LONDON, 11 June 2020: Europe’s cultural capitals have been revealed with Salzburg ranked as the number one city for culture overall and Warsaw taking the prize as the continent’s best-value cultural destination.
The Austrian cultural hub has been ranked as the top location for those looking for the most enrichment from a European city, while the Polish capital saw off the competition to be named the best place to visit for culture on a budget this year.
The study by Club Med, Culture Vultures, compared the 43 most popular cultural destinations in Europe to determine how well they rank based on the number of cultural sites in each location.
Using a range of data, the researchers analysed the number of museums, landmarks and top restaurants in each location to uncover which destinations have the highest proportion of culture on offer, while also collating prices for flights, attractions and food costs to compare the value for money of each city.
Europe’s capital of culture
Salzburg takes the crown as a cultural city, ahead of some more popular locations such as Rome, Amsterdam and Barcelona, that dropped down the rankings.
With an ideal mix of attractions, nature and top cuisine, the Alpine city scored highly partly thanks to its high proportion of cultural riches. Nearly half (49%) of attractions in the city are landmarks, giving Mozart’s birthplace a cultural score of 7.44 out of 10.
In a close second, Venice, with its endless canals and sights, secured an overall score of 7.34. Two-thirds of the attractions in the city are either museums or landmarks. The Portuguese city of Funchal followed in third, taking its place among the major cultural destinations thanks to 45 per cent of attractions being landmarks, giving it a score of 7.31.
The Swedish capital of Stockholm is ranked the fourth-most cultural city in Europe, scoring 6.94, while in neighbouring Norway, the capital city of Oslo came fifth with a total of 6.84. Other cities in the top 10 include Malta’s capital Valletta (6.68), Croatia’s Dubrovnik (6.48), the French capital Paris (6.38) and Italian duo Bologna and Florence both scoring 6.35.
Top culture for a cash return
While Salzburg takes the glory for its overall culture on offer, its more premium pricing means that it comes in mid-table when it comes to value for money.
Taking pole position in the best budget cultural city is Warsaw. The Polish capital offers a wealth of culture, with 44 per cent of the city’s sights either a museum or landmark, while its attractions are on offer at a reasonable price thanks to the favourable currency exchange value of the zloty.
The study reveals that for a weekend of culture in the city, which includes flights, food and attractions, you can see Warsaw from just UKP74.44, a cost per culture score of 7.8 out of 10.
Florence sits second with a weekend at the heart of the Renaissance, costing just UKP118.44 and a cost per culture score of 7.2. Oslo follows in third place with a weekend of culture, costing UKP126.48 and score of 7.0, Venice takes fourth (UKP155.04 and 6.8), and Valletta is in fifth (UKP138.32 and 6.1).
For more information, you can see the full ranking here: https://www.clubmed.co.uk/blog/salzburg-europe-capital-of-culture
The cultural rating was determined by ranking 43 of Europe’s best-known cities for culture, excluding the UK. This was done by analysing data from TripAdvisor, in which the ratio of more culturally significant attractions such as museums, landmarks, areas of natural beauty and top restaurants when compared to less culturally significant attractions such as nightlife.
