Last year’s European cultural tour took us from Bad Ischl, Bodø and Tartu (the European Capitals of Culture from, respectively, Austria, Norway and Estonia) to Paris, which hosted the Olympics and Paralympics. Now, 2025 ushers in a new crop of cities and regions to explore, all poised to grab cultural headlines in the year ahead.
LEUVEN, BELGIUM
Leuven’s university was founded in 1425 and its alumni include the philosopher Erasmus, and Hans Kluge, the director of the World Health Organisation Europe. The University Library was burned down in both the first and second world war, but rose from the ashes each time.
Public events marking 600 years of the university range from art installations to walking tours. The celebratory mood continues into 2026, with the opening of the new Vesalius Museum, focused on the human body, science and healthcare.
MOSTAR, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
The Unesco-listed Old Bridge, Stari Most, in Mostar, was built in 1566 and it collapsed when struck by Croatian artillery in 1993. It celebrates two decades since its reconstruction, with an exhibition and bridge-jumping ceremonies.
Mostar will also stage its usual summer festival along the Neretva River: a blend of Balkan and Mediterranean culture taking in theatre, dance, art and music. National Geographic ranked Sarajevo its best destination for 2025.
TALLINN, ESTONIA
In 2025, Estonia celebrates 500 years of the first book written in Estonian. The capital city, Tallinn, has plenty of bookish attractions: find a beloved second-hand bookshop, REaD, at the creative complex of Põhjala Tehas, book a table at the Literaat restaurant in the middle of a bookshop, and visit the HeadRead literary festival in May. Tallinn-born Estonian writers (also translated into English) include author Jaan Kross, twice nominated for the Nobel Prize; and poet Doris Kareva.
ALPES-MARITIMES, FRANCE
In 2025, the film To Catch a Thief turns 70. Much of it was shot in the Alpes-Maritimes, including Nice and Monaco, where you can follow in the effortlessly stylish footsteps of Cary Grant and Grace Kelly.
Head to Nice’s Marché aux Fleurs, as seen on screen, or drive through medieval villages: Tourrettes-sur-Loup (known for its Violet Festival, since 1952) and Le-Bar-sur-Loup are dotted with bistros and ancient churches. Blow the budget á la Grace Kelly’s character and stay at the IHG InterContinental Carlton, Cannes. She checked into Room 451.
ADJARA REGION, GEORGIA
The Adjara region is known for its centuries-old polyphonic music and folk dancing, plus Black Sea resorts and tea traditions. The resorts of Batumi and Kobuleti will host Art Folk Fest events in 2025, including dancers, choirs and traditional musicians. Batumi’s Black Sea Jazz Festival welcomes big-name performers like Robert Plant and the Prodigy.
Borjgalo Ethnographic Museum is the place for Georgian folk culture, while the Nobel Brothers Batumi Technological Museum focuses on the tea industry, introduced to Georgia by Lao Jin Jao in 1893.
NUREMBERG, GERMANY
Nuremberg has had a reputation for toymaking since the Middle Ages, and its famous Toy Fair, founded in 1950, is now the largest of its kind worldwide. The toy museum will bring out your inner child and there’s also a Children’s and Young People’s Museum, should you be travelling with youngsters.
If you’re looking for souvenirs that are more investment pieces than tourist kitsch, you can’t go wrong with a trip to the Steiff shop, selling the pricey collectable teddy bears (grandparents can cough up).
ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS
Rotterdam is known for innovation and sustainability (there’s even a floating farm on the river), but until now, it didn’t have a Design Biennale. From February 20 to March 2, expect talks, masterclasses and experimental work tied to the theme “What’s real is unfamiliar”. This event spans the centre, West and Zuid areas, and Biennale ambassadors include the fashion designer Marga Weimans, who created the first augmented reality dress in 2013.
Delfshaven, in Rotterdam West, is a year-round design destination, home to cool concept shops and weird art. It also has De Huidenclub, a former tannery-turned-studio space for designers and creatives, hosting events and exhibitions.
ŁÓDŹ, POLAND
Not only known as Poland’s city of festivals, Łódź (pronounced “woodge”) is often involved in nationwide cultural exchanges with other European destinations. The Poland-Romania Cultural Season, running until October 2025, brings an exhibition by the photographer Iosif Király to the Łódź Fotofestiwal, one of Europe’s biggest photography gatherings. As part of the British Council’s UK/Poland season, running from spring to autumn 2025, the Muzeum Sztuki w Łodzi will partner with Tate St Ives in Cornwall.
Meanwhile, the Colourful Tolerance campaign, held every March 21 since the year 2000, highlights Łódź’s multicultural people and places through tours, marches and flashmobs.
NOVA GORICA, SLOVENIA and GORIZIA, ITALY
These adjoining cities belong to different countries, one in Italy, one in Slovenia, but they form a shared European Capital of (Borderless) Culture for 2025, branded as GO! 2025.
The events programme is certainly imaginative: Blood Without Borders, on June 14, gathers blood donations from Italian and Slovenian donors, and offers health-themed activities for children and adults. More standard cultural activities include a trio of connected plays, Inabili alla Morte (Unable to Die), performed in both cities.
ZARAGOZA, SPAIN
Light festivals have spread across Europe since the 1990s, and Zaragoza will host its first from February 14-16, with a range of iconic buildings being illuminated. Ahead of the festival, the Fiat Lux nighttime tour, starting at 10pm, shows you historic churches and cathedrals with fewer crowds.
The Zaragoza City Culture Award will also launch this year, drawing even more attention to heritage attractions in the city, which is the capital of the Aragon region.
As for what to bring home, continuing the light theme, sustainable Spanish candlemakers Govalis have a candle infused with the exact scent of Zaragoza’s cathedral, La Basilica de Pilar.
