With no Olympics, World Cup, or World Fair, 2011 sounds like a largely uneventful year. That means there’s no major reason to visit (or avoid) any particular city, and no one destination will take over much of the travel media coverage. With that in mind, we guide you to the best city-break options for the new year, where you can catch some exceptional exhibitions.

1. LONDON
Every year is a good year to visit London, but an exception will probably be 2012 before and during the Olympics. So if you’ve never been to the city or wish to return, now’s the time or you better wait a couple of years. You’ll probably see a lot of the city around April in media reports of a certain famous wedding, but we suggest a visit at any time of the year, or perhaps in November for the unprecedented exhibition of Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings at the National Gallery.
To save you a few pounds, consider getting the London Pass, and for a cultural experience outside the city, plan a visit to Stonehenge.

2. ISTANBUL
One year after it was the European Capital of Culture, Istanbul continues to present a list of major cultural events. In the new year (until the 20th of March), you can see an outstanding exhibition of over forty of Frida Kahlo’s and Diego Rivera’s works at the Pera Museum, and in a short city break in such a large city, you may look into the several organized tours and activities.

3. BARCELONA
You’ve probably seen many Picassos by now, but you’ve never seen an exhibition of the artist’s earliest works like this one. Barcelona’s Picasso Museum, in a co-production with Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum will show works from the early Paris years from June to October. There will also be works by Cézanne, Rodin and Van Gogh who were all inspired by Parisian life in the first decade of the 20th century.
After this exhibition, be sure to also check out the Miró Foundation, and to save you time and money in a short city break, get the Barcelona Card which also comes with a guidebook.

4. NEW YORK
The MoMA is always a must in the Big Apple, and until April 25th you can catch one of several exhibitions worth seeing this year. That’s “On to Pop,” showing works by Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, among others. They’re artists who came to define American Pop art, painting the usual objects and images encountered in daily life.
The New York CityPass gets you free admission to MoMA and to a number of other attractions.

5. SAN FRANCISCO
After New York’s, visit San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art which from May to September will co-organize an exhibition with New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and Paris’ Réunion des Musées Nationaux. It will present paintings, drawings, and sculptures collected by the Stein family which lived in Paris in the early 20th century and returned to California in 1935 when the SFMOMA was founded. Their collection was instrumental in the creation of the museum, with works by Paul Cézanne, Matisse, and Picasso.
As always, in a short city break, the tourist pass is the best investment, so be sure to get your Go San Francisco Card.

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Zurich’s Kunsthaus Museum is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and is doing it with major exhibitions. One of them is the revival of Picasso’s first retrospective shown by the museum in 1932 and curated by the artist himself. This time, starting in October, it’s exhibiting around 70 masterpieces on loan from private collectors and from some of the world’s top museums such as New York’s MoMA and Metropolitan, London’s Tate Modern, and Madrid’s Thyssen-Bornemisza. Count this exhibition to be one of Europe’s top cultural experiences this year, one that will certainly bring thousands to the Swiss city just to see (especially now that, as reported by UCityguides, Paris’ Picasso Museum is closed until 2012). For that reason, tickets are already being sold (see the museum’s website for information on how to get them now).
But obviously before October the museum will also have plenty to see, like the current exhibition on display until next month. It’s showing works by Cézanne, Monet, and van Gogh from the Bührle Collection which will finally have its own space in 2015 thanks to a Kunsthaus expansion. In total there are 150 works to see together with another exhibition focusing on Salomon Gessner.

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Tomorrow New York’s Guggenheim will open a new restaurant called “The Wright,” celebrating the 50 years of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed museum.
It will only be serving lunches for now, but will open for dinner starting in mid-January. A special brunch will also be available on Sundays from 11AM to 5PM.
The dining area features a sleek design by architect Andre Kikoski and includes a European-style bar in the center for small plates dining. The entire space is a homage to Wright, and reflecting the museum’s contemporary focus there is a site-specific commission by British artist Liam Gillick running up the walls and ceiling. Accommodating up to 58 diners at a time, it will be a comfortable venue with an upscale atmosphere for after a visit to the museum’s exhibitions or any time in between (for reservations, call 212 427 5690).
At the moment the Guggenheim is presenting a Kandinsky retrospective until the 13th of January. It was previously shown in Paris’ Centre Pompidou and Munich’s Lenbachhaus, and is a comprehensive, chronological presentation with over 100 paintings, including some rarely-seen works from private collections.
Solomon Guggenheim bought more than 150 Kandinsky works when he visited the artist’s studio in Germany in 1930, and that is said to have been the inspiration for Guggenheim’s opening of his own “Museum of Non-Objective Painting” in 1939.

