What cities most inspire the world’s artists to create? Over the course of this year, we’ve chatted with creatives around the globe to discover the places that spark their imaginations, from the desert sunsets and melancholy cityscapes of their childhoods to the seaside escapes they now call home. Now, we’ve got our sights set on the new year to come—and on the destinations the international creative community love most.

To celebrate the launch of Chromaticity: How Artists See the World, a new coffee table book by Away, we’ve compiled a list of the world’s 33 most inspiring cities (and their can’t-miss stops) as determined by the artists featured in the book. Explore the list below and get inspiration for your next trip, or pick up your very own copy of Chromaticity here.

1. Berlin, Germany

Na Kim

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “The space at Hamburger Bahnhof—not only for the art, but just for being there.”

2. Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Nolan Pelletier

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “The Beguiling is one of the best comic and small press stores around, and the annual Toronto Comic Arts Festival always has a great roster of artists. Power Plant Gallery is a great gallery down by the lake that features immersive art installations. I also really like Ontario Place. It’s a 1970s futuristic amusement park that has been abandoned and partially converted into a public park by the city. It’s home to the world’s first IMAX theater, situated in a big geodesic dome floating in the middle of a lagoon. Each winter they have an outdoor light art exhibit that’s pretty fun.”

3. Mexico City

Jean-François Le Minh

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “The Proyecto Monclova gallery. I really appreciate and respect their curatorial vision.”

4. Sydney, Australia

Charlie Bennell

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “The Art Gallery of New South Wales. It is such a beautiful building and has a secret library at the back with a beautiful marble staircase that I love to visit for some quiet inspiration. It has lots of traditional paintings in its collection which I constantly revisit. The White Rabbit Gallery and the Olsen Gallery are also two of my favorites.”

5. Santiago, Chile 

Simón Sepulveda

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “I really like the underground music and zines festivals like the ones in the Persa Victor Manuel and Impresionante because everyone can participate, be part of a cultural scene, and have their own point of view.”

6. Portland, Oregon

Shiela Laufer

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “There is a really great little gallery/shop called Lowell that I love. They always put on great shows and foster a nice community of makers.”

7. Paris, France

Clément Mancini

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “I would say that the two places where I like to go the most are the Pompidou Center and the Palais De Tokyo. They are very atypical places. I like their atmosphere and their art selection. I can wander around both for hours.”

8. Singapore 

Ella Zheng

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “My favorite museums: The Asian Civilisation Museum, the National Gallery of Singapore, or the ArtScience Museum, My favorite public installations: Planet by Marc Quinn at Gardens by the Bay, Seeds by Han Sai Por at The Esplanade, or Water Cycle 2000 by Jonathan E. Minns. Or, my other favorite stories and studios: Knuckles and Notch or Supermama (by appointment only).”

9. Johannesburg, South Africa

Bev Butkow

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “[I love] the Bag Factory Artist Studios in Fordsburg, where my studio is. It’s alive with history and creative energy. It’s a legacy art institution, one of the oldest in a collective of artist studios that opened during apartheid to encourage art-making and interracial exchange (even though it was illegal in those days). Over the years, many of South Africa’s top artists have created here.”

10. Jakarta, Indonesia

Martcellia Liunic

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “There’s not much [in terms of] museums here in Jakarta. But the first and only contemporary art museum, called Museum MACAN, is pretty cool.”

11. Tokyo, Japan

Lee Kan Kyo

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “I am profoundly into [Tokyo’s] supermarkets, bookstores, and record shops. Visiting them is always on my to-do-list every week. From my experiences, inspirations always pop out unexpectedly by wandering around these places.”

12. Montréal, Québec, Canada

Melanie Lambrick

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “The Modern Art Museum. This place really values being on a world stage as opposed to being [exclusive to] its own city. There’s always something really great happening. They have concerts and openings, they get really amazing shows, and it’s really accessible. Art is [part of the] every day here—you don’t have to go to a museum to see something really cool. There are so many pop-ups that happen: There’s a mural festival and a music festival with a crafting component. I really like that aspect of the city.”

