Museum openings and meals festivals: What’s new in Europe that is price travelling for in 2026?

Iconic monuments and well-known points of interest imply some locations have perennial attraction.

But with overtourism as problematic as ever, 2026 is an efficient 12 months to think about locations you might need beforehand ignored.

An straightforward approach to put these locations in your radar is to search for new openings, points of interest and happenings round Europe.

From cultural establishments to meals festivals, listed here are a number of the issues price travelling for in 2026.

Travel to Finland and Slovakia for the European Capitals of Culture

Two cities have been named Europe’s Capitals of Culture for 2026: Oulu in Finland and Trenčín in Slovakia.

Oulu’s opening competition will happen from 16 to 18 January, with a programme together with concert events, automobile tuning, and the Finnish nationwide sport of ice hockey.

The metropolis’s theme for the 12 months is ‘Cultural Climate Change’, specializing in how heritage and artwork can reconnect individuals with their pure surroundings.

Trenčín’s ceremonial opening will happen from 13 to fifteen February, and can see the Slovakian metropolis’s previous city remodel into an outside cultural stage for music, artwork and social gatherings.

The chosen theme for the 12 months is ‘Cultivating Curiosity’, aiming to make use of cultural initiatives to revitalise town and bolster social cohesion.

Visit Brussels for the Belgian Pompidou Centre

A metropolis foremost related to enterprise and paperwork, Brussels is launching a cultural renaissance in 2026.

Late November will see the opening of the KANAL-Centre Pompidou inside a 90-year-old modernist constructing, which as soon as housed the Citroën storage and automobile showroom.

The construction is being renovated to turn into the Belgian capital’s first museum of up to date and fashionable artwork, the results of a partnership between the KANAL Foundation and Paris’ Centre Pompidou.

As properly as displaying works from the Parisian establishment together with its personal assortment, the KANAL-Centre Pompidou goals to be an arts and cultural hub and stage music, dance and theatre performances.

There will even be a restaurant overlooking the exhibition rooms and a rooftop bar.

Head to Helsinki for Moomin-mania

Helsinki Art Museum is giving beloved Finnish artist Tove Jansson, the creator of the Moomins, her personal devoted area this 12 months.

Spanning three exhibition halls constructed round her frescoes “Party in the Countryside” and “Party in the City”, the gallery positions Jansson as each a Helsinki-based and a global artist.

The inaugural exhibition (13 February 2026 – 24 January 2027) explores the inventive output of your complete Jansson household, their portrayals of each other, and their joint creations.

View new artworks on show in Valencia

The area of Valencia has turn into a frontrunner in sustainable tourism, turning into the primary in Spain to be licensed by AENOR – Spain’s nationwide requirements and certification physique – for its Tourism Sustainability Strategy 2024–2028.

This 12 months will even see the revealing of two landmark cultural openings within the metropolis of Valencia.

Espai Manolo Valdés, devoted to the eponymous residing artist born in Valencia, will open in late 2026 and showcase new and beforehand unseen sculptures.

The Sorolla Museum will honour one other Valencia artist, Joaquín Sorolla, with 220 works happening show within the Palacio de las Comunicaciones.

Eat your approach across the European Regions of Gastronomy

Epicurean travellers have a selection of three food-loving locations in 2026, which have been designated European Regions of Gastronomy.

The title recognises locations the place diets are extra than simply tasty, they’re targeted on well being, wellbeing and enhancing life high quality and the surroundings.

Crete, the Greek island the place olive oil is taken into account medicinal, will have a good time by holding a week-long Cretan Diet competition within the Venetian-fortress-crowned city of Rethymnon in July 2026.

Gozo, sister island to Malta and one other Mediterranean culinary powerhouse, was recognised for its farm-to-fork traditions and moral tourism mannequin.

Enjoy speciality merchandise like ġbejniet (conventional sheep milk cheeselets), Gozitan ftira (a sourdough pizza-like bread), fig pie, and sundried tomatoes.

Kvarner in Croatia completes the trio. The transitional area the place Mediterranean and pre-Alpine climates meet sees its intensive biodiversity mirrored in a wealth of native substances and a variety of seasonal dishes.

In sooner or later, you can begin with the famed Kvarner langoustines and finish with mountain-dwelling wild sport, mushrooms and forest berries.

Walk your complete shoreline of England alongside a brand new path

Wild and windswept, the English shoreline is without doubt one of the world’s most chic strolling locations.

And in 2026, an epic path – the King Charles III Coastal Path – will (most likely) lastly be completed.

The route winds spherical your complete shoreline of England; 4,303 km of cliffs, headlands, seashores, seaside cities, nationwide parks and extra.

The majority of sections are already open. Once full, it’ll be the longest managed coastal path on the earth.