Graffiti is without a doubt one of my favourite elements in cities that make them absolutely unique and gives an edge that you cannot replicate with architecture and culture alone. Europe is one of my favourite places to experience some of the best Graffiti on the planet and I decided that it would be a good idea to write about it here on my blog. So read on to find out where the best graffiti is in Europe.
Berlin, Germany
Aside from being one of the coolest cities on the planet and of course Europe, Berlin has some of the best graffiti in the entire world! More or less everywhere you go in Berlin you will find street art and this gives the city an edge that is unlike any other around the world. I especially like the murals that are done on buildings that were partly destroyed during the war! One thing that I love is that there is also a lot of commissioned art that is always changing, which is something that should be promoted all over the world in my opinion. The culture, nightlife, food, art and music scenes are also amazing here, so there are definitely a million reasons to visit Berlin.
London, England
London is one of those places that I love for the huge variety of scenes and the amazing culture. Graffiti is definitely a big thing here and it draws some of the best graffiti artists from all over the world to add to the colour and vibrance. Southbank is probably the best place in all of London to see graffiti and the sheer size and vibrant colours of the pieces here are simply incredible. Here street artists use spray paint like Flame or Ironlak to create their murals and achieve some amazing effects. I absolutely love to visit places like Shoreditch or various places in East London where graffiti is so prominent and the huge number of alleyways is the perfect canvas for this.
Barcelona, Spain
Barcelona is a very beautiful city with its ornate architecture, but the street art here certainly adds a very interesting quality to this. There are a huge number of styles and sizes of graffiti works here, such as small tags to large murals covering the sides of buildings. One thing I really like is the fact that many of the shutters from the shopfronts in the city have street art on them and the shop owners themselves often commission these works! All you really need to do in Barcelona to experience the amazing street art is to walk around and enjoy!
Athens, Greece
Athens is perhaps not somewhere you think about when you consider street art, but Athens absolutely blew me away when it comes to its street art scene. Coincidentally the word graffiti comes from the Greek word “graphi”, so it is a nice coincidence that the Greek capital is home to some great street art. Some great places in Athens to visit for street art in Athens are Psiri, Plaka, Gazi, Anafiotika, Metaxourgeio and Exarchina.
Belfast, Northern Ireland
The street art scene in Northern Ireland is naturally one that has been heavily influenced by the political troubles that existed and still exist there today. This is seen as less of an art, but more political messages and beliefs. The scene is centred around Shankill and Falls Roads where many buildings are tagged with murals of political messages. In recent times, there appears to be more peace based graffiti and this an amazing transition to see in city that has experienced so much conflict.