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Written By: Bea Pablo, Writer, and Marina Salley, Head of Investor Relations, an art museum enthusiast and former resident of New York City
Stay at your luxury homes in cities that boast the world’s most visited museums.
Art shapes cities over time, and some cities shape the world. In 2025, The Art Newspaper ranked the world’s 100 most visited museums, reinforcing how concentrated cultural activity remains in a handful of major urban centers. From Renaissance masterpieces to modern classics, these art capitals also happen to be cities where Equity Residences offer luxury homes that combine lifestyle benefits and investment potential.
At the top of the list, institutions such as the Louvre in Paris recorded more than 9 million visitors in a single year. In Rome, the Vatican Museums remained among the most visited in the world with nearly 6 million entries, while New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art continued to attract close to the same scale of international traffic. These figures reflect not only the strength of individual institutions, but the lasting draw of the cities that contain them.
There are only a handful of truly grand museums in the world, institutions whose collections span civilizations from ancient Egypt to the present day. Museums such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Vatican Museums in Rome Prado in Madrid, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, and the British Museum in London belong to this rare group. What makes these cities especially significant is not only the scale of their collections, but the fact that they remain deeply woven into everyday life. Equity Residences offers homes in several of these cultural capitals, placing owners within walking distance of institutions that define the history of art itself.
At Equity Residences, we believe that where you live should be as inspiring as the places you explore. Living in these destinations means waking up steps from the museums, historic streets, and vibrant cultural scenes. From New York City to Florence, Rome, Barcelona and Los Angeles, your Equity Residences home places you in the center of cultural destinations that people travel across the world to experience.
New York – Luxury Pied-à-Terre with Central Park Views at Columbus Circle
America’s Cultural Heartbeat
New York City is more than the financial capital of the world, it’s an art capital of the United States. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), alongside countless smaller museums and galleries, welcomed millions of visitors in 2025. Beyond museums, neighborhoods like Chelsea, SoHo, and the Upper East Side offer a blend of galleries, contemporary installations and historic architecture.
Your New York residence at Columbus Circle places you steps from Central Park and within reach of some of the most celebrated museums in the world. Begin your day with a quiet walk through Central Park before spending the afternoon exploring the Metropolitan Museum of Art. This place rewards repeat visits rather than a quick checklist in your itinerary. For instance, works by Rembrandt and Vermeer quietly hold your attention longer than expected. Some linger in front of landscapes by Claude Monet, drawn to the way light shifts across canvas in subtle layers that photographs never fully capture.
One of the pleasures of the Met is that it never feels finished. You might spend an afternoon in the American Wing beneath its soaring glass ceiling, then step outside to the rooftop garden where sculptures sit against sweeping views of Central Park.
For the best views of the New York skyline, walk to the Met’s rooftop and admire the scenery with a drink in hand. The Met can be too big to explore on your own. I highly recommend hiring an art guide who will help you get the most out of your tour. Marissa can help guide you on your adventure. She held my 4-year-old’s attention for 3 hours and managed to entertain the adults in our group as well, which is a testament to her knowledge and skill. She showed me the Met from an angle I had never seen before, despite countless visits, so I highly recommend her private tours.
If you feel like stepping into New York’s Gilded Age, visit a much smaller and less well-known old-world mansion, The Frick Collection. As a student at Columbia University, I came there to research paintings by Branzino for my Masterpieces of Western Art class and stayed for hours, sometimes alone, in its sprawling halls. After undergoing renovation and opening its doors to the public on the Upper East Side, the Frick, as it is known to the locals, experienced a surge of interest from the public outside of academia and the art world. You can see paintings by Monet, El Greco, van Dyck, and Vermeer, and other masters on the walls. Don’t forget to book a restaurant on the top floor of the museum. Dining there is an experience in itself.
Just a short distance away, the Museum of Modern Art offers a different kind of experience. If the Met feels like history unfolding room by room, and the Frick manifests old-world charm, MoMA feels energetic and forward-looking. The quiet pull of The Starry Night still stops people in their tracks, yet often leaves them remembering unexpected discoveries just as vividly. MoMA also hosts one of a kind exhibitions. Artists like Cindy Sherman and Marina Abramovic come to MoMA to stage shows and draw huge crowds of New Yorkers and city guests. Look out for special announcements and book tickets in advance.
