NEAR THE TRAIN STATION, IN ST. GEORG
NEAR THE TRAIN STATION, IN ST. GEORG
SCHULTERBLATT (“SHOULDERBLADE”) NEIGHBORHOOD
Hamburg is Germany’s second-largest city, the richest judged by per-capita income, and its most important port—even though it is about 60 miles from the North Sea. Like other “second cities”—such as Chicago, Marseille, Glasgow, Antwerp, and St. Petersburg—Hamburg has a special pride. It’s popular with German tourists, who come here to eat fish, watch soccer games, marvel at its mighty port, and experience the fabled nightlife of the Reeperbahn, the German answer to “Sin City” (and famous for launching the Beatles’ career). On weekends year-round—and just about any time the weather is nice—the city comes alive. Foreign visitors are in the minority, and American tourists are rare. Like many port towns, Hamburg can have rough edges, but a short stay can be memorable.
Hamburg (HAHM-boork) lacks a quaint medieval center. Ye Olde Hamburg was flattened by a one-two punch that occurred over a 101-year span: First, a devastating 1842 fire gutted the town center, and then an equally devastating firebombing by Allied forces in 1943 wiped out whole neighborhoods (see sidebar on here). Today the city center is a people-friendly collection of wide streets, outdoor cafés, office buildings, and shops—not unlike the downtown cores of many American cities.
Around its edges, however, the city shows off Germany’s industrial prosperity in the 19th and 20th centuries. The name “Hamburg” very loosely derives from “castle on wet ground”—and the city, with its 2,000 bridges, is built to accommodate a 13-foot tide. A century ago, Hamburg’s seaport on the Elbe River was the third largest in the world. Today, the city’s fishy maritime atmosphere—with a constant breeze and the evocative cries of seagulls—gives Hamburg an almost Scandinavian, Dutch, or English feel that’s worlds away from the sun-drenched, Baroque joviality of Bavaria.
If you have German ancestors, there’s a good chance they left for America from here: Between 1850 and 1930, more than five million Germans emigrated to the US from Hamburg’s port. After the Iron Curtain cut off trade to the east, port traffic—and the city’s influence—dwindled. But since reunification in 1990, Hamburg has been returning to its former status as one of the biggest trade centers in Central Europe, and the city is expanding rapidly as it focuses on redeveloping its old docklands. The burgeoning HafenCity district and its spectacular Elbphilharmonie concert hall are turning Hamburg back toward its Elbe riverside. No longer content to be famous merely for its lusty sailors’ quarter and as the Beatles’ springboard to stardom, the new Hamburg expects to be seen as a cultural capital moving boldly into a promising future.
If you’re passing through on your way between Germany and Denmark, Hamburg is certainly worth a quick stop. At the very least, toss your bag in a train-station locker and enjoy a 1.5-hour hop-on, hop-off bus tour and a harbor cruise before taking an evening train out.
But with its variety of attractions, Hamburg can easily fill a rewarding day (or more) of sightseeing. While you could see the sights in any order, consider this busy all-day tour using public transit (leave by 9:30 if you plan to take the worthwhile noon harbor tour): Start at the Hauptbahnhof (main train station). It’s a pleasant 10-minute walk down the pedestrian shopping artery, Spitalerstrasse, to the Rathaus (City Hall) and nearby Binnenalster lakefront; and about the same distance again to reach the St. Nikolai Memorial. From the memorial, make your way to the Rödingsmarkt U-Bahn stop, and hop on the U-3 line to Landungsbrücken. From here, catch the noon harbor tour or take the public ferry #62 toward Finkenwerder.
Afterward, return to Landungsbrücken, then ride one stop on the #72 ferry to HafenCity and tour this urban-renewal quarter made of brick (home to the Elbphilharmonie concert hall and Speicherstadt’s renovated warehouses).
Return to the train station or your hotel by walking to the Baumwall station to catch the U-3. Or, if you’re interested in some nightlife, take the U-3 in the other direction, to the St. Pauli stop. From there, follow my self-guided “Reeperbahn Walk” (see here), then continue to the Sternschanze stop for a variety of dinner options.
