Magdeburg

The vibe & who it suits

Magdeburg is a 1,200-year-old city that looks much younger, because roughly 90% of it was destroyed in a single WWII bombing raid and rebuilt largely in GDR style. What survived and what got added since stand out precisely because they're rare: Germany's first Gothic cathedral (burial place of Otto the Great), Hundertwasser's wildly colourful Green Citadel, and just outside town, the Magdeburg Water Bridge — the longest navigable aqueduct in Europe, carrying canal boats over the Elbe. It's a quiet, lightly touristed stop rather than a destination in its own right.