Best cultural holidays

I don’t know about you, but a holiday’s not a holiday unless I’ve soaked up more than my fair share of culture. This means tasting the local food as well as visiting museums, checking out the fashions and the art. I try to attend a concert wherever I go, and if there’s a festival to be had – you try keeping me away! At Niche Destinations, we’ve peeked beyond the set pieces to uncover authentic attractions for the best cultural holidays.

Culture with a big and a small C are both writ large – no snobs us! Our cool culture collection features something for everyone and for every time of year. Fancy a Christmas market or two? We know a few! Looking for a completely different cultural city break? Yup! From Wagnerian jamborees in Tyrol and Peter Paul Rubens in Belgium to Yves Saint-Laurent in Morocco and ancient castle ruins in Germany, we’ve got all the options covered. Museums, theatres, fine art fairs, churches, art galleries and palaces vie with snake charmers, artisan makers, ancient customs, feast days and cookery classes to grab your undivided attention. Vive la difference! But there’s more: it seems every country has its own, traditional way of relaxing, from the sauna Aufguss rituals in the German-speaking world to the hammams of the Arabia.

And what about viniculture? Tasting the local wine is a must and, if I’m not in a wine-growing region, I’m just as happy trying the beer, spirits, cocktails… oh, and the non-alcoholic beverages too. You haven’t had a real mint tea until you’ve been to the Maghreb, a cappuccino is best sipped in sunny Italy, and nothing will quench your post-ski thirst quite like an Almdudler – the national drink of Austria! That’s a sweetened carbonated beverage made of herbal extracts to you and me.