Hamburg is big (1.8 million people, sprawling to 5 million in the surrounding metropolitan area). You can walk between some of its sights, but you’ll need to use public transit to reach the top ones. The city center sits between the Elbe River to the south and a lake called the Binnenalster to the north, and is surrounded by a ring road that follows the route of the old city walls. Most places of interest are just outside this central core: The train station and the St. Georg neighborhood (with good hotels and restaurants) are just east of the center; the harbor, old Speicherstadt warehouse district, and the new HafenCity zone are to the south along the Elbe; the St. Pauli waterfront district and the red light/entertainment zone along the Reeperbahn lie to the west; and just to the northwest is the lively Sternschanze quarter and Schulterblatt (“shoulderblade”) neighborhood.
Hamburg’s main TI—in the train station, above the north end of tracks 3-4—is a good place to buy a Hamburg Card (Mon-Sat 9:00-19:00, Sun 10:00-18:00, www.hamburg-travel.com). There are also TIs at the St. Pauli Landungsbrücken harborfront (daily 9:00-18:00, Thu-Sat until 19:00) and the airport (daily 6:00-23:00). For information by phone, call 040/3005-1701 (closed Sun). Visit the TI website to download a free Hamburg tourism app with tips and an offline map.
Hamburg Card: If you plan to see at least two or three museums, especially with a travel partner (or two), this card is a sound investment. Sold at TIs and public-transit ticket machines, it covers a full day of public transit plus reduced-priced entry to many sights. While these discounts are modest (10-33 percent), the card costs only a little more than a transit pass (€9.90/day, €18.50/day for groups of up to 5; 2- and 3-day passes also available).
By Train: Hamburg’s main train station has a handsome interior with a classic steel-arch design. The station is within walking distance of Hamburg’s City Hall and recommended hotels in the St. Georg neighborhood. For other destinations, use the subway and buses.
From the platforms, escalators lead up to bridges that span the tracks at the north and south ends of the building; at each end of each bridge is an exit (four exits in all). The northern bridge—look for the giant Wandelhalle sign in the middle—has most services, including ticket counters in the Reisezentrum (long hours daily). You’ll also find the TI (above tracks 3-4), WCs, a left-luggage service (next to the Reisezentrum, daily 8:00-20:00), and several banks of lockers (one is above tracks 5-6). Exit from here to reach my recommended St. Georg neighborhood hotels.
By Bus: Long-distance buses come and go from the large covered bus terminal (ZOB) located just around the corner from the southern end of the main train station (across from the Arts and Crafts Museum).
By Plane: Hamburg’s airport is a simple ride from the train station on the S-1 subway line (6/hour, 30 minutes, runs 4:30-24:00). A Hamburg Grossbereich ticket (€3.20) will cover your journey, but consider getting a transit day pass or a Hamburg Card if you’ll be doing more travel that day. Note that if you’re traveling to the airport, S-1 trains from the city divide at Ohlsdorf, one stop before the airport. Generally, the first three cars go to the airport—but pay attention to the signs and ask fellow passengers to be sure (airport code: HAM, tel. 040/50750, www.airport.de).
Fischmarkt: If you’re here on a Sunday, it’s worth getting out of bed for this venerable market (about 5:00-9:30, though the action usually lingers at least an hour later). It’s a rich sensory experience: Smell the fresh flowers (and even fresher fish), wander among colorful baskets of produce, hear the stall-keepers shout out closing-time deals, enjoy the fun music-festival vibe, and marvel at the Germans drinking beer this early in the morning (many are wrapping up a night out in St. Pauli).
To reach the market from the St. Georg neighborhood, catch bus #112 and ride it to the Hafentreppe stop (leaves from other side of train station, across the street from the end of Spitalerstrasse; 2-3/hour on Sunday mornings, 15 minutes). Otherwise, take the S-1 or S-3 to the Reeperbahn stop, or the U-3 to Landungsbrücken, and walk a few blocks to the market.
