A half hour train ride from Copenhagen in a 16th-century fishing village, the Louisiana is a masterpiece of Danish modernism. Surrounded by a superb sculpture park that overlooks the Øresund strait, the museum specializes in European post-war art movements. Giacometti is center stage, his sculptures the subject of a stunning gallery whose windows overlook a willow-fringed lake. Contemporary ‘wow’ moments include a Yayoi Kusama mirror room and exhibitions that highlight international art stars.

An hour by car from Amsterdam this national art museum sits amidst the forests, dunes, and moors of Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo. The buildings are by great architects including Henry van de Velde (art nouveau innovator) and Gerrit Rietveld (De Stijl designer), but the paintings here are really the star of the show, and one name sings out: Vincent van Gogh. The Kröller-Müller houses the second-largest collection of the Dutch master’s art, including Café Terrace at Night.

This museum in Figueres, the artist’s birthplace in Costa Brava, is a work of art in its own right. Dalí himself designed it as if to immerse visitors in one of his fever-dream paintings. From outside, red walls reminiscent of a medieval castle are adorned by bread rolls and the roof is crowned by giant egg sculptures. Inside, rooms of paintings and sculptures chart the artist’s development, including a boat drooping cobalt blue, resin-coated condoms, suspended high above Dali’s 1941 Cadillac.

A short train ride from Berlin, Potsdam—a royal Baroque city—was once a draw for its parks and palaces, especially Sanssouci, the sumptuous summer getaway of 18th-century Prussian King Frederic the Great. Since 2017, the Museum Barberini has offered more reason to visit: Frederic’s grand townhouse is now a home for his magnificent collection of modern art. French Impressionism is the focus, including 34 Monets, a jumping off point for other temporary exhibitions.

Art and archaeology come together in Oxford’s Ashmolean, Britain’s oldest public museum. It opened its doors in 1683, when Elias Ashmole donated his superb natural history collection to the university, before the museum became a trove of antiquities and art objects spanning Greek pottery to Pre-Raphaelite paintings. It’s a fascinating place to explore on a day trip from the capital, with its imposing façade giving way to elegant internal architecture, with a superb temporary exhibition program.

One of Europe’s greatest living painters, Paula Rego has a spellbinding museum dedicated to her work in the seaside town of Cascais, near Lisbon. Designed by one of Portugal’s most influential architects, the building is small but special, with geometric forms rendered in a red concrete reminiscent of Mediterranean earthenware. Casa das Histórias means “House of Stories,” and as a visual storyteller Rego has few equals, drawing from literature, myth and religion to create bewitching narratives.

Metz is beloved for its beautiful old town, known for its Gothic cathedral, medieval-looking streets and German Imperial district. This sister institution to the famous Paris art museum has splendid exhibition spaces enveloped by a mammoth, billowing white roof structure by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban. The museum draws from the Pompidou’s incredible collection of modern and contemporary art, but it has its own way of doing things.