Dublin named one of Europe’s best cities for art lovers

Home to some excellent free galleries and walls and walls of street art murals, Dublin has been named one of Europe’s best cities for art lovers.

Known more for its literary credentials, producing the likes of James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, the city of Dublin also champions visual arts through excellent galleries, statues and monuments, and a healthy street art scene.

A study by Ubuy France has confirmed Dublin’s position as a haven for art lovers, ranking the Irish capital higher than cities like Copenhagen and Brussels.

Ubuy France – determining Europe’s best cities for art lovers

Inspired by the different ways we each experience art and the myriad places in which we find it – from art galleries to the street – Ubuy France set out to determine the top 20 European cities for art lovers.

Their methodology was straightforward. They counted the number of art galleries – free and paid – statues, monuments, and street art pieces in 43 European cities, ranking these cities on these four factors to give each a score out of 172.

Dublin – an art lover’s paradise

Though Dublin historically enjoys greater renown for its literary credentials than its artistic ones, the Irish capital is still home to some incredible art galleries, many of which are centrally located and free to visit.

These galleries helped Dublin reach 11^th place in Ubuy France’s list, kept out of the top ten by joint-tenth Madrid and Oslo.

Highlights include Photo Museum Ireland in Temple Bar, the Hugh Lane Gallery, the National Gallery of Ireland, and, of course, the Irish Museum of Modern Art.

Many of Ireland’s best street artists – like Aches, Asbestos, Maser, and Pens – work out of Dublin. You’ll see murals by these and other incredible local and international artists all over the Irish capital.

Europe’s best cities for art lovers – the definitive list

Ahead of the joint-tenth Spanish and Norwegian capitals were Budapest (ninth), Vienna (eighth), Athens (seventh), Rome (sixth), Lisbon (fifth), Amsterdam (fourth), Berlin (third), and Prague (second).

Joint-first place was claimed, perhaps unsurprisingly, by the home of the Tate, Shoreditch, and Brick Lane – London – and the home of the Louvre and the Musée d’Orsay – Paris.

The remainder of the top 20 consisted of Copenhagen (12^th), Helsinki (13^th), Belgrade and Sofia (joint-14^th), Tallin (15^th), Brussels (16^th), Bucharest (17^th), Ljubljana (18^th), Minsk (19^th), and Reykjavik (20^th).