13. Pretoria, South Africa

Maaike Bakker

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “Pretoria does not offer a lot of art spaces or galleries; most of these are in Johannesburg, about 40 minutes away. However, I do enjoy the Pretoria Art Museum. It is situated in the busier part of the city, which feels more city-like than the rest of the suburban settings one finds in Pretoria. The architecture of the Pretoria Art Museum is also lovely and sets a nice tone when entering the institution.”

14. New York City, New York

Karin Haas

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “I could list so many places, but it really depends on my mood. Sometimes I walk up to the Neue Galerie, which presents early 20th century Austrian and German art and design. The exterior and interior are very aesthetically pleasing. After viewing the work there, I like to make time to enjoy an espresso or a glass of wine at the museum’s Café Sabarsky.”

15. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Armando Veve

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “The Fabric Workshop and Museum—part contemporary art museum, part mad laboratory for material experimentation, FWM invites artists to produce new site-specific works that make you reconsider the textural and conceptual possibilities of familiar and new materials. FWM is also next to Reading Terminal Market, a busy market with the best donuts. The Mütter Museum, an extensive collection of medical oddities. Some may not consider this art, but the collection is unsettling, bizarre, and thought-provoking—everything I want from any art experience. 

Philly is also home to many artist-run collectives. On First Friday, a citywide evening of art openings, I enjoy visiting the Vox Building, home to several of these spaces; further north, I like to check out what’s going on in the Crane Building. (Sadly, I expect some of these spaces will not survive the pandemic.) Last but not least, I’ve also seen some interesting children’s book exhibits in the Free Library of Philadelphia’s Rare Book Department.”

16. Taipei, Taiwan

Whooli Chen

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “The Treasure Hill Artist Village. Treasure Hill was formerly known for its illegal squatter housing, but it’s since transformed into an artist village. I like how it was constructed, its little up and down alleyways, and its misplaced doors and windows, disordered yet vital.”

17. The Hague

Viktor Hachmang

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “When I first went to The Hague, I fell in love with the Kunstmuseum Den Haag (formerly known as Gemeentemuseum) for its striking, early-Modernist architecture by H.P. Berlage. But there’s also a large number of smaller, lesser-known galleries around, such as Billytown, 1646, West, and Stroom. The opening nights are always lots of fun!”

18. Brighton, United Kingdom

Sophy Hollington

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “There’s not a huge amount in the city itself, but further afield there’s Charleston House, a countryside home belonging to the Bloomsbury Group, a favorite of mine. The whole interior was decorated by the artists, who painted the doors and fireplace surrounds by hand. You’ll even find a Picasso sitting next to a chipped teapot.”

19. San Francisco, California

Casey Gray

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “The SoMa West Skatepark, where I spend a lot of time. The layers of graffiti are beautiful and the positivity and energy of the place is infectious. But institution-wise, I’m a big fan of the Minnesota Street Project galleries, and all of the museums, really. There are some great galleries in the Tenderloin too, like the Hashimoto Contemporary.”

20. Yangzhou, China

Alice Yu Deng

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “Yangzhou is renowned for its traditional Chinese gardens. A Chinese garden is usually a well-designed miniature landscape consisting of ponds, plants, rocks, and architecture. The Geyuan Garden is near my grandparents’ house, and I went there a lot when I was a kid. It has different sections representing the four seasons, and each has unique designs and structures. One particular feature I love about Chinese gardens is the concept of “borrowing scenery,” meaning introducing background scenery into the composition of a garden through its design. For example, they may intentionally use a window to frame the landscape outside, as if one is looking at a landscape painting. To me, this way of switching between a 3D and 2D perspective is super inspiring—an important part of visual language.”

21. Copenhagen, Denmark

Astri Styrkestad Haukaas

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “I love all the small, independent, and artist-run galleries and spaces in Copenhagen. I love exhibitions where artists curate other artists. Something very special happens in those spaces. I really recommend going to an opening so you can experience it yourself. Plus, small places like that need all the support they can get; big institutions usually get most of the attention and most of the resources. 

[For independent galleries, check out] OK Corral, C.C.C., CAMP (Center for Migrational Political Art), The Future Suburban Contemporary (FSC), Salon 75, and SØ. If you want a full overview of all the artist-run spaces in the city, you can check out IDOART for more info. They also have a calendar with the latest exhibitions and openings happening in the city—great to check out before you come to Copenhagen!”