Laundry: Express Wasch-Center, near the train station and convenient to St. Georg hotels, offers both self-service and full service (Mon-Fri 8:00-19:00, Sat until 8:00-18:00, closed Sun, facing Hansaplatz at Zimmerpforte 6—from Lange Reihe, walk down Baumeisterstrasse until you reach Hansaplatz, then continue left along the north side of the square to the next street, tel. 040/280-4655).
Bike Lanes and Pedestrians: The city is a delight to explore on two wheels. Be alert: Red-brick pavement on the sidewalk means it’s a bike lane. Pedestrians make sure to stay on the gray part of the sidewalk—bicyclists show little patience for tourists who stray onto the brick.
Bike Rental: StadtRAD, Hamburg’s government-run bike-sharing program, stocks distinctive red bikes at more than 100 automated rental stations. The first half-hour is free, but you must pay a €5 registration fee that gives you about an hour of additional credit. To register, call 040/822-188-100 or visit www.stadtradhamburg.de.
Taxi: Try Hansa-Taxi (tel. 040/211-211).
Public transport makes sightseeing efficient in this spread-out city. Hamburg’s subway system includes both the U-Bahn (with four lines, U-1 to U-4) and S-Bahn (commuter rail lines). Buses and public ferries, which are both covered by the various transit passes, round out the system.
The Hamburg transport association—known as HVV—has an information office next to the TI in the train station (long hours daily, tel. 040/19449, www.hvv.de). Buy tickets from the machines marked HVV at any U-Bahn or S-Bahn stop (use coins and small bills). Buy bus tickets from the driver (will make change). Tickets bought from machines or drivers are already validated; you don’t need to stamp them again.
Single ticket prices vary with ride length; the shortest trips cost €1.60, longer trips cost €2.20, and the longest trips (within the Grossbereich—greater city limits, including the airport) cost €3.20. Key your destination into a ticket machine, and it will tell you the price of the ticket.
Day passes pay for themselves quickly and give you the run of the whole system, including ferry rides on the Elbe River. Options include the 9-Uhr-Tageskarte day pass (€6.20) or the 9-Uhr-Gruppenkarte for groups of up to five people (€11.80, neither valid Mon-Fri before 9:00). If you need to use the system before 9:00 on weekday mornings, you’ll have to buy the full-day pass (Ganztageskarte, €7.60).
As in most big German cities, you’ll find a variety of “free” walking tours (but guides hope for at least a €5/person tip). They all offer once-over-lightly walks through town with commentary that’s more entertainment than history. Look for brochures or ask at the TI for information.
For a brief orientation to the city, enjoy a short ride from the train station to the harborfront at Landungsbrücken. Starting at the Hauptbahnhof Süd U-Bahn stop, take the U-3 in the direction of Schlump/Barmbek. The first two stops are underground; then, with the Rödingsmarkt stop, you’ll emerge onto elevated tracks that run past downtown office buildings (at this stop, look right to see the St. Michael’s Church tower, and left to see the St. Nikolai Memorial tower). At the next stop, Baumwall, you can see Speicherstadt (“Warehouse City”), Hamburg’s warehouse district, and the striking new Elbphilharmonie concert hall. On the way to the next stop (Landungsbrücken), enjoy the view of the harbor, with its massive port and thriving riverfront. At Landungsbrücken you can detour to the harbor, return to the station, or continue to your destination.
With its most interesting sights scattered on the perimeter, Hamburg is well-suited to an above-ground orientation. Several companies run circular city bus tours (€15-18 for 1.5 hours, discount with Hamburg Card). The double-decker buses (which go topless when it’s sunny) offer a smooth, high ride with a steady flow of sights and brief multilingual narration, allowing you barely enough time to identify what you’re seeing.
The most logical starting points are at the train station (the double-decker buses park along Kirchenallee) and near the Landungsbrücken pier. Before boarding, make sure that you’re on a bus with English commentary. One company with frequent departures and good English guides is Die Roten Doppeldecker; look for red buses with white Stadtrundfahrt lettering (€17.50 ticket good all day, 27 stops, departs every half-hour April-Oct 9:30-17:00, less frequently Nov-March, tel. 040/792-8979, www.die-roten-doppeldecker.de). A €30 combo-ticket adds the recommended Rainer Abicht harbor boat tour; a different €30 combo-ticket adds the Maritime Circle hop-on, hop-off boat (both described on here).
