It is truly worthwhile to explore arts and culture for a holiday. Doesn’t it tickle your fancy to see world-famous museums, theaters and other sites that are rich in history? If it does, then you can choose one of these cities for your next travel itinerary:
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Kraków, Poland
In 2013, Kraków was named by UNESCO as the City of Literature, and for good reason. It is the 2nd-largest metropolis in Poland that was home to 3 Nobel-winning writers, such as Wislawa Szymborska, Czeslaw Milosz and Ivo Andric. Also, the city still hosts around several annual book festivals and it is where the Jagiellonian University (one of the world’s oldest colleges) and great museums, including the Czartoryski (home to Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic Lady with an Ermine), are located.
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Luxor, Egypt
Used to be called Thebes (the birthplace of the Oedipus complex), this 4,000-year-old settlement is two-sided, covering a modern town on the east bank of the Nile and the Necropolis (the millennia-old city of the dead) on the west bank. Thanks to all the wonders of the ancient world, including the temples of Karnak and Luxor, which jostles against a contemporary city, it has been dubbed an “open-air museum”. Across the river, you will also find the Valley of the Kings, which is where more than 60 pharaohs and other nobles from the New Kingdom era are buried.
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Galicia, Spain
For hundreds of years, this city is frequented by Catholic faithful for pilgrimage. Their destination is particularly the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, which is told by folks as a place that holds the remains of one of 12 apostles of Jesus Christ, Saint James the Great. However, you do not have to be religiously devoted to be mesmerized by this towering Romanesque structure and by the surrounding medieval town. Moreover, the cutting-edge Galician Contemporary Art Centre offers a modern perspective of the city’s culture.
Now, for your next holiday, you might want to skip the beaches and parks and do some cultural exploration in these wonderful cities.
