Utrecht, Netherlands

Utrecht is a city of roughly 360,000 residents positioned at the centre of the Netherlands, founded by the Romans around 50 AD as the settlement of Trajectum ad Rhenum. Its skyline is anchored by the 112-metre Dom Tower, completed in 1321 by architect Berthold van Leuvden and ranking as the tallest church tower in the country. The canals still carry distinctive below-street-level cellared wharves, known as werven, which date to the 12th century and once let merchants load cargo straight from boats. Utrecht University, founded in 1636, is the largest in the Netherlands, and the city counts Pope Adrian VI, born here in 1459, among its natives. What those wharves still conceal beneath the streets may surprise you.