James Turrell, Courtesy of Aros, Photography: Mads Smidstrup
Photography: Gerard Uferas
Some trips are planned around cities. Others are planned around what’s showing. For art lovers, a single exhibition can quietly reroute an entire itinerary — shifting dates, dictating neighborhoods, even determining the season you go. The museum becomes the starting point, not the add-on, and everything else falls into place from there. In 2026, Europe’s exhibition calendar offers exactly that kind of pull. Major retrospectives, immersive installations, and once-in-a-generation shows are opening across cities both familiar and unexpected, each one offering a deeper reason to travel with intention. For those who plan trips (and maybe their honeymoon!) around culture — who linger longer, look closer, and build days around museums — these are the 16 exhibitions worth circling first.
Musée d' Orsay
Anish Kapoor, Courtesy of Lisson Gallery
'Cézanne' at Fondation Beyeler
If you’re planning a winter or early spring trip to Switzerland and Basel is on your bucket list, this exhibition is an easy reason to build a museum stop into your plans. Opening January 25 at Fondation Beyeler, it focuses on Paul Cézanne’s later work — the period when his paintings became simpler, more deliberate, and quietly influential. Landscapes and still lifes take on a steady, almost meditative quality. It’s a calm, rewarding visit for travelers who prefer unhurried looking over blockbuster crowds.
'Lucian Freud: Drawing into Painting' at The National Portrait Gallery
Lucian Freud is best known for his unflinching portraits, but this exhibition shifts the focus to something more behind-the-scenes. Opening in London on February 12 at The National Portrait Gallery, it looks closely at how drawing sat at the center of his practice, shaping the paintings he’s most famous for. Sketches, studies, and works on paper are shown alongside related canvases, revealing how ideas moved from one medium to another. It’s a compelling stop for a winter or early spring London trip, especially if you enjoy exhibitions that slow you down and invite closer looking.
Paul Cezanne, Courtesy of Fondation Beyeler and Kuntshaus Zürich
Lucien Freud, Courtesy of National Portrait Gallery, Photo: Bridgeman Images
'Yellow. Beyond Van Gogh’s Favourite Color' at
The Van Gogh Museum
You probably already know Vincent van Gogh for his sunflowers and swirling brushstrokes — but have you ever noticed how central the color yellow is to his work? An upcoming exhibition this February at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam focuses on exactly that. Using his fixation with yellow as a starting point, the show opens outward into a broader cultural moment where color carried emotion, symbolism, and even provocation. Painting gives way to literature, fashion, and light, unfolding across rooms rather than disciplines. It’s a natural fit for trips built around wandering museums and letting curiosity lead the way.
Tracey Emin at Tate Modern
London has no shortage of art openings, but this exhibition — opening February 27 — feels especially considered. One of the most influential figures in contemporary British art, Tracey Emin is set to present works spanning four decades of her practice at The Tate Modern. Moving between text, neon, sculpture, and painting, her work draws heavily from lived experience rather than abstraction. The show reads less like a traditional career survey and more like a series of moments. It fits naturally into a London visit built around modern museums and wandering between neighborhoods.
Van Gogh, Courtesy of The Van Gough Museum
Tracey Emin, Courtesy of White Cube Gallery
Marina Abramović at Gallerie dell’Accademia
If you’re heading to Venice during the Biennale — the citywide art event that takes over museums, palazzos, and pavilions every two years — this exhibition is worth weaving into your plans. Landing in the city on May 6, Marina Abramović’s work enters the Accademia, placing contemporary performance alongside Renaissance painting in a way that feels intentional rather than showy. Known for exploring endurance and stillness, her pieces offer a more focused experience amid an otherwise packed cultural calendar. It’s a smart stop when Venice is buzzing but you’re craving something more contained.
Anish Kapoor at The
Hayward Gallery
Anish Kapoor is one of those contemporary artists whose work you’ve likely encountered before — even if you didn’t realize it at the time. Opening June 16 at The Hayward Gallery, this exhibition brings together large-scale pieces that play with reflection, depth, and color in ways that are immediately felt rather than explained. The show promises transient galleries, where each room seems to shift and bend around you. It’s an easy addition to a London trip built around museums, architecture, and long walks along the South Bank.
Marina Abramović, Courtesy of Marina Abramović Archives
Anish Kapoor
Sophie Calle at
Hamburger Bahnhof
If Berlin is on your late-year travel list, this exhibition aligns neatly with a moment the city itself is marking. Opening November 13 during the museum’s 30th anniversary weekend, Sophie Calle’s show closes out Hamburger Bahnhof’s milestone year. Known for working with photography, writing, and personal narrative, Calle brings together pieces made in Berlin alongside works that reference the building’s former life as a train station, with a new commission created especially for the occasion. It’s a thoughtful stop for a Berlin trip built around galleries, history, and slow wandering.