To get out on the river, you can take a tour (runs in English once a day at noon), a hop-on, hop-off boat with English narration, or one of the less interesting (but cheaper and more frequent) public ferries; see here for more details. Within the city center, canal boats leisurely circle the Binnenalster lake, with a few routes also swinging through the Speicherstadt/HafenCity development (described on here).
Consider Hamburg native Tomas Kaiser (€140/2 hours, €240/half-day, rates are suggestions and he’s often flexible, mobile 0170-232-7749, tomas_kaiser@web.de). The professionals in the Hamburg guide association can cover everything from Hamburg highlights and historical sights to urban districts and boat trips. Birgit Scheffner is one of their most experienced guides (€135/2 hours, mobile 0173-739-6602, www.hamburger-gaestefuehrer.de, info@hamburger-gaestefuehrer.de).
▲Arts and Crafts Museum (Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe)
▲▲St. Nikolai Memorial (Mahnmal St. Nikolai)
BETWEEN DOWNTOWN AND THE REEPERBAHN
▲▲Hamburg History Museum (Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte)
Schulterblatt (“Shoulderblade”) Neighborhood
ST. PAULI LANDUNGSBRÜCKEN HARBORFRONT
▲▲▲Harbor and Port Guided Boat Tour
▲▲Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall
▲▲International Maritime Museum (Internationales Maritimes Museum)
▲BallinStadt Emigration Museum
Hamburg’s impressive Rathaus, a mix of Historicist styles (from 1897), was designed to showcase the wealth and grandeur of turn-of-the-20th-century imperial Germany. While the building is called a “City Hall,” Hamburg actually forms its own Land (state) within the Federal Republic of Germany, and the council that meets in the City Hall chambers is more like a state legislature.
Cost and Hours: Free to enter entrance hall and inner courtyard, daily 10:00-18:00; daily €4 English-language tours run every two hours 11:15-15:15, plus Sat at 16:15 (45 minutes, may be canceled for special events, more frequent German-language tours); on Rathausmarkt, tel. 040/428-312-064, www.hamburg.de/rathausfuehrung.
Getting There: The City Hall has its own stop on the U-3 subway line (Rathaus); it’s also very near the Jungfernstieg stop on the U-1, U-2, and U-4 lines. Enter the building under the archway into the lobby, where you’ll find a desk with free info sheets and tour tickets.
Hamburg’s delightful lakes started as one big lake that formed when townsfolk built a mill that dammed the Alster River. During the Thirty Years’ War, the city fortified itself behind a defensive wall that split the millpond in two.
To reach the first of these lakes from the square in front of City Hall, simply walk to the adjacent canal and turn right. From anywhere else in the city, ride the S-Bahn or U-Bahn to the Jungfernstieg stop.
Binnenalster: The smaller and (as its name suggests) inner of the two lakes, the Binnenalster lies a long block from the plaza in front of City Hall. For a good look at it, head out to the little viewpoint at the south corner of the lake (near the canal boat dock). Look left along the waterside Jungfernstieg, the city’s most elegant promenade and home to its top-of-the-line shops. These include a huge Apple Store (at #12) and the flagship showroom of Nivea (established in Hamburg in 1911, at #51). Along the shore to the right, you can see the headquarters of Hamburg’s most important shipping company, Hapag-Lloyd. This area gives you a good look at how the city rebuilt after its fire in the mid-19th century, when it turned its back on the Elbe to face this lake. For a better view, visit the fourth-floor self-service restaurant inside the Alsterhaus (at #16) or the Thalia bookstore (inside the huge Europa Passage shopping mall).
Red-and-white Alsterschippern canal boats leave from the dock on Jungfernstieg for sleepy one-hour tours around the lakes (€15, every 30 minutes 10:00-18:00, less frequent Oct-March, live German guide, recorded English commentary, tel. 040/357-4240, www.alstertouristik.de). A two-hour version adds a trip through the Speicherstadt and HafenCity urban-renewal zone (€21, 3/day, 1/day off-season).
