to you, especially if you’re more creative at heart – and that’s a culture trip! Culture trips in 2026 are becoming popular because they’re focused on learning more about art and history, and provide plenty of time to visit a few attractions, too. If you’re looking to check out an exhibition or two (or six) in 2026, here’s our top pick for you.
Table of Contents
Frida: The Making of an Icon at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
This year, Houston is hosting one of the Frida: The Making of an Icon. The show runs from January 19, 2026, to May 17, 2026, and features more than 30 works by Frida Kahlo alongside around 120 works by artists from five generations who were influenced by her legacy. Rather than treating Kahlo only as a mythologised face on posters and tote bags, the exhibition focuses on how she became one of the most recognisable artists in the world and why her image continues to have such a powerful impact.
The different perspective makes the show worth travelling for. You are not just seeing Frida’s own paintings. You are also seeing how one artist’s life, style, pain, politics, and visual language continued to ripple through later generations. For anyone interested in art history with a strong cultural afterlife, this is a much richer prospect than a standard monographic show.
Encounters: Giacometti x Lynda Benglis at Barbican, London
Running February 12 through May 31, 2026, the Barbican will display Alberto Giacometti’s 20th-century sculptures with new and existing contemporary pieces by American artist Lynda Benglis. The Barbican portrays the pieces as an intimate dialogue between the two artists, who are separated by generations, but seem to share the same bold form, material, and human figure work in their pieces.
It’s said that the devastation of the Second World War inspired Giacometti to make his elongated figures. His work depicts human fragility and strength. Benglis’ work can be seen almost like an answer to Giacometti’s work. Her pieces are wild, poured latex with metallic sprays and interesting forms that seem impossible by general sculpture rules. This is the last show in the Barbican’s year-long Giacometti series, put together with Paris’s Foundation Giacometti.
Renoir and Love at Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s luminous paintings are on show in Paris from March 17 to July 19, 2026. This show presents 90 masterworks and is focused on examining how the Impressionist master depicted human relationships throughout his career. The National Gallery in London and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston have partnered with the Musée d’Orsay to show paintings that haven’t been displayed together since 1985.
The show will present scenes of Parisian life, portraits, and pieces that show off Renoir’s unique brushwork. The British debut of Bal au Moulin de la Galette from 1876 is at the centre of the show, alongside works spanning the 1860s to 1880s when the artist reached his creative peak.
Raphael at The Met, New York
From March 29 through June 28, 2026, The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents Raphael Sublime Poetry, the first comprehensive exhibition devoted to Raphael ever staged in the United States. The show presents more than 170 works, including paintings, drawings, and tapestries, to trace the artist’s development from Urbino to Florence and then to Rome, where he became one of the defining talents of the High Renaissance.
The exhibition is thought-provoking and makes most art lovers take a moment to consider how much one painter could realistically accomplish in a short life. Special focus is on Raphael’s depiction of women, along with recent scientific discoveries about his working methods.
If New York is on your itinerary, sorting out an eSIM for the USA before you fly can make maps, museum bookings, and local travel much easier to access without having to hunt for a local SIM or worry about topping up data.
Edo in Focus at Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum
Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum presents Japanese treasures from the British Museum’s collection between July 25 and October 18, 2026.
This centennial show brings Edo-period paintings back to Japan after they’ve featured in British collections. It’s a chance to see how Japanese art enchanted Western collectors while celebrating Tokyo’s rich artistic heritage from centuries past.
Expect delicate ukiyo-e prints, bold scrolls, and decorative pieces from a time when the city was booming culturally and economically. Many of these works don’t usually make it back to Japan, so art lovers shouldn’t miss this.
The timing of the show is also important. The exhibition is part of the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum’s centennial programme, which gives it a stronger sense of occasion than a routine loan show. Because it runs from July 25 to October 18, 2026, the idea of Edo-period works returning from the British Museum to Tokyo gives the whole event a compelling historical loop.
The Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum, London
The Bayeux Tapestry will be displayed in Britain for the first time since it was created nearly 1,000 years ago. The exhibition will run from September 2026 to July 2027 and is expected to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many art lovers.
The British Museum is displaying this medieval masterpiece, which is a 70-meter embroidered tapestry that tells the story of the Norman Conquest in 1066.
The display of the tapestry is going to be one of the biggest events held in years by the British Museum, and already has phased ticket releases to cater to demand. If you’re keen to see this exhibition, plan ahead and get your tickets early to avoid disappointment.
Let Art Guide Your Travels
Of course, these are not the only exhibitions happening across the world in 2026, but they do show how rewarding it can be to plan travel around art rather than around the usual shortlist of tourist landmarks. If you let art guide your travels, you’ll find yourself exploring medieval England, impressionist Paris, and even the major museum events of the USA. That makes the trip itself feel more purposeful.