After visiting MoMA, walk across the street and have tea at the Baccarat Hotel to experience a European tradition in the heart of Manhattan. Staying at the Equity Residences New York homes extends well beyond museum walls. From Columbus Circle, your home is steps from the bright lights of the Broadway Theater District and performances at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, where evenings often include ballet, opera, or symphony. Within the building, dining at Jean-Georges adds another layer to the experience.
For Equity Residences investors, the difference is simple: at the end of the day, you return not to a hotel, but to your own home in Manhattan.
Florence – Historic 3-Bedroom Luxury Residence in the Heart of Florence
In Florence, art is not reserved for museum walls. It is built into the city itself. This luxury three-bedroom Florence residence sits in the shadow of the Duomo, placing you directly within the historic center of the city.
From your front door, Florence unfolds on foot. The Galleria dell’Accademia is just a few minutes away, where visitors gather early to see David before the crowds arrive. From there, it is a short walk through historic streets to Piazza della Signoria, one of Florence’s most important public squares, surrounded by sculpture, cafés, and centuries of civic life.
Continuing through the center, the Uffizi Galleries is roughly 8 to 10 minutes from the residence, a walk that naturally leads you through narrow streets, open courtyards, and architecture that has remained largely unchanged for generations. Inside the Uffizi, the atmosphere shifts. Rooms are arranged in sequence, but the experience rarely feels linear. Visitors pause often and move back and forth between works. In one room, you find The Birth of Venus. Other rooms hold works by early Renaissance painters where the evolution of technique becomes visible from one canvas to the next.
The residence itself reflects the same sense of history. Meticulously remodeled over five years, it preserves frescoes from the library of a 16th-century palace that once stood within the building. The ceilings carry traces of their earlier life. These details sit alongside modern upgrades, including contemporary bathrooms, a fully equipped kitchen, and restored hardwood floors that bring warmth to the space.
For investors, this proximity changes the experience of Florence. Museums are not something you schedule into the day. They are part of the neighborhood. You move between them and your home without interruption. The city becomes something you return to rather than simply visit.
Rome – Luxury 3-Bedroom Apartment in Rome’s Centro Storico
Where every corner feels like art.
Rome is a city where time does not feel linear. Ancient ruins sit beside Renaissance churches, and everyday life moves through spaces that have been in use for centuries. It is a place best experienced on foot, where each corner reveals something older than the last, and history is never separate from the present.
Within this setting, your historic three-bedroom residence in the Centro Storico places you at the very center of the city’s most walkable cultural district and sits between the Trevi Fountain, just 4-minutes away from the Spanish Steps. The residence itself reflects the scale and character of historic Roman architecture.
From your Rome residence, you can begin your day walking on foot. Visit the Vatican Museum, where vast corridors lead through layered collections of classical sculptures, Renaissance rooms, and painted ceilings. The experience builds gradually until you reach the Sistine Chapel, where the ceiling draws you upward in silence. The afternoon might take you to the Galeria Borghese, where timed entry created a peaceful rhythm. Inside, sculptures by Gian Lorenzo Bernini sit within rooms designed almost like intimate stages. Light filters through high windows and shifts across marble surfaces as you move from one gallery to the next.
Living in Rome means these experiences are not exceptional outings but part of a broader pattern of daily life. At the end of the day, you return to your residence just steps from the Centro Storico. Outside, there is movement, history, and constant life in motion. Inside, it is quiet and still. For Equity Residences investors, Rome is experienced over time. Not in a single visit but through returning stays, where the city becomes more familiar with each arrival.
Barcelona – Luxury Historic Apartment in L’Eixample Dreta
Barcelona is defined by its architectural contrast. Historic streets sit alongside wide boulevards lined with Modernist landmarks, and daily life unfolds between buildings shaped by Antoni Gaudí and his contemporaries. You see curves of Casa Batlló as you walk down Passeig de Gràcia, often just as part of a normal errand or commute. The Sagrada Familia appears unexpectedly between blocks, rising above low rooftops and apartment buildings.
