Rainbow row

The biggest city in the northern region of the Netherlands, and one of the largest outside the urban area known as the Randstad, Groningen is home to an architectural hodgepodge. Here you'll find traditional Dutch designs with ornate façades, blocky and practical mid-century buildings and undulating experimental structures that form an offbeat cityscape. Some of Groningen's eclectic looks draw from other European locales—these colourful pond-side residences in the Reitdiephaven neighbourhood are inspired by Scandinavian fishing villages.