A short way from New York City, myriad cultural opportunities await. Here are some exhibits and performances that warrant a journey this spring.

Boston

At the Museum of Fine Arts, the Spanish monarch Philip III is celebrated with the exhibit “El Greco to Velazquez: Art during the Reign of Philip III” (April 20–July 27). From 1598 to 1621, Philip III — known for throwing grand parties and for his art collection — commissioned expressive portraits, as well as artwork that touched on the theme s of religion and justice. (465 Huntington Ave., 617-267-9300, mfa.org)

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, renowned for its meticulously manicured grounds, is hosting “Luxury for Export: Artistic Exchange Between India and Portugal Around 1600” (through May 4). The show features gold and mother-of-pearl objects from South Asia that Portuguese traders sought, and European paintings and sculptures that Mogul emperors who ruled in India wanted in exchange. The centerpiece of the exhibit is a silk embroidered tapestry, which intricately depicts a world of beasts, birds, and humans. (280 Fenway, 617-566-1401, gardnermuseum.org)

And the Boston Symphony Orchestra spring season will include Berlioz’s “The Trojans, Part 1 (The Capture of Troy)” and ” Part 2 (The Trojans at Carthage),” an opera based on Virgil’s “Aeneid” (April 22, 24, and 26). It is sung in French with English supertitles by performers including tenor Marcello Giordani (Aeneas), mezzo-soprano Yvonne Naef (Cassandra), and Jane Bunnell (Hecuba). The director of program publications at Boston’s Symphony Hall, Marc Mandel, gives a pre-concert talk about the pieces before each performance. (Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Ave., 617-266-2378, bso.org)

Philadelphia

The Philadelphia Museum of Art, the center stage of culture in the city, has a lively program of special exhibitions this spring. A major traveling Frida Kahlo show, which landed in Philadelphia in late February after a fall run at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, runs through May 18. The exhibition, timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the artist’s birth, includes portraits, self-portraits, and still lifes by the idiosyncratic Mexican painter, marginalized during her own lifetime but canonized in recent decades. Japanese fashion is the subject of a second spring exhibition at the museum. In “Fashioning Kimono: Art Deco and Modernism in Japan,” museum curators aim to show the influence of Western designs on the Ur-Japanese style during the early 20th century, as the nation was increasingly influenced by Western cultural models. The show includes formal, semi-formal, and casual kimonos meant to be worn not just by women, but also by men and children.

Also showcased at the museum is craftsmanship of a more local variety. “Colonial Philadelphia Porcelain: The Art of Bonnin and Morris,” open now through June 1, features all 19 remaining pieces of the first porcelain set produced commercially in Philadelphia. The pieces are known by the names of the owners of the American China Manufactory, which produced the set. (26th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway, 215-763-8100, philamuseum.org)

The City of Brotherly Love’s cultural life, of course, extends beyond the walls of its cherished museums. On April 16, the Kimmel Center will stage an anticipated concert of jazz standards by the celebrated Dave Brubeck Quartet and Freddy Cole, the younger brother of Nat “King” Cole. (60 S. Broad St., 215-790-5800, kimmelcenter.org)

Washington, D.C.

New acquisitions and gifts promised to the Phillips Collection are on view at the Washington museum as part of “Degas to Diebenkorn: The Phillips Collects” (through May 25). “Degas to Diebenkorn” comprises nearly 100 paintings, drawings, sculptures, and photographs, from the likes of Gustave Caillebotte, Paul Klee, and Ansel Adams, as well as the show’s stars Edgar Degas and Richard Diebenkorn. (1600 21st St., NW, 202-387-2151, phillipscollection.org)

And this spring, the National Gallery of Art plays host to a wide range of shows, including “In the Forest of Fontainebleau: Painters and Photographers from Corot to Monet” (through June 8). The exhibit explores open-air painting and photography depicting the region of Fontainebleau which, with deep forests, impressive rock formations, and its namesake château, served as a “natural studio” for generations of French artists.

The National Gallery is also hosting “Impressed by Light,”an exhibit of “calotypes” — photographs derived from paper negatives — by British photographers Roger Fenton, Linnaeus Tripe, and B.B. Turner, among others; and “Bronze and Boxwood,” featuring such bronze Renaissance masterpieces as Giovanni Bologna’s “Birdcatcher” and Antico’s “Seated Nymph.” Both shows run through May 4. (National Mall, Constitution Avenue, NW, between 3rd and 7th streets, 202-737-4215, nga. gov)

Classical music aficionados may want to head to the nation’s capital next month. The Orchestre National de France, under the direction of Maestro Kurt Masur, makes its first visit to our nation’s capital in 17 years, playing a concert at the Kennedy Center on April 28. A young, highly regarded French pianist, David Fray, will accompany the orchestra for Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto. (New Hampshire Avenue, NW, and the Rock Creek Parkway, 202-467-4600, kennedy-center.org)

With reporting by Mallory Wilson-deGrazia