Metz is one of the most beautiful cities in eastern France, a place where three thousand years of history are written in honey-coloured limestone. The city sits at the confluence of the Moselle and Seille rivers, and its old centre is spread across several islands connected by bridges — a geography that gives the place a quiet, water-threaded elegance.
The star attraction is the Cathédrale Saint-Étienne, one of the tallest Gothic cathedrals in Europe. Its stained glass spans eight centuries, from medieval panels to luminous twentieth-century windows by Marc Chagall and Jacques Villon. On a sunny afternoon the interior glows. Nearby, the fourth-century Basilique Saint-Pierre-aux-Nonnains is the oldest church in France, while the Église Saint-Maximin has windows designed by Jean Cocteau — a surprising trio that makes Metz one of the best cities in France for stained glass.
The Place Saint-Louis, lined with fifteenth- and sixteenth-century arcaded houses, is the heart of the medieval city and an excellent place to sit with a coffee. From there you can wander through narrow streets past Renaissance mansions and along the river banks. The monumental Gare de Metz, built during the German annexation of Lorraine, is worth a look in its own right — a grand Romanesque revival station that tells its own chapter of the city's layered history.
More recently, Metz has added a major contemporary landmark: the Centre Pompidou-Metz, a striking outpost of the Parisian museum with a swooping timber-lattice roof. It hosts rotating exhibitions drawn from the Pompidou collection and has become a reason to visit all on its own.