This colourful city with hundreds of murals is officially the best place in the UK for street art

Consider yourself a true culture vulture? Well, you’ll be happy to hear that at Time Out we recently revealed the 10th annual ranking of the world’s best cities for culture with Intrepid Travel. We asked more than 24,000 city residents worldwide to share their views on where they live, taking into account everything from live music and opera to theatre and bookshops. 

London was crowned the world’s best city for culture in the 2026 ranking thanks to its mix of world-class free-to-visit museums, its evolving cultural spaces and this year’s standout cultural programme. 

But if you thought the Big Smoke would be the only UK city to receive its flowers, well, you’d be sorely mistaken. The British Isles are bursting with cities packed with cultural riches. Residents of Bath praised their hometown’s theatrical offering, while Glaswegians were ready to shout out their local live music scene. As for the greatest literary destination in the country, that accolade went to Oxford. 

Street art was another aspect we asked city-dwellers to give us their verdict on. So which UK city managed to find glory in this individual category?

With 434 masterpieces dotted around its streets, Belfast took the crown. Half (49 percent) of local respondents described the city’s street art as either ‘good’ or ‘amazing’ – by far the most of any British city. In second place was Bath, with 45 percent of respondents praising the city’s street art scene. 

Belfast is home to Hit the North, an annual festival dedicated entirely to street art and graffiti. For one day each May, you can watch as 50 local, national and international artists create breathtaking artworks before your eyes, giving new life to the walls of a once-derelict part of town.

You’ll have to wait until 2027 for Hit the North’s next edition, as the fezzy came and went on May 3 this year. But don’t be disheartened, because there’s no shortage of urban artworks to gawp at year-round. Take the Belfast Canvas project, which has been bringing the city to life by transforming junction boxes since 2019. Covered with paintings of everything from sunflowers and apples to roses and even a crayon box, the scheme is about bringing beauty to objects which help keep the city functioning.

Belfast’s street artworks are easily accessible via dedicated apps and online guides, which will help you plan your own self-guided tour. Plus, the city also boasts organised guided tours of the urban masterpieces. The gently-paced, two-hour tour runs every Sunday from 12pm-2pm.

As for the rest of Belfast’s cultural offerings, the Northern Irish city did well for live music (69 percent, third highest in the country after Manchester and Cardiff), festivals (52 percent, third after Edinburgh and Brighton) and theatre (42 percent). However, it fell short when it came to bookshops (17 percent) and classical music/opera (17 percent), which dragged down its overall score. 

🎨 The world’s best cities for culture in 2026.

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