Time Out recently surveyed 18,500 city-dwellers about the cultural life in their hometowns, asking about everything from affordability to quality of art, music, and architecture. The results, combined with votes from a panel of experts, reveal the world’s top cities for culture, and Paris, France took the number one spot.
An overwhelming 96% of Parisians rated their city’s cultural offerings as either “good” or “amazing,” and Time Out’s expert panel gave the City of Light one of the highest numbers of votes overall. Paris is home to the world’s most-visited museum, the Louvre, where icons like the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo draw millions of visitors annually. The city also boasts a deep bench of cultural heavyweights like the Pompidou Centre, Palais de Tokyo, and Philarmonie de Paris, where the Orchestre de Paris performs.
Culture in Paris isn’t confined to galleries and concert halls. From open-air film screenings like La Villette’s Cinéma en Plein Air to the annual Fête de la Musique, the city is full of creative energy year-round. Walking through its streets is a masterclass in architecture, featuring everything from medieval relics to Haussmannian boulevards.
Coming in second is Florence, Italy, where the Uffizi Galleries and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino earned high praise. Edinburgh, Scotland takes third, celebrated for its world-class festivals including the iconic Fringe and the International Festival.
The best cities for culture: The full list
- Paris, France
- Florence, Italy
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Sydney, Australia
- Barcelona, Spain
- Chicago, Illinois
- Lisbon, Portugal
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Beijing, China
- Tbilisi, Georgia
- Jakarta, Indonesia
- Delhi, India
- Medellín, Colombia
- Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Marrakech, Morocco
- Vienna, Austria
- Prague, Czech Republic
- Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