Aussenalster: The “outer Alster” is the bigger, more parklike and residential of Hamburg’s lakes. In the past, when private gardens tumbled down from mansions lining the lake, much of the Aussenalster was off-limits to most citizens. But a 1953 law guaranteed public lake access for everyone, and walking and biking paths now trace its nearly five-mile-long shore, providing Hamburg—one of Germany’s greenest cities—with sprawling parkland. On a nice day, the lake is jam-packed with sailboats. With extra time, you could take a bike ride (see “Helpful Hints,” earlier) or rent a rowboat or sailboat at the small marina. Tiny arms of the lake stretch scenically into fancy residential neighborhoods at the north end.
This sprawling and worthwhile art collection fills several buildings just north of the train station with Old Masters, New Masters, 19th-century artists, and Modern Masters. The core of the collection is displayed in the Lichtwark Gallery building, where visitors will find fine examples by 20th-century German Expressionists (Max Beckmann, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner) and 19th-century Romantics (Caspar David Friedrich). In the spacious, light-filled foyer (recently renovated), notice the historic terrazzo floor from 1869, which had been hidden for many decades under linoleum. The Galerie der Gegenwart (Gallery of the Present) is the contemporary art annex, featuring German heavyweights like Gerhard Richter. The museum also presents excellent special exhibits, which can be reason enough to visit.
Cost and Hours: €12 on weekdays, €14 Sat-Sun, includes special exhibits; Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00, Thu until 21:00, closed Mon; audioguide-€3-5, café, Glockengiesserwall, tel. 040/428-131-200, www.hamburger-kunsthalle.de.
South of the train station, this museum has three floors of decorative and applied arts. The focus is on historical European items (ground floor), with more than 30,000 objects from the Middle Ages and on. The upper floors feature items from other periods and places, including Asian and Islamic pieces. Taken together, the sculptures, ceramics, textiles, furniture, jewelry, and musical instruments displayed here are a tangible timeline of human creativity and inventiveness. The temporary exhibits are often excellent.
Cost and Hours: €12, €8 on Thu after 17:00; open Tue-Sun 10:00-18:00, Thu until 21:00, closed Mon; English audioguide may be available, café, Steintorplatz, tel. 040/428-134-880, www.mkg-hamburg.de.
Before the mid-20th century, downtown Hamburg’s skyline had five main churches, each with a bold tower. Today there are still five towers...but only four churches. The missing one is St. Nikolai. It was designed in Neo-Gothic style by British architect George Gilbert Scott, and for a brief time after its completion in 1874, it was the world’s tallest church (at 483 feet; its spire is still the fifth tallest in the world). The church was destroyed by the Operation Gomorrah firebombing in 1943 (see sidebar). Its tower (open to visitors) and a few charred walls have been left as a ruin to commemorate those lost, and museum exhibits in the church cellar detail Hamburg’s wartime destruction. As with similarly ruined churches in Berlin and Coventry (in England), a stroll here, between the half-destroyed walls of a once-stunning church, is an evocative reminder of the horrors of war.
Cost and Hours: Ruins-free to explore and always viewable; tower and museum-€5, open daily 10:00-18:00, Oct-April until 17:00; Willy-Brandt-Strasse 60, tel. 040/371125, www.mahnmal-st-nikolai.de. It’s a five-minute walk from the Rödingsmarkt U-Bahn station—just follow busy Willy-Brandt-Strasse toward the tower—or a 10-minute walk from the Speicherstadt district or City Hall.
Visiting the Memorial: The footprint of the church has a few information posts as well as some modern memorials. Where the original altar once stood is now a simple concrete altar; behind it is a 1972 mosaic (Ecce Homo) based on a drawing by German Expressionist artist Oskar Kokoschka, showing Jesus on the cross being offered a vinegar-soaked sponge. The tower’s 51-bell carillon, funded with local donations in 1993, plays music daily at 9:00, 12:00, 15:00, and 18:00. A live carillonneur plays 30-minute concerts every Thursday at noon.
The tower still stands tall above the shell of the former church, and you can ride a speedy elevator 250 feet up to its observation platform. This vantage point provides a good visual orientation to Hamburg, with views of City Hall and lakes in one direction and the Speicherstadt warehouse district in the other (supplemented by a half-dozen informational panels).
