5 Best Destinations for Street Art in Europe

Even though we all sometimes wonder if street art is even legal, we love to see great artwork around the city streets. If the art appears at specific, dedicated places then it is official and legal, and we’re glad that there are quite a few such places around European cities. Street art in European cities varies from fine art to artistic doodles, and you can see everything from famous people, fantasy creatures, political events, and so on… What are the best locations to admire some cool street art in Europe? Keep reading to find out…

Berlin

Berlin is famous for its epic street art scene and once you step a foot onto its streets you will be amazed. The best and most famous place to see some great examples of street art is undoubtedly the East Side Gallery — the longest open-air gallery in the world. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, many of the artists immortalized themselves on the wall with a unique art piece, never seen before, making the marvelous East Side Gallery. The famous kiss of Erich Honecker and Leonid Brezhnev, as well as more than 100 other artworks, can be seen alongside one kilometer long, still intact original section of the Berlin Wall!

London

London is a place so rich in culture that you could spend days and weeks over there and still have things and places to explore. Street art is a huge part of the city’s cultural heritage. There are even some parts of the city that have evolved to be strictly street-art central. One such place is the famous Brick Lane, which is actually considered to be the birthplace of urban art in the city. Southbank Centre is another place to admire some great street art pieces and it’s also a venue for many art festivals.

Being internationally famous for street art brought some of the top urban artists to the streets of London. One of the most famous ones that have left their trace on the city walls is surely Banksy — an anonymous English street artist whose unique style you have probably noticed, at least online.

Vienna

This article can’t go by without mentioning our lovely Vienna. Even though we often talk about the history of Vienna and its rich cultural heritage, the city does not lack urban culture and street art. Viennese streets offer you a variety of murals and graffiti created by some of the best professional and amateur street artists.

If you find yourself in Vienna and head down to the MuseumQuartier, which is one of the world’s largest complexes for contemporary art and culture, you will find the Street Art Passage with some of the coolest street artworks done by the French artist Invader.

Besides this awesome passage, you can find great street artworks along the Danube Canal. Its numerous bridges and walkways are covered in cool doodles that give the well-known Viennese architecture a unique urban vibe.

If you’d like to see more of Viennese street art before you get the chance to head to this lovely city, be sure to check our social media (Facebook, Instagram) these days — we will be sharing our favorite pieces.

Athens

Believe it or not, Athens has been a street art hotspot since forever! In the old days, there were carvings into buildings, then there was graffiti, and today we have an amazing form of art illustrating everything from politics to cats, to the most popular subjects — love and fantasy. This urban art got under the spotlights in the 1990s and reached the popularity that we know today during the economic crisis.

Street art is illegal in Greece, but some property owners, the municipality of Athens being one of them, often ask artists to decorate their walls. The picturesque neighborhood Plaka is one of the best places in Athens to admire great street art. If you’d like to know more about this cool neighborhood check out our digital guide on the following link: “Plaka Tour”

Amsterdam

We all know and love Amsterdam for its canals, coffee shops, tulips, and long bike rides. But did you know that it is another European capital with an extraordinary street art culture? If you get the chance to walk around the streets of Amsterdam, you will notice that the city’s vibe is colored with unusual street art. Among all streets known for the great art pieces, we would say that Spuistraat is the most popular. At the first glance, you might not like this area — it’s a street with many locked down buildings, but it’s the street art that gave them a new life.

Among all the works around the streets of Amsterdam, you will find quite a few made by the aforementioned French artist Invader — he’s a well-known artist of the urban culture.

There’s much more street art all around European cities, these five are just our editor’s pick. If you’d like to see more cool artworks don’t forget to check out our Facebook and Instagram accounts these days — there will be a few great photos for sure.

If you’re looking for a great way to explore the culture from the safety of your home, you should check out our Cultural Places platform and find digital guides that will guide you around European wonderful cities. Start with Vienna and see what it is all about 😊