Best Cultural Vacations: 10 Trips Where History and Art Lead
The historical heavyweights
Rome, Athens, and Cairo are the three cities where Western and Mediterranean civilization is literally built into the streets. Rome runs $1,500 to $4,000 per person for a week. Athens is cheaper at $1,400 to $3,500. Cairo plus the Pyramids and a Nile cruise is a $1,500 to $4,500 week with the broadest historical span of the three. All three are at their best in April, May, September, and October; summer heat is brutal in all three.
Living-culture Asia
Kyoto is the single densest cultural city in the world: 1,600 Buddhist temples, 400 Shinto shrines, and seventeen UNESCO sites in a city you can walk across in a day. A week in Kyoto with day trips to Nara, Osaka, and Mount Koya runs $2,000 to $5,000 per person. Peak cherry blossom (late March to early April) and fall foliage (mid-November) both carry 20 to 40 percent pricing premiums over the base rate. Vietnam's Halong Bay plus Hanoi is a parallel pick for Southeast Asian history and landscape at $1,600 to $4,500 per person.
North Africa and the Middle East
Marrakech runs $1,400 to $4,200 per person for a week in a riad plus day trips to the Atlas Mountains and Essaouira; it is the single best-value cultural trip in Africa. Israel (Jerusalem plus Tel Aviv) is a $2,400 to $5,500 per-person week with the densest layered history in the Middle East. Petra and Wadi Rum in Jordan combines archeology with desert at $2,200 to $5,500 per person.
European music, art, and architecture
Vienna is the music-and-opera capital of Europe. A week in Vienna with concert tickets, Schönbrunn, Belvedere, and day trips to Melk or the Wachau Valley runs $1,500 to $3,800 per person. Lake Como pairs with Milan or Verona into a culture-plus-scenery week at $2,500 to $5,500 per person; the lakeside towns are smaller and quieter than most Italian destinations, which suits travelers who want substance without crowds.
US cultural picks
Charleston and Washington DC are the two strongest US cultural weeks. Charleston runs $1,600 to $4,200 per person for a week of plantation visits, historic houses, Gullah culture, and a food scene that rivals any European mid-size city. Washington DC runs $1,400 to $3,800 per person; nearly all Smithsonian museums are free, which means the week's budget goes into hotels, food, and tours.
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