Petra + Desert Folklore + a good amount of desert/hill tiles or desert/(bonus resource of X type) tiles makes for a huge boost.
Getting back to the OP, my personal suggestion is:
1) Archipelago or Islands for map type (makes defending yourself easier)
2) Huge map size (gives you more CS's, increasing chances of Cultural CS's)
3) Siam, France, or Aztecs (Siam can get extra culture from CS's, France can go a little wider and puppet to gain culture, and the Aztecs can wipe the inevitable barb ships for culture time and time again without risking taking out the barb encampment). Polynesia is an obvious possibility, too, but because it takes so long to get Moai generating gold, I tend to lag economically with them a little too much. That and the random nature of the islands can make it hard to get more than 3 Moai adjacent to each other at a time, making Polynesia a bit of a gamble.
4) Statue of Liberty or a couple of planted Great Engineers is always helpful at the end (especially the planted Great Engineers, since chances are you'll go Freedom 99.9% of the time when going culture). I even sometimes keep a GE or two in reserve to plant the moment I can start Utopia, and I'll plant them right over the Great Artists I already planted. Since you can't rush Utopia, this is a good idea. To make it even faster, keep a Great Artist in reserve as well to pop a Golden Age, or, alternatively, pick Liberty as your last SP track (if you didn't go that route before) and close out on the 'cities effect culture needed 33% less/starts a Golden Age' SP.