The underground museum is modest yet effective, depicting the life, death, and resurrection of the church. Photos show the church’s interior in all of its pre-WWII glory alongside bits salvaged after the bombing (including some original stained-glass windows). Start in the hallway with a timeline of the church’s history. In the first room, follow the counterclockwise display through a detailed retelling of the devastating firestorm. Then, in the second room, finish with a thoughtful examination of how the city came to grips with its aftermath—logistically, culturally, and morally. Consider that Hamburg’s senior citizens experienced the firebombing firsthand—and yet the museum does not paint the Allied forces as bad guys, and reminds visitors that Hitler had done much the same to other cities (see the photos of a destroyed Warsaw) long before the destruction was visited upon German soil. One display even invites visitors to imagine the fear and guilt experienced by the British bombers (many of whom were unaware they’d be attacking a civilian center).
Architecture fans will enjoy this interesting red-brick, flatiron building (north of Willy-Brandt-Strasse across the street from the Messberg U-Bahn station). The Chile-Haus is shaped like a ship, down to the railing-lined balconies on the upper floors that resemble decks, and comes to a razor-sharp point at the corner. Designed by Henry Sloman in 1922-1924, it’s considered the single best example of the “Brick Expressionist” school of architecture. While there’s no museum, you can poke around the courtyard (with unpretentious cafés and shops that seem oblivious to the site’s significance) and step into the entrance lobbies, still decorated with the Art Deco-style directories of the original tenants.
With its port, munitions factories, and transportation links, Hamburg was a prime target for Allied bombers during World War II. After studying what the Luftwaffe did to Coventry in 1940, the British decided to use the same techniques against Hamburg on July 27, 1943. They hit targets first with explosive bombs to open roofs, break water mains, and tear up streets (making it hard for firefighters to respond), then followed up with incendiary bombs. Designed to destroy a city known for its licentious ways, the attack was given the codename Operation Gomorrah.
But it had been a hot, dry summer, and when 700 RAF bombers concentrated their attack on a relatively small area, the result was an exceptionally intense firestorm. A tornado of flames raged at up to 150 miles per hour, reaching temperatures of 1500°F. Many inhabitants were baked to death huddling inside their air-raid shelters. Some who went outside were sucked off their feet, disappearing up into the super-heated vortex. Roads and sidewalks caught on fire—those who tried to run across the roadways got their shoes stuck in boiling asphalt.
In three hours, the inferno killed an estimated 35,000 people, left hundreds of thousands homeless, and reduced eight square miles of Hamburg to rubble and ashes. At the end of the eight-day bombing campaign, which included US raids, about one million survivors had fled the city. The firebombing of Dresden two years later is better known, but far more people died in Hamburg. And while the earlier Nazi bombings of London, Rotterdam, and Coventry were deadly, some historians say the firebombing of Hamburg was World War II’s first widespread destruction of a major city.
This delightfully decadent chocolate universe is the sweet to Hamburg’s salty. Most people find the museum’s free shop—itself a tempting tribute to cocoa—enough of a treat. The museum is an expensive interactive experience: A mandatory 90-minute guided tour wraps history, tasting, and creation into one. You’ll leave with your own hand-made chocolate bar.
Cost and Hours: Shop free and open daily 10:00-18:00; €15 tours run every 30 minutes in German (ask for English handout), English tours usually Wed-Mon at 13:45, and on occasional afternoons—check website; Messberg 1—enter on Pumpen street, across from Chile-Haus, tel. 040/4191-2300, www.chocoversum.de.
While unexceptional by European standards, Hamburg’s most famous church, known around here simply as “der Michel,” is worth a look if you have time. The interior is bright and wide; the decoration, unusually ornate for a Protestant church, recalls its Baroque origins (it opened in 1768). A total rebuild after a 1906 fire—started by workers repairing the roof—lent the church a little of the flavor of an early 20th-century movie palace. The church has fine acoustics (a special channel brings the organ’s sound through a latticed grate in the ceiling) and hosts many concerts. You can ascend its 350-foot-high, lantern-shaped tower (452 steps, or 52 steps plus an elevator) to see the clock and bell mechanics. While the views are fine, they’re not spectacular—revealing how dull and modern Hamburg’s urban core is.
