Strasbourg is the seat of the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights and it hosts a seat of the European Parliament, together with Brussels. The city is chiefly known for its sandstone gothic cathedral, and for its medieval cityscape of Rhineland black and white timber-framed buildings, particularly in the Petite-France district alongside the river Ill. Strasbourg's historic center, the Grande Île (great island), has been classified a World Heritage site by the UNESCO in 1988, for the first time for a whole city center. Besides the cathedral, Strasbourg houses several other medieval churches that have survived the many wars and destructions that have plagued the city : the part romanesque, part gothic, very large Eglise Saint-Thomas with its Silbermann organ on which W. A. Mozart and Albert Schweitzer played, the gothic Eglise Saint-Pierre-le-Jeune protestant with its crypta dating back to the 5th century, the gothic Eglise Saint-Guillaume with its fine early-Renaissance stained glass... The neo-gothic church Saint-Pierre le Vieux catholique serves as a shrine for several 15th century altars that had been saved from destruction and installed a century ago.

Strasbourg also offers high-class eclecticist buildings in its very extended German district (Place de la République, Place de l'Université, Place Brant, Place Arnold), being the main memory of Wilhelmian architecture since most of the major cities in Germany proper suffered intensive damages during World War II. Streets, boulevards and avenues like Avenue de la Forêt Noire, Avenue des Vosges, Avenue d'Alsace, Avenue de la Marseillaise, Avenue de la Liberté, Boulevard de la Victoire, Rue Sellénick, Rue du Général de Castelnau, Rue du Maréchal Foch et Rue du Maréchal Joffre are homogenous, surprisingly high (up to seven stores) and broad examples of german urban lay-out and of this architectural style that summons and mixes up five centuries of european architecture as well as neo-egyptian, neo-greek and neo-babylonian styles.

The city also enjoys somme beautiful bridges, among which the medieval Ponts Couverts with its four towers is the most spectacular. Other nice bridges are the ornate 19th century Ponts de la Fonderie (stone) and d'Auvergne (iron).