'Rothko in Florence' at
Palazzo Strozzi
Mark Rothko in Florence sounds almost too perfect to be real — a famously introspective painter shown in a city known for visual excess. Opening March 14, the exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi places Rothko’s color fields inside Renaissance architecture, where their stillness takes on new weight. The connection between the artist and the city unfolds quietly rather than theatrically. It’s an especially satisfying stop for travelers planning an Italian trip that leaves room for pause.
Sophie Calle, Courtesy of Perrotin, Photography: Claire Dorn
Mark Rothko, Courtesy of MoMA, The Mark Rothko Foundation, Inc. and Artists Rights Society (ARS)
'Matisse: 1941–1954' at
Le Grand Palais
Matisse’s later years weren’t about slowing down — they were about finding new ways to work. Opening March 24 at Paris's Le Grand Palais, this exhibition looks at the period when he turned to cut-outs, bold color, and oversized forms, creating some of his most recognizable work. The energy feels playful and confident, even joyful. If Paris is on your spring itinerary, it’s a refreshing way to experience a modern master without feeling like you’re revisiting the obvious.
Alexander Calder at Fondation Louis Vuitton
This is one of the biggest exhibitions on Paris’s 2026 calendar. Opening April 15, it brings Alexander Calder’s work into full view across decades, filling the Fondation Louis Vuitton with sculpture, color, and ambition at scale. Even if you’re not deeply familiar with his work, the museum’s striking building alone is reason enough to go. It’s the kind of exhibition you plan a museum day around, especially if culture is central to your Paris itinerary.
Henri Matisse, Courtesy of The Centre Pompidou
Alexander Calder, Courtesy of The Calder Foundation
'Van Eyck: The Portraits'
at The National Gallery
Some exhibitions feel like once-in-a-lifetime moments, and this is one of them. Opening in London November 21, The National Gallery brings together Jan van Eyck’s surviving portraits — works that still feel remarkably intimate centuries later. Faces, fabrics, and tiny details reward close looking. It’s a strong reason to plan a London trip for late fall or winter, when museum days feel especially inviting.
Helen Frankenthaler
at Kunstmuseum Basel
If you’re drawn to color-led, quietly powerful painting, this exhibition is worth noting. Opening April 18 at Kunstmuseum Basel, it brings Helen Frankenthaler’s work into focus through large-scale canvases known for their fluid, soaked-in color. The paintings reveal themselves gradually the longer you stand with them. In Basel, it’s a natural fit for travelers who enjoy museum visits that shape the rhythm of the day.
Jan Van Eyck, Courtesy of The National Gallery
Helen Frankenthaler, Courtesy of Kunstmuseum Basel
'Bjork: Echolalia' at
The National Gallery of Iceland
Björk is best known as one of Iceland’s most recognizable musical talents, but her work has always moved fluidly between sound, performance, and visual art. Opening May 30, this exhibition at the National Gallery of Iceland, brings that multidisciplinary approach into focus through immersive installations that combine audio, film, and spatial experience. Timed with the Reykjavik Arts Festival, it adds a strong cultural anchor to a summer trip north. It’s an especially compelling stop if you’re planning travel around singular experiences rather than traditional museum visits.
'Mary Cassatt: The Choice of Independence' at Musée d’Orsay
Paris has long celebrated Impressionism, but this exhibition at Musée d'Orsay — opening October 6 — reframes the story through a more deliberate lens. Mary Cassatt, an American painter who made France her home, built a career defined by autonomy and conviction. Rather than positioning her on the margins, the show places independence at the center of her work. It’s especially satisfying for Paris trips planned outside peak season, when the city feels more lived-in.
Bjork, Courtsy of Listasafn Íslands
Mary Cassatt, Courtesy of Musée d'Orsay
James Turrell at Aros
Aarhus Art Museum
James Turrell is widely known for work that centers on light, perception, and how we experience space itself. That focus comes into full view with a new Skyspace debuting in Aarhus, Denmark, on June 19, timed just after the summer solstice. Rather than traditional sculpture, the installation invites visitors to sit, look upward, and notice subtle shifts in color and sky over time. It’s a distinctive addition to a Scandinavian itinerary, especially if you’re drawn to art that unfolds slowly rather than demanding immediate attention.
'Schiaparelli: Fashion Becomes
Art' at V&A South Kensington
Elsa Schiaparelli was never interested in playing it safe. A central figure in 20th-century fashion, she built a reputation for pushing boundaries through surreal details, unexpected materials, and collaborations with artists — ideas that come into focus when the exhibition opens on March 28. Revisiting her provocative approach, the show traces how clothing became a form of artistic expression rather than something purely practical. Shown inside the V&A, her designs feel surprisingly current, blurring the line between museum display and atelier. It’s an easy addition to a London trip that mixes fashion, design, and cultural wandering.
James Turrell, Courtesy of Aros, Photography: Mads Smidstrup
Schiaparelli, Photography: Emil Larsson
