Bamberg, Germany

Bamberg rises from the Regnitz and the Main-Danube Canal in northern Bavaria, home to roughly 78,000 residents in Upper Franconia. The town was founded in 902 and earned UNESCO World Heritage status in 1993 on the strength of 1,200 listed buildings. Bamberg Cathedral, consecrated in 1014, shelters the 1235 Bamberger Reiter sculpture and the 12th-century tomb of Emperor Henry II, alongside the only papal tomb north of the Alps, that of Pope Clement II. The 1387 Old Town Hall straddles the Regnitz on an artificial bridge, while the Schlenkerla tavern still brews 19th-century Rauchbier smokebeer. Writer E.T.A. Hoffmann lived here from 1808 to 1813, leaving traces that visitors can still trace today.