Bristol, UK

Bristol sits on the River Avon with about 470,000 residents and served as England's third-ranked port for five centuries until 1800. The 1542 Bristol Cathedral was the workplace of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who launched the SS Great Britain here in 1843 as the first iron-hulled, screw-driven ship. He also saw the 1864 Clifton Suspension Bridge open across the 214-metre Avon Gorge. Banksy, the anonymous street artist born in Bristol around 1973, grew up among such landmarks, and every August the 1140 Bristol Balloon Fiesta still sends more than 100 balloons skyward.