For Australian travellers planning a trip across the globe, 2026 is shaping up as a blockbuster year to visit the United Kingdom. From once-in-a-lifetime cultural exhibitions to major sporting events and exciting new openings, there's an incredible lineup awaiting visitors.
Unmissable Exhibitions & Cultural Events
The cultural calendar is packed with highlights. In a historic moment, the 70-metre-long Bayeux Tapestry will be displayed at London's British Museum in September. This will be its first appearance in the UK for over 900 years, ahead of millennium celebrations for William the Conqueror's birth.
Fashion enthusiasts won't want to miss the UK's first major exhibition on surrealist designer Elsa Schiaparelli at the V&A South Kensington from March 28. Meanwhile, the new V&A East Museum opens on April 18 with The Music is Black: A British Story, exploring 125 years of Black British music's cultural impact.
Other major exhibitions include an immersive look behind Aardman Animations (from February 12), a Marilyn Monroe portrait show for her 100th birthday (June 4-September 6), and the largest-ever display of Queen Elizabeth II's clothing at Buckingham Palace (April 21-October 18).
New Openings, Trails & Set-Jetting Hotspots
2026 will see the completion of the King Charles III England Coast Path, becoming the world's longest continuous coastal trail at nearly 4500km. New sections will finally link the Scottish border to Lincolnshire.
London welcomes the new London Museum in Smithfield in late 2026, while the Museum of Shakespeare opens in Shoreditch on the site of the old Curtain Playhouse. Manchester will see a new 401-room hotel, The Medlock, open near the Etihad Stadium.
Film and TV fans have plenty of locations to explore. Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights adaptation (filmed in Hertfordshire and Yorkshire) and a modern Netflix Pride and Prejudice (filmed in Derbyshire, East Sussex and Kent) will drive tourism. The new Chronicles of Narnia film, written by Greta Gerwig, was shot in locations including Surrey, London, Manchester and Bradford.
Sport, Gardens & Major Milestones
The sporting calendar is headlined by the ICC Women's T20 World Cup in England and Wales (June 12-July 5), Wimbledon (June 29-July 12), and the British Grand Prix at Silverstone (July 5). The Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow from July 23.
For garden lovers, the Royal Horticultural Society will host its first show at Sandringham Estate (July 22-26), alongside its flagship Chelsea Flower Show (May 19-23).
The year also marks significant anniversaries: 160 years since Beatrix Potter's birth and 100 years of Winnie-the-Pooh, with events in the Lake District and Ashdown Forest. June brings the 250th birthday of painter John Constable, marked by exhibitions in Ipswich and at Tate Britain.
With so much on offer, from historic returns and new trails to star-studded film locations, 2026 promises to be an extraordinary year for Australians discovering the UK.
