Take a classic German city: cobblestone streets, copper roofs, and so many towers that a malfunctioning parachute is a one-way ticket to public impalement. Now add water—a lot of water. Enough water to make it Germany’s primary gateway to the North Sea. Then, cut it up with lazy canals, cover them with more bridges than Venice (2479 to be exact), burn it down, bomb it to near oblivion, bisect it with nightlife trashier than a garbage barge, throw in a hefty immigrant population, and some radicals and… well, you know where this is going. Hamburg! Let there be light.

In its first couple of centuries, Hamburg was sacked by Vikings (ninth century CE), burned down by Poles (11th), and occupied by the Danes (13th). Modernity has only further threatened Hamburg, engendering some of the most lasting changes to its face. An 1842 fire reduced the town hall, three churches, and entire residential neighborhoods to smoking ash. About a century later, British bombs lit up the city so blindingly that a firestorm spread throughout, sparing nothing except, miraculously, the ornate, newly constructed town hall. Fortunately, a trade boom during the latter half of the 19th century solidified Hamburg as Germany’s main North Sea hub, and the city has repeatedly risen from the ashes like its unofficial mascot, the phoenix.

Today, the city sails on as if the massive destruction never took place, and it offers some unforgettable attractions for travelers, particularly those on a budget. Reconstructed facades, comprehensive art museums, church towers, and splendid waterside panoramas root the city in history down south, while up north, the radically liberal, only partially gentrified Schanzenviertel offers delicious food and low prices.