Much of Barcelona’s identity comes from Catalan Modernism and the way it redefined urban design. In the Eixample district, buildings form continuous streets rather than isolated landmarks. Facades vary in detail and scale, but together they create a consistent visual structure that you experience simply by walking.
The city’s museum spaces bring this creative history into focus. The Picasso Museum is housed within interconnected Gothic palaces and follows the early development of Pablo Picasso in a setting that feels closely tied to the city. At the Fundació Joan Miró is more open and quiet. Works by Joan Miró are displayed in a way that allows space and light to shape how they are seen.
Your six-bedroom residence is set in L’Eixample Dreta, one of Barcelona’s most recognisable residential areas. The building carries the proportions and detailing of classic European architecture, with high ceilings, spacious interiors, and preserved historic features that reflect its original character. These are balanced with modern updates designed for comfortable city living. From here, Plaça de Catalunya, Passeig de Gràcia, Casa Batlló, and the Sagrada Família are all within walking distance, placing the city’s main cultural and commercial points within easy reach.
Art is woven into daily life in Barcelona, and from this residence, the city’s major museums and cultural landmarks are within easy reach. For investors who value art and history, the location offers effortless access to the city’s creative core, with each visit unfolding naturally from the comfort of home.
We have written a dedicated guide to Barcelona, where you can get more tips on what to visit in the city.
Los Angeles – A City of Modern Art
Los Angeles is a modern art city defined by scale and urban sprawl rather than a single cultural core. Its museums and institutions sit across hills, coastline, and dense urban districts, shaping an experience that depends on movement through the city rather than presence in one place. Recent patterns in museum attendance reflect this broader landscape. While visitation across the United States has remained uneven in recent years, Los Angeles institutions have shown relative stability despite disruptions caused by the January 2025 wildfires and temporary closures across parts of the region.
The Getty Center continues to rank among the most visited art museums in the country, sustained by both its collection and its position above the city. Its sister museum, The Getty Villa, located in Mallibu, saw a temporary decline in visitation following an extended closure during the wildfire period, despite being spared from direct damage.
In West Los Angeles, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) continues to evolve as a central reference point for the city’s museum landscape, with holdings that span antiquity through contemporary work.
In Downtown, The Broad anchors a concentrated cluster of contemporary art institutions, particularly postwar and conceptual works, while the surrounding Arts District extends this presence through galleries and smaller exhibition spaces.
Your Luxury Residence in Terranea Resort
Your oceanfront villa in Rancho Palos Verdes is located approximately 30 minutes from central Los Angeles, within Terranea Resort. It offers a coastal setting that remains closely connected to the city’s cultural institutions while maintaining distance from its pace. From here, the Getty Center, LACMA, and the Downtown museum district are all within easy reach, allowing you to experience the city’s cultural life in a single day before returning to a quieter coastal environment overlooking the Pacific and Catalina Island.
For investors, Los Angeles is not defined by access alone but by ease of return. Staying at Terranea Resort places you in a coastal setting where the city’s major museums are just a short drive away, allowing you to move between the Getty Center, LACMA, and Downtown cultural districts without effort, before returning the same day to a quieter oceanfront base.
Experience Art at Your Luxury Homes with Equity Residences
Across the world’s most culturally significant cities, art is not something reserved for occasional travel. It is part of daily life when you live in the right place. From New York’s museum district to Florence’s Renaissance streets, from Rome’s historic center to Barcelona’s Modernist avenues and Los Angeles’ expansive cultural landscape, each destination offers a different way of living with art rather than simply visiting it.
For Equity Residences investors, the experience is defined by proximity and continuity. Your home is not separate from the city’s cultural life. It sits within it. Museums, galleries, historic landmarks, and performance spaces become part of your everyday rhythm, reached easily and returned to often.
If you would like to travel more deeply, immerse yourself in art and history, and live within walking distance of the world’s leading museums while also benefiting from the potential of a thoughtfully structured investment, contact us at info@equityresidences.com.
