Culture-Rich Countries to Visit in 2026

It’s 2026, and you’re likely hoping to start planning your next summer holiday. You’re also probably struggling with the first of your new year’s resolutions: to spend less time staring at that second screen currently in your hands. Well, your mid-year holiday is an excellent opportunity to reset that particular resolution, by reintroducing yourself to the rich culture that gives us expressive life. For some inspiration, read on and discover the best countries for culture to visit this year.

Greece: The Foundations of Western Culture

What kind of guide would this be if Greece didn’t make a prominent appearance? It is, after all, a hugely significant historical crucible, for pretty much everything recognisable about modern Western civilisation. It was the literal birthplace of democracy, the home of philosophical thought, and the proving ground for artistic and sculptural expressions we still recognise today.

All of this, in a society that predates our own by thousands of years. But the remnants of that society are still very much on show across Greece’s myriad islands; archaeological sites and still-used ancient architecture, standing side by side. As far as Greece holidays in 2026 are concerned, you can’t do much better than a week soaking in the past, present and future of Athens.

Italy: Art, History, and Regional Identity

Talking of cultural crucibles, how about Italy? Rome was another foundational hub for the recognisable form of contemporary Western civilisation, being the hub of a continental empire that brought us straight roads, water infrastructure and, of course, wine.

But Italy’s influence extends beyond its Roman beginnings. The Renaissance gave us art and music, and a few new instruments to boot (the piano, anyone?). Florence is a phenomenal starting point for unpicking the majesty of the Renaissance, thanks to its harbouring of works by famed residents Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo and the Medicis.

France: Heritage, Language, and Everyday Culture

A little closer to home, being just a short hop across the English Channel, and stunningly cheap to visit, we have France. France is a cultural heavyweight of all its own, above and beyond the relatively recent reputation of Paris as a ‘city of love’.

France’s artistic history is hard to rival. It was there, contributing, from well before the Renaissance; far more importantly, though, France was the eye of the storm when it came to modal shifts in art and critical theory. If the Impressionist period was born, it was born in France. Everything that followed was seismic, up to and after Picasso’s Cubism. All of this, worn proudly on a country’s sleeve by way of Paris’ Muse Picasso, the Dali museum in Montmartre, the Fondation Vincent Van Gogh in Arles.