Europe isn’t only home to some of the world’s best cities for culture – the continent also boasts a calendar of incredible festivals, from the gargantuan Glastonbury to Tremor Azores, an island-wide celebration one of our writers called the best festival on the planet.
Then there’s its impressive lineup of massive international tours – this year alone the likes of Beyonce, AC/DC and the almighty Pitbull are taking to the stage.
So, it’s safe to say there’s a gig for every kind of fan and a stage for every kind of artist across this vast continent. But which city can claim the crown as Europe’s official live music capital? A new study from Accor has set out to answer that question. The accommodation booking website analysed European cities based on venue ratings, the number of scheduled gigs and monthly search trends.
Claiming the top spot? It’s (drum roll, please) Berlin! Shocked? No, neither are we. According to Accor’s study, the German capital has 1161 gigs scheduled, 365,630 monthly searches online for gigs, and an average venue rating across the city of 4.56. Overall, Berlin’s ‘gig city’ score was a solid 88.2.
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Berlin is renowned for its nightlife, given that the city is home to a legendary techno and dance scene (which is now protected by UNESCO) and mega-famous clubs such as Berghain. And Berlin doesn’t fall short for live music – check out our local’s roundup of the best live music venues across the city.
What’s even more impressive is that three other German cities made the top 15 – Hamburg came in sixth place with 75.43; Munich came in ninth with 65.63 and Frankfurt came in thirteenth with 56.83, meaning Germany had more entries in the roundup than any other country.
Elsewhere, Paris can claim the title of Europe’s jazz capital – the French city boasts a whopping 106 jazz venues. London is the most in-demand gig city, according to Accor, with nearly 700,000 global monthly searches for live music.
Read on for the full ranking.
These are the best cities in Europe for live music
- Berlin
- Manchester
- London
- Dublin
- Paris
- Hamburg
- Birmingham
- Prague
- Munich
- Amsterdam
- Vienna
- Copenhagen
- Frankfurt
- Budapest
- Milan
Check out all the best European music festivals happening in 2025 that we can’t wait to book, and have a look at Accor’s European Music Map.
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