22. Barcelona, Spain

Sonia Pulido

While you’re in town, don’t miss:  “I love the MNAC for its collection of Romanesque and Gothic art. Also, Caixaforum for its exhibition program, and the CCCB because the scenographies of its exhibitions are usually fantastic.”

23. Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Leandro Assis

While you’re in town, don’t miss: I think my favorite is the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (CCBB), as it is a center that addresses many topics that interest me. It’s very accessible, and not difficult to understand.

24. Albuquerque, New Mexico

Chris Lloyd

While you’re in town, don’t miss: My favorite art-specific place [in Albuquerque] is probably the top of the Sandias. Being surrounded by the view and seeing how the whole cityscape interacts with the natural geography is so beautiful and inspiring.

25. Abuja, Nigeria

Ojima Abalaka 

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “The arts and crafts markets are lovely to visit. Some of my favorite things I own are from there, and it’s nice to interact with the sellers. I also recently visited Mohsen Gallery for the first time and that was fun. It felt like I was in someone’s really cool apartment instead of a gallery and I liked that about it. I also found my new favorite drawing there: It’s called Oshodi We Remember Thee by Richmond Asemnyinah.”

26. Los Angeles, California

Celia Jacobs

While you’re in town, don’t miss: ‘My favorite art-specific place in Los Angeles would be the Museum of Jurassic Technology. It’s a small, otherworldly museum of real and invented histories that winds through small hallways and up to a tea room full of doves on the roof. It’s magical and completely unique, so I love it for that.”

27. Spokane, Washington

Roin Morigeau

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “Something I look forward to every year in Spokane is the One Heart Native Film Festival. It’s our people lifting up and showcasing our people. It celebrates film and visual arts right in the heart of our city. It’s a great opportunity for me to see two of my favorite artists, Ric Gendron (Colville Tribe) and Diane Covington (Spokane Tribe) pieces up close. This year, Shawn Brigman’s (Spokane Tribe) sturgeon nose canoes and sculptures were exhibited, and Tacoma-based artist Asia Tail (Cherokee) led a visual arts workshop.”

28. London, United Kingdom

Liam Cobb

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “As I make a lot of comics, the Safari Festival was once a great place to meet and sell work. (But it’s not on anymore.) ELCAF and other festivals are still going strong though, which is always a great way to meet other artists from all over the place.”

29. Milan, Italy

Sarah Mazzetti

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “Fondazione Prada is one of my favorite spots because the exhibitions are always extremely interesting and well-curated. Pinacoteca di Brera is another amazing place where you could spend days on end.”

30. Manchester, United Kingdom

Danielle Rhoda

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “Whitworth Art Gallery—it’s a classic spot for art inspo. It’s a beautiful space with a mix of permanent and temporary collections, so full of bits to get sucked into! The location is lovely, too, with a park right next door. One of my favorite people-watching spots!”

31. Tel Aviv

Ori Toor

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “The Tel Aviv Museum is my go-to. It’s basically two museums, old and new, connected to each other. I love walking around while everyone is at work and I’m almost alone there.”

32. Detroit, Michigan

KaCeyKal!

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “Detroit is home to a lot of self-promoted art shows; a lot of passionate artists put together some amazing shows by themselves with their own resources most of the time. One artist from Detroit, Sheefy McFly, has done a lot to cultivate an art scene. I have noticed that there are not many outlets letting Black voices speak unless we build the stages ourselves. I do love The Detroit Institute of Arts, though.”

33. Riga, Latvia

Roberts Rurans

While you’re in town, don’t miss: “The Latvian National Museum of Art: I love national collections of art. I try to see them whenever I go to a new city and this is no exception, with great pieces of art from Latvian masters. Zuzeum, a pretty hip art center with a great collection from our own art patron collector Janis Zuzans, with the addition of changing exhibitions of artists from all over the world. Kim?,  an established contemporary art gallery with a good taste for contemporary artists and curation work. The Monument of Freedom has a beautiful appearance, story, and meaning for our nation, and it’s always a pleasure to pass by. Sam, the 12-meter monkey in a spacesuit statue currently located in  the Jauna Teika District stands out wherever it’s located (locations have changed over time).”