Cost and Hours: Free but €2 requested donation, tower-€5, skippable crypt-€4, combo-ticket-€7; daily 9:00-20:00, Nov-April 10:00-18:00, closed to visitors during services; Englische Planke 1, tel. 040/376-780, www.st-michaelis.de. Several U- and S-Bahn stops are about a 10-minute walk away, including Baumwall, Rödingsmarkt, and Stadthausbrücke.
Nearby: At Krayenkamp 10, about 50 yards behind the church, duck through the archway for a glimpse of the Krameramtsstuben, a few half-timbered buildings along a narrow lane that are rare survivors from 17th-century Hamburg. Tour-bus visitors crowd the souvenir shops in the lane.
Like the history of the city it covers, this museum is long, complex, and multilayered. Filling a giant old building with a staggering variety of artifacts and historical re-creations, the modern, thoughtful exhibits work together to illuminate the full story of Hamburg (with an emphasis on its status as one of the world’s biggest shipping ports). Multiple large models of the city at various points in its history help you track how the place changed over time—industrial development, devastating 1842 fire, WWII firebombing, modern sprawl—and the included audioguide engagingly ties everything together.
The core of the exhibit is on the first floor; the ground floor has exhibits on the 20th century and a delightful Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) café with seating in the glassed-in courtyard; and the top floor has large exhibits on Hamburg’s Jewish community and beautifully re-created Baroque-era rooms. As the museum is close to the St. Pauli U-Bahn stop, it’s easy to combine with a visit to the Reeperbahn (described later) for a day of contrasts.
Cost and Hours: €9.50, includes audioguide, Tue-Sat 10:00-17:00, Sun until 18:00, closed Mon, Holstenwall 24, tel. 040/428-132-100, www.hamburgmuseum.de.
Nearby: The museum sits within the inviting park around the Grosse Wallanlagen rampart in the Planten un Blomen gardens (described on here), which curls around the route of the former moat, through the heart of town to the Binnenalster and Aussenalster lakes. For a nice approach to the museum from the St. Pauli U-Bahn stop, cut through the park and around the back of the museum (see orientation maps at park entrance).
Although the composer was born in this part of Hamburg, Johannes Brahms’ actual boyhood home is long gone. This museum has a modest collection that would interest only Brahms devotees.
Cost and Hours: €5, Tue-Sun 10:00-17:00, closed Mon, about a block from Hamburg Museum at Peterstrasse 39, tel. 040/4191-3086, www.brahms-hamburg.de.
Take New Orleans’ Bourbon Street, Las Vegas’ Strip, and Amsterdam’s Red Light District, mix them up in a cocktail shaker, and you’ve got a tall glass of Reeperbahn (“roper’s path”—pronounced RAY-pehr-bahn). It’s named after the legions of rope makers who once labored here to supply Hamburg’s shipping industry. Now it’s Germany’s most famous nightlife district, home to some of Hamburg’s musical theaters and a thriving prostitution scene.
Many tourists are understandably put off by the area’s sleaziness—but consider that by concentrating all of it here, the Reeperbahn makes the rest of the city that much classier. The Reeperbahn may be less of a big deal in the age of online porn and Internet-based prostitution, but the street remains a huge destination for Germans. Don’t fear the Reeper...it’s a fascinating look at a facet of German society.
You can do the 30-minute walk described here at any time of day, but you’ll find it much livelier after dark—the later the better. The area is generally safe (as long as you don’t go looking for trouble), with a prominently located police station in the middle of the Reeperbahn.
Self-Guided Walk: Start at the St. Pauli U-Bahn station (after hours, the stop announcement on the loudspeaker says, “Nächste halt: St. Pauli...viel Spass!”—Have fun!). Exit the platform following signs to Reeperbahn.
St. Pauli U-Bahn Station to Davidstrasse: Towering above the U-Bahn station is a landmark skyscraper nicknamