The year 2026 promises to be a special celebration for culture and travel fans. Many European cities are celebrating special birthdays, historic anniversaries and important anniversaries - ideal occasions for a city trip.
2026 will be the year of anniversaries: from milestone birthdays of great personalities to historical milestones - culture and literature fans will find occasions for special trips, extraordinary events and unforgettable discoveries all over Europe. Falstaff TRAVEL has put together some cities that are worth a visit this year.
In Germany, Bayreuth, which has just been named one of the "52 Places to go 2026" by the New York Times, is celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Richard Wagner Festival. The Bavarian city invites opera lovers from all over the world to an extraordinary year of culture. The program includes over 150 events - from classical concerts and workshops to open-air performances. The highlights are the anniversary productions, including the historical performance of Rienzi and the experimental AI project Ring 10010110. Anyone who has always wanted to experience the magic of Bayreuth will find the perfect destination for an unforgettable opera trip here.
Vienna is always worth a visit and the number of visitors was once again unbroken in 2025. Visitors to Vienna in 2026 will also find a packed program of several anniversaries. The Albertina honours 250 years of its collection. Away from the packed exhibition program, we also celebrate simply on the official birthday weekend, July 4th and 5th, 2026. With free admission and culinary offerings, there will be an extensive educational program in the building as well as a ceremony with the Federal President in the evening.
For 25 years - a quarter of a century - the MuseumsQuartier Wien has been one of Europe's defining cultural areas, where art, culture and life merge in a unique way. Under the banner "Generation MQ", the anniversary year 2026 will focus on the people who have shaped the MQ since its opening in 2001 and those who enliven it today with new perspectives.
Vienna Design Week is also celebrating its 20th anniversary and the Rainbow Parade can look back on 30 years. For visitors, this means a varied program of exhibitions, design events, parties and cultural highlights in one of Europe's most vibrant cultural cities.
This year, France is celebrating the 200th anniversary of the invention of photography by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce. The engineer from Chalon-sur-Saône in Burgundy took the first photograph in history between 1826 and 1827: "View from the study of Le Gras".
The French Ministry of Culture is planning to honour the "Bicentenary of Photography" this year with various projects throughout France. In autumn 2026, the Grand Palais in Paris will host a major exhibition in his honour. All photographic genres are represented - from the daguerreotype to the selfie. Further exhibitions are planned at the Musée Nicéphore Niépce in Chalon-sur-Saône.
Music lovers will be drawn to Dresden in 2026. For the 200th Anniversary of the death of Carl Maria von Weber the city invites you to a festive year full of concerts, opera performances and exhibitions. The Carl Maria von Weber School of Music is participating with a variety of musical formats, while Weber's historic summer residence can be experienced as a museum - a must for fans of classical music and cultural-historical architecture.
In 2026, Salzburg will celebrate a musical highlight: the 270th birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The city is dedicating an extensive anniversary program to him, the core of which is the traditional Mozart Week from 22 January to 1 February 2026. Under the motto "Mozart: lux æterna", the festival combines the composer's milestone birthday with the 70th anniversary of the Mozart Week and offers a double celebration for music lovers.
The program ranges from orchestral, chamber and solo concerts to new productions of operas such as "The Magic Flute" and special formats such as organ music, puppet theater, readings, talks and family sonatas. The highlight is the birthday serenade on January 27, Mozart's actual birthday.
