Damien Hirst travel tips

For locals, it's a well-known fact that many of the UK capital’s best attributes are completely free to enjoy. In London you can walk through two millennia of history, delve into a cornucopia of treasures, go on a music and art odyssey, and soak in some of the most iconic views on Earth – all without spending a single penny. Here’s where to start.

Shrewsbury, a gorgeous medieval market town, was put on the art map in 2021 with the launch of the Shrewsbury Arts Trail. The event goes from strength to strength: this year it boasts three sculptures by Salvador Dalí. Two are outdoors: the 5-metre-tall Surrealist Piano startles visitors to the castle grounds and Homage to Terpsichore dominates the courtyard of the Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery. Inside the gallery, the Dalínian Dancer is part of the Inspirational Exhibition, which also includes work by LS Lowry, Man Ray, Barbara Hepworth, Damien Hirst and Banksy.

If you didn’t know that Pablo Picasso had spent a sizeable amount of time in the Cote d’Azur village of Mougins, you’re made aware of it walking through the main square, site of a large and pretty realistic sculpture of his head. The nearby café and ice cream shop, named, respectively,Pablo and Paloma, give a hint as well of this past resident who spent the last 12 years of his life here. As the region celebrates the artist, marking the 50th anniversary of his passing, there are Picasso related sites and exhibits on view here through October including an exhibition of photos of the usually glowering artist in lighthearted moments with his famous artist friends. But that’s not the only reason to come to Mougins.

Newmarket in Suffolk is the home of British horse racing, with equine attractions aplenty. There are the two race courses, the Rowley Mile and the July Course; the gallops where the horses are exercised; the National Stud, where they are bred; and Tattersalls, where they are bought and sold. There is plenty of art, too, but it is largely of a horsey nature – the Packard Galleries of British Sporting Art are full of paintings by George Stubbs and Alfred Munnings, and depictions of hunting, hawking, shooting and, of course, racing.

If you fancy indulging your inner artist on your next British break, try one of these excellent galleries and art spaces across Britain.