☰Elbphilharmonie

Hamburg's signature building, opened in 2017 after a decade of cost overruns and now utterly central to the city's identity. Herzog & de Meuron stacked a glass concert hall with a rippled, wave-like roof on top of a 1960s brick warehouse on the tip of HafenCity. The Plaza viewing terrace at the join between old and new is free and gives a 360-degree panorama of the harbour — entry by timed ticket from the desk at the bottom of the long curved escalator. Concert tickets sell out months ahead.