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As the world looks to Berlin’s Festival of Freedom today to celebrate two decades of German reunification, at UCityGuides we choose not to concentrate on the city’s past, but take this opportunity to remind you of the German capital’s dynamic present. After a year of Wall-themed events, we’re now ready to celebrate Berlin as it is today, an open, welcoming, vibrant city. As we say in the introduction to our Berlin city guide, when the infamous Berlin Wall came down, the city’s cultural and creative energy went up, and we have much to recommend in it among the countess new openings of the last few months. Today we highlight our three favorites.
The most important cultural opening (or better yet, reopening) was that of the Neues Museum just over a couple of weeks ago, in a building redesigned by English architect David Chipperfield. It houses an extraordinary Egyptian collection, with the most famous piece being the stunning bust of Queen Nefertiti among a total of 9000 items of display.
After an afternoon in Museum Island, check out the city’s hottest new factory conversion. It’s a restaurant in the now-trendy Kreuzberg neighborhood, and features an interior of concrete floors and exposed walls. It’s called “Sage” (pictured above) and is divided into three different areas, from a small formal dining area, to a space with a long communal table and bar, to another small intimate room. In each space guests may try different menus, from refined gourmet dishes to pizzas.
Another much talked-about new opening in the last year was MA Tim Raue in Hotel Adlon Kempinski, offering a sensational all-organic menu using regional ingredients. It’s served in a glamourous Asian-inspired interior featuring a centuries-old clay horse in the center (“MA” means horse in Chinese), and it’s already earned a Michelin star (the hotel has also been awarded 2 U_Stars).

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Another not-so-great news from another Paris museum is the reported opening of a McDonald’s near the Louvre next month. It will be found in the underground shopping area below the museum (the “Carrousel du Louvre”) and is already causing much controversy and protests. A similar outcry happened last year with the opening of a Starbucks nearby, but even a petition by Louvre admirers and employees wasn’t able to stop it.
Just FYI, France has the most McDonald’s after the United States, making the French the biggest Big Mac fans after Americans. So a McDonald’s at the Louvre almost makes sense. Almost.

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Found in a 15th century monastery that was then transformed into a porcelain factory in the 19th century, Seville’s Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo (Andalusian Contemporary Art Center) has a wonderful setting to display modern Spanish and international art from a permanent collection as well as temporary exhibitions. Most of the artists are naturally from Spain, but many of the temporary exhibits are often strong on South American works. The permanent pieces on display date from the late 1950s to the present, and visitors can see it together with the former monastery’s chapels, cloisters, and gardens.
There is also a library with over 26,000 volumes relating to different aspects of contemporary art, and includes close to one hundred periodicals.

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We’ve recently announced the results of the 7 Urban Wonders of the World as voted by travelers. Those were all important urban centers in modern cities, but if that list were to also include remarkable cities of the past, one of them would certainly be Pompeii. This Roman town is found just outside Naples, and for many travelers it is reason enough to visit that southern Italian city. What was once a sophisticated urban area is now an archaeological site thanks to a volcanic eruption in 79 AD. Visiting it today is a captivating voyage into the everyday life of a city at the height of the Roman Empire. The columns of the Forum still stand with the Vesuvius as the backdrop, there is a very well-preserved amphitheater, and most fascinating of all for most visitors is the town’s brothel which still contains naughty mosaics depicting erotic scenes. Many of those images are considered pornographic in today’s societies, but it is known that the Roman Empire was much more liberal than 21st century cultures, a theory further proven by household items with sexual themes found on the site. Most of the archaeological finds from Pompeii are on display in Naples’ National Archaeological Museum, and include those images once hidden from public view for being considered too shocking for most visitors. Some of them even show gay encounters, yet another piece of evidence that suggests just how liberal (and open to homosexuality) Roman society was.
The museum is the sight you must not miss on a trip to Naples, and should be seen after a visit to the archaeological site seen in our photos below.

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State Hermitage Museum St Petersburg, Amsterdam
© Hans van Heeswijk

We just highlighted the seven essential stops in Amsterdam, but starting on June 20th, you can add an eighth stop to that list. The new Hermitage Museum Amsterdam is opening its doors with a special inaugural exhibition, the first one in its official new home. Small exhibitions and educational activities by the Hermitage have been taking place in the Dutch capital since 2004, but now, following a €40 million renovation, a 17th century building has been converted to become the permanent home of the Russian collection in Amsterdam. It’s found in the historic center of the city, and the first exhibition is called “At the Russian Court”, showcasing more than 1800 treasures from the St. Petersburg museum.

The richness and grandeur of the pieces date mostly from the 19th century and will remain on display until January 31st, 2010. They include a 60-part royal table service and the Romanoff throne, as well as royal portraits, ball gowns, and court furniture. After that, Hermitage Amsterdam will host two large-scale exhibitions every year, allowing a larger number of people to see the unparalleled collection of Russia’s famous museum which has over 3 million works of art to showcase around the world. In Amsterdam you’ll be able to see the most massive objects thanks to a glass roof, through which Catherine the Great’s 18th century carriage will be delivered for a planned 2010 exhibition called “Alexander the Great: The Road to the East.”

The luminous exhibition space preserves some of the late-17th century Dutch classicism elements, including an original kitchen and church hall. Modern features include interactive digital displays, light-sensitive window panes, and a well-designed restaurant.

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Last week Brussels opened a long-overdue cultural attraction in the city. Housed in a neoclassical building close to the Royal Palace is now the Magritte Museum in a 2500 m² space.
It’s part of a complex of buildings that make up the Royal Museums of Fine Art and the renovated interior displays about 200 works, from paintings to drawings, to photographs, advertising posters, and sculptures.
In addition to presenting Magritte’s works, the 10-million-euro building also shows the surrealist spirit of the artist by replacing windows with paintings of clouds on a blue sky.
The collection (the largest of the artist) is the result of loans by public and private institutions in addition to purchases by the Royal Museums of Fine Arts, and visitors can also get access to archives through an online research center presenting the painter’s life and art. And starting in 2011 there will also be space for temporary exhibitions relating to the different aspects of Magritte’s work, including his connections to other artists such as Miró and Dali.

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