Visit these cultural hot spots in 2024 - National Geographic
From Estonia to South Africa, these 20 new museums, heritage trails, and artful experiences dive deep into communities and traditions.
Jan 30, 2024
Visit these cultural hot spots in 2024

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# Visit these cultural hot spots in 2024

From Estonia to South Africa, these 20 new museums, heritage trails, and artful experiences dive deep into communities and traditions.

Early morning fog rises over the Estonian National Museum, in Tartu. Estonia’s second largest city was named a European Capital of Culture 2024.

Photograph by Simo Sepp, Shutterstock

ByNational Geographic Staff

January 30, 2024

**J** **ump to:** [U.S. & Canada](#usCanada) \| [Caribbean](#caribbean) \| [Mexico & Central and South America](#mexicoCentralSouthAmerica) \| [Europe](#europe) \| [Middle East & Africa](#middleEastAfrica) \| [Asia](#asia) \| [Australia & New Zealand](#australiaNewZealand)

For our annual [Best of the World](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/topic/best-of-the-world-2024) list, National Geographic’s global community of editors, writers, photographers, and explorers share their picks for the top museums, festivals, and other cultural spots and experiences worth a trip this year. From Morocco to Mongolia and New Orleans to New Zealand, these places illuminate and immerse you in traditions, communities, and history—and inspire you to dig deeper.

## U.S. & Canada

**Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C.**

![Actors perform Nell Gwynn at the Folger Library in Washington D.C.](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/f33d9c0d-bd63-4ac8-9ed0-33c3b4bca5ae/Nell-Gwynn-Production-Stills-Photography-by-Brittany-Diliberto-363.jpg)

Washington, D.C.’s Folger Shakespeare Library stages plays by the Bard and other playwrights both classic and contemporary in its Elizabethan-style Folger Theatre.

Photograph by Brittany Diliberto

![People gather for an event in the Folger Library Reading Room in Washington D.C.](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/99626968-0990-47c3-ad26-7fb1e3ad0a9e/Reading-Room-Event---Folger-Theatre---Photography-by-Brittany-Diliberto-Bee-Two-Sweet-3-copy.jpg)

Literary events and guided tours take place in the 131-foot-long Reading Room of the Folger Shakespeare Library. The stunning cultural venue is reopening this year after an extensive expansion and renovation.

Photograph by Brittany Diliberto

Fans of the Bard will find the world’s largest collection of Shakespeareana at this newly renovated and expanded museum and library reopening in June. Located in [Washington, D.C.](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destination/washington-dc)’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, the [Folger](https://www.folger.edu/) has more First Folios—the rare 1623 book containing all of Shakespeare’s plays—than anywhere else in the world (82, in fact). An Elizabethan-style stage presents both classic and new works (such as Mohegan playwright-performer Madeline Sayet’s [_Where We Belong_](https://www.folger.edu/whats-on/where-we-belong/) February 15 to March 10). Newly accessible entrances lead to interactive exhibits and a garden planted with rosemary, lavender, and other plants mentioned in Will’s works.

**National WWII Museum, New Orleans, Louisiana**

![Exterior of the The National WWII Museum Campaigns of Courage.](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/01f58892-e1db-44e5-bedd-be5db3edd0ec/The-National-WWII-Museum-Campaigns-of-Courage.-exterior-2.jpg)

The National WWII Museum, in New Orleans, encompasses several buildings—including the Campaigns of Courage pavilion, shown here—each covering different aspects of the war. Late last year, it opened the Liberation Pavilion, which explores the final years of the conflict.

Photograph Courtesy the National WWII Museum

The National WWII Museum’s new [Liberation Pavilion](https://www.nationalww2museum.org/visit/museum-campus-guide/liberation-pavilion)—the campus’s final permanent exhibit hall—focuses on the end of the war, the Holocaust, and the postwar years of reckoning and rebuilding. Visitors can step into re-creations of the secret annex in Amsterdam where Anne Frank’s family lived or a salt mine where the Monuments Men and Women uncovered treasured works of art hidden by the Nazis. Michael Bell, an executive director at the museum’s Institute for War and Democracy, says he hopes visitors leave with a better understanding of “the immense human sacrifices that paved the way for peace and postwar prosperity.”

**NorEste Trail, Puerto Rico**

![Giant Ferns in El Yunque National Forest.](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/c6312525-83c8-4b0b-8532-f2958db8bfb2/NationalGeographic_1267065.jpg)

The new NorEste Trail—the first multiday backpacking route in Puerto Rico—traverses El Yunque National Forest, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve lush with giant ferns, palm trees, and hundreds of other native plant species.

Photograph by Raul Touzon, Nat Geo Image Collection

An hour’s drive east of San Juan, [Puerto Rico](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destination/puerto-rico)’s first backpacking path, [the NorEste Trail](https://www.alltrails.com/trail/puerto-rico/east-region/veredas-noreste-pr-northeast-trail?u=i), lets visitors “hike in a rainforest, be at a mountain peak in the clouds, and go to the beach, all in the same day,” El Yunque forest supervisor Keenan Adams [told Nat Geo](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/puerto-rico-first-backpacking-noreste-trail-el-yunque-rainforest). Organizations like [Love in Motion](https://loveinmotion.org/) connect hikers with local culture through resident-led wellness experiences and family-owned traditional food stalls along the 40-mile route.

**Canadian Canoe Museum, Ontario, Canada**

One of the best things about visiting the world’s largest collection of canoes and kayaks? You can actually paddle up to it. The [sleek, boat-shaped facility](https://canoemuseum.ca/), which has its grand opening in May, is located lakeside in Peterborough (about 80 miles from Toronto by car). After goggling at the museum’s more than 600 watercraft or taking a lesson in carving paddles from Anishinaabe artists, visitors can embark from the onsite dock on a group boat tour of Little Lake.

## Caribbean

**Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park, Grenada**

![A figure in Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park stands encrusted in colorful sponges, corals, and algae.](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/b6b78585-ea97-4c2b-bdcd-acb296252b2f/DSC04341.jpg)

One of the figures in Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park stands encrusted in sponges, corals, and algae. Dating from 2006, the underwater park recently added 31 new life-size sculptures submerged 10-23 feet off Grenada’s western coast.

Photograph courtesy Jason deCaires Taylor

![Local dive guides showing the Vicissitudes installation to visitors.](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/d8357da6-883d-442c-827f-931367c6b851/JdeCTaylor-0052.jpg)

A diver visits the 2006 art installation “Vicissitudes” by Jason deCaires Taylor in Grenada’s Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park.

Photograph courtesy Jason deCaires Taylor

In Grenada, snorkelers and divers might spot not only green and hawksbill turtles and schools of neon-hued tangs. They can also encounter La Diablesse and Mama Glo. These Caribbean folklore characters stand submerged 3-7 meters off the island’s west coast—just two of the 31 new life-size figures at [Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park](https://underwatersculpture.com/projects/molinere-underwater-sculpture-park/). Made of stainless steel and pH-neutral marine cement, the art installations can be eerie, surreal, whimsical. The older sculptures in the park date from 2006 and [are now covered in a collage](https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel/2022/05/exploring-grenadas-underwater-sculpture-park) of corals, sponges, and other marine life.

**Liamuiga Natural Farms, St. Kitts**

![Liamuiga Natural Farm nestled high in the jungle on Phillips' mountain, St. Kitts.](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/1e1d835b-f2ec-4191-ab63-5663161e7c24/LNF---4.jpg)

Visitors to Liamuiga Natural Farms, in St. Kitts, travel through rainforest to reach land planted with plots of coffee and citrus. Tours of the farm culminate with a three-course lunch.

Photograph by James Hustler, www.jameshustler.com

On Phillips Mountain, in St. Kitts, [this coffee and citrus farm](https://visitlnf.com/) recently started hosting three-course lunches for visitors. The Kellys and the Mikes, the two families which operate the farm, serve dishes using local produce and specialties including fig chips, saltfish (salted cod), pickled turmeric, and homemade coffee ice cream. “As you explore Liamuiga Natural Farms, you’re not just a guest,” says co-owner Tiffany Mike, “you’re a part of our mission to preserve the environment, uphold Kittitian traditions, and create a sustainable future.”

## Mexico & Central and South America

**Islas Marías, Nayarit, Mexico**

![An aerial view of the new Islas Marías cultural center (foreground) looking towards the ocean.](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/d389d855-56ee-4964-a1d4-424e81d2cac9/DJI_0746.jpg)

The new Islas Marías cultural center (foreground) helps to tell the story of this island off Mexico’s Pacific Coast, a former penitentiary, now a UNESCO-protected tourist destination with ample wildlife, beaches, and hiking and biking paths.

Photograph courtesy Turística Integral Islas Marías- TURIIMAR 2023

Visitors to this [former penal colony turned UNESCO Biosphere Reserve](https://visitaislasmarias.com/) off Mexico’s Pacific coast book a ferry to María Madre Island from either San Blas or Mazatlán on the Riveria Nayarit, then spend the night in renovated 20th-century prisoner housing (think modest apartments, not drab jail cells). While there, they can bike the island, head to the beach, or take nature walks to spot the [Tres Marías amazon](https://ebird.org/species/yehpar2?siteLanguage=es), an endemic yellow-headed parrot.

**FotoFestival Manzana 1, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia**

Running November 20 to 24, [this international photo festival](https://fotofestival.manzanauno.org.bo/) offers the chance “to discover the unknown side of Bolivia,” says festival director Ejti Stih. The country’s biggest city plays host to novice and expert photographers, photo editors, and local photo enthusiasts, who gather for talks, workshops, exhibits, and concerts at [a former police headquarters turned inclusive cultural hub](https://manzanauno.org.bo/es/inicio/). The main exhibit—presenting more than 200 works of photo reportage—remains on display in the gallery for two-and-a-half months after the festival.

[**Back to top**](#top).

## Europe

**Tartu, Estonia**

![Aerial view of the city center in Tartu, Estonia.](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/144c04bc-6c5b-4039-b291-c614e25fdc50/_Kaarel-Kovatu-Visit-Tartu.jpg)

Estonians have long considered Tartu—110 miles from capital Tallinn—to be their country’s cultural and intellectual heart. The city is home to top-notch museums, lively cafés, and Estonia’s oldest university.

Photograph courtesy Kaarel Kõvatu

The oldest city in the Baltics, founded as early as the 9th century A.D., was named a [European Capital of Culture 2024](https://tartu2024.ee/en) due to its 17th-century university, clutch of museums, and buzzing performing arts scene. [Estonia](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/estonia-travel-guide)’s café-filled, riverside city celebrates throughout the year with dozens of events, including classical music concerts, [art exhibits about Surrealism](https://tartu2024.ee/en/surrealism-100/), and [Kissing Tartu](https://tartu2024.ee/en/kissingtartu/). The last salutes an iconic 1998 sculpture of smooching students with a massive kissing contest.

**Royal Collections Gallery, Madrid, Spain**

![A wall of paintings inside The Royal Collections Gallery.](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/a2f18ee3-833e-46d9-ac22-a9888f212de4/Sala-de-los-Austrias.jpg)

Masterpieces by the likes of Velázquez and Caravaggio hang in the Royal Collections Gallery’s new building in Madrid.

Photograph courtesy Patrimonio Nacional

![A carriage and paintings inside the Royal Collections Gallery in Madrid, Spain.](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/3fd7d15e-efd7-4e03-be72-c4d77a409dea/Carroza-real.jpg)

A gilded carriage built for King Ferdinand VII but not completed until 1833, shortly after his death, is one of the treasures displayed in Madrid’s Royal Collections Gallery.

Photograph courtesy Patrimonio Nacional

Goya paintings, 17th-century horse carriages, and other treasures collected by [Spanish](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destination/spain) monarchs have a new home in this modernist building on [Madrid](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destination/madrid)’s showy Plaza de la Armería. [Royal Collections Gallery](https://www.galeriadelascoleccionesreales.es/)’sbright spaces showcase pieces such as Spanish sculptor Luisa Roldán’s 1692 _Saint Michael Slaying the Devil_. (Scholars believe Roldán modeled the handsome _diablo_ after her husband.) “With such extraordinary pieces,” says director Leticia Ruiz, the gallery is “a museum of museums.”

**Battersea Power Station, London, England**

![A person looks out over London from Observation deck Lift 109 of the renovated Battersea Power Station.](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/4bf3e610-f9d1-4285-bbb3-beead4ff4c03/GettyImages-1244792387.jpg)

Observation deck Lift 109 gives visitors at the renovated Battersea Power Station sweeping views of London. The former industrial site along the Thames is now a shopping and entertainment center.

Photograph by Aaron Chown, PA Images/Getty Images

From the 1930s until the 1980s, this [hulking brick coal plant](https://batterseapowerstation.co.uk/) provided up to a fifth of London’s power. A decade-long, $6 billion renovation means the smokestack-capped, 1.5 million-square-foot building is now a stylish shopping, dining, and entertainment hub. Repurposed elements include [Control Room B](https://www.controlroomb.com/?booking=open), a cocktail bar amid the dials and synchroscopes of a onetime command post, and [Lift 109](https://lift109.co.uk/), a glassed-in viewpoint atop one of Battersea’s iconic 357-foot-tall smokestacks. Visitors can stay onsite at the [Art’otel](https://artotellondonbattersea.com/) with its rooftop pool and art gallery.

**Istanbul Modern, Istanbul, Turkey**

![An exhibition by photographer Nuri Bilge Ceylan in the Istanbul Modern.](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/18bc1017-b032-47f9-a150-b1908cf5fdb9/1689922428_Nuri_Bilge_Ceylan_In_Another_Place__Photo_by_Murat_Germen.jpg)

Istanbul Modern’s new building in the city’s Karaköy neighborhood is a bright, spacious setting for works such as these portraits by Turkish photographer Nuri Bilge Ceylan.

Photograph courtesy Murat German, Istanbul Modern

In [Istanbul](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destination/istanbul)’s Karaköy neighborhood, Renzo Piano’s [110,000-square-foot showplace](https://www.istanbulmodern.org/en) for Turkish and international contemporary art wears a shimmering aluminum facade mimicking the Bosporus just outside its door. Enormous, glassy rooms hold oversized abstract paintings by Istanbul-born [Fahrelnissa Zeid](https://www.istanbulmodern.org/en/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/fahrelnissa-zeid_2023.html); bright, blocky sculptures by [Ayşe Erkmen](http://ayseerkmen.com/works); and cutting-edge video works. The rooftop, with its café and infinity “pond,” offers dazzling vistas of Asia just across the water.

## Middle East & Africa

**MAP Marrakech, Morocco**

![Jewelry lay on stones from an exhibit inside the Monde Arts Parure (MAP).](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/1cd74be2-40f9-466c-93ad-1c2c582bf658/1.jpg)

In Morocco, Le Monde des Arts de la Parure (MAP) museum, in Marrakech’s Kasbah, displays a portion of its 7,000-piece collection of jewelry, ornaments, clothing, and other adornments from over 50 countries.

Photograph courtesy Noomoolab, MAP

![Two rows of jewelry are exhibited inside the Monde Arts Parure (MAP).](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/f5f51e03-dea1-43e3-b86d-d1c0b3408cef/3.jpg)

With its terracotta bricks and cedar beams. MAP Marrakech’s design was inspired by the city’s splendid Ben Youssef Madrassa.

Photograph courtesy Noomoolab, MAP

In Marrakech’s Kasbah (walled citadel), [Le MAP (Monde des Arts et de la Parure)](http://www.lemapmarrakech.com/) museum is dedicated to the sort of human adornment that cultures have donned for hundreds of years (carnelian-inlaid belts from Montenegro, Moroccan silk caftans, Bedouin silver brooches). “These remarkable artifacts may well represent one of humanity’s earliest expressions of culture,” says curator Alaa Eddine Sagid. Head to the museum’s rooftop restaurant for fattoush salad or buy your own bijoux at the onsite store. (The facility escaped lasting damage during the devastating earthquake in the region in September 2023.)

**The Manor, Johannesburg, South Africa**

At [The Manor](https://themanor.africa/), a project space that is the brainchild of acclaimed visual artist (and Beyoncé collaborator) Trevor Stuurman, exhibits and themed gatherings celebrate modern African culture and experience. A happening might include a curated menu by influential South African chef Mo Mosoneke, fresh music from a soulful Johannesburg band, or poignant works from an up-and-coming artist. But keep a close watch on its website, tickets to these pop-up events sell out quickly.

## Asia

**Chinggis Khaan Museum, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia**

![Exterior of the Chinggiss Khaan National Museum.](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/f02480fc-bc2c-4224-8863-d7dbbe996046/DJI_0236-1.jpg)

Chinggiss Khaan National Museum, in Ulaanbaatar, explores Mongolian history before, during, and after the legendary king’s influential reign.

Photograph courtesy Chinggiss Khaan National Museum

Adventurers headed out to sleep in yurt resorts in the vast Gobi Desert or hike through Gorkhi-Terelj National Park often just catch a connecting flight through [Mongolia](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destination/mongolia)’s busy capital. But it’s worth an extra night in “UB” to see this [impressive new museum](https://chinggismuseum.com/en) chronicling the country’s history, archaeological riches (dino bones, ancient stone carvings), and—of course—Chinggis Khaan (Genghis Khan), the legendary 13th-century warrior king who expanded the [Mongol](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/mongols) empire.

”Visitors see traditional saddles, horse-headed fiddles, and other artifacts showing how culture has remained unchanged here over centuries,” says Undraa Buyannemekh, president of [Nomadic Expeditions](https://www.nomadicexpeditions.com/), which runs tours of the Gobi from its plush [Three Camel Lodge](https://www.threecamellodge.com/).

**Museum of Art and Photography, Bengaluru, India**

[This new art museum](https://map-india.org/) was intentionally built in the heart of India’s third largest city to give locals the opportunity to explore the galleries, dine in its restaurant or café, and attend lectures. The primary goal, says founder Abhishek Poddar, is to share its more than 60,000 artworks—from 19th-century wood carvings to Bollywood memorabilia—with people who don’t typically come to museums. “I think if we just create the right atmosphere, art will do its magic,” he says.

**Guangzhou Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China**

Covered in 21,008 pieces of “fish scale” glass, designed to mimic a blooming hero flower, and boasting a five-story atrium, the [Guangzhou Art Museum](http://www.eguangzhou.gov.cn/2023-03/17/c_870322.htm) is unapologetically ostentatious. Located on the banks of the Pearl River, this landmark of [China](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destination/china)’s fifth largest city (population 18 million) features seven floors of exhibits displaying Chinese paintings, watercolors, calligraphy, sculpture, illustrations, comic books, lacquerware, and photography from ancient to contemporary times.

## Australia & New Zealand

**Ōmataroa Eco-Tours, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand**

![Rangi does a wellness check on a Kiwi in the Ōmataroa forest.](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/9f80cbfa-5096-4dbc-8c5a-c4c67e4fb20a/Rangi-with-Kiwi.jpg)

Rangi, a Māori _kaitiaki_ (guardian), conducts a wellness check on a kiwi in the Ōmataroa forest, on New Zealand’s North Island. Ōmataroa Eco Tours helps support conservation in a region that calls itself “the kiwi capital of the world.”

Photograph courtesy Ōmataroa Eco Tours

![The Ōmataroa forest where eco tours take place, with Mount Putauaki, sacred mountain of the local Ngāti Awa tribe in the background.](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/6348002f-5b18-4f13-868f-6425b77fd592/20230123---Omataroa_DJI_0157_3.jpg)

The majestic Ōmataroa forest is the setting for wildlife-watching eco-tours. The volcanic peak of Putauaki looms in the background.

Photograph courtesy Ōmataroa Eco Tours

[This Māori-owned and -operated tour company](https://www.whakatane.com/see-and-do/omataroa-eco-tours) leads excursions in the Ōmataroa forest, a semi-coastal region on the North Island, educating visitors on native trees like the _rewa-rewa_ and wildlife such as the _kārearea,_ [New Zealand](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destination/new-zealand?loggedin=true&rnd=1701880545591)’s only native falcon species. “You are guided by _tangata whenua_ \[people of the land\] who have knowledge that has been handed down through the generations,” says tour manager Jade Elliot. If you’re lucky, you might spot the national bird, the kiwi.

**Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui, New Zealand**

When it reopens later in 2024, the redeveloped [Sarjeant Gallery](https://sarjeant.org.nz/), on New Zealand’s North Island, will be a dazzling showplace for 400 years’ worth of international and New Zealand art. Its original domed 1919 building is clad in Ōamaru stone and has been shored up against earthquakes and restored. An innovative new wing is clad in black granite and glass, with shimmering light catchers that mimic the light playing on the nearby Whanganui river. The [Sarjeant collection](https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://collection.sarjeant.org.nz/explore__;!!Om87Lau1Cg!Pkz0AcGTQtZGkRhEbFnJcgx-o4e0MrLKymU-pkE4m5dX82cZ9zVZYl0GfM2cLW_-xK1IbpWYjUkWXjO93PDqEs3ZGA7big$) contains over 9,000 items ranging from the earliest pictorialist photography to WWII political cartoons, avant-garde sculptural works, and paintings by New Zealand’s foremost modernist painters including [Edith Collier](https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/4c25/collier-edith-marion__;!!Om87Lau1Cg!Pkz0AcGTQtZGkRhEbFnJcgx-o4e0MrLKymU-pkE4m5dX82cZ9zVZYl0GfM2cLW_-xK1IbpWYjUkWXjO93PDqEs0d6LllUw$) and [Colin McCahon](https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.mccahon.co.nz/__;!!Om87Lau1Cg!Pkz0AcGTQtZGkRhEbFnJcgx-o4e0MrLKymU-pkE4m5dX82cZ9zVZYl0GfM2cLW_-xK1IbpWYjUkWXjO93PDqEs3VZBQ67w$).

**Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia**

![Aerial view of the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ new SANAA-designed building.](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/9373142a-bf9c-4b90-a4e0-386b28f158d3/AGNSW-3.jpg)

The Art Gallery of New South Wales’ new addition overlooks Sydney Harbour and connects with the original building via a public art garden.

Photograph courtesy Iwan Baan

The 153-year-old [Art Gallery of New South Wales](https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/) added a dramatic new building to its museum campus in December, the [SANAA](https://www.archdaily.com/office/sanaa)-designed [Sydney Modern Project](https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/sydney-modern-project/). Its glass-walled galleries display works by international and [Aussie](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destination/australia) artists, such as outsized videos and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sculptures and dot paintings. Interactive installation “Archive of Mind” by Korean artist [Kimsooja](http://www.kimsooja.com/) encourages visitors to sculpt a clay ball then pile it with hundreds of others on a mammoth wooden table. “It’s been a hit,” says Michael Brand, director of the museum. “Many balls of Australian clay have been rolled by thousands of hands from all over the world.”

[**Back to top**](#top).

Reporting by Heather Greenwood Davis and Connor McGovern.

_Editor's note: This story incorrectly stated date of the “Kissing Tartu’’ statue. It was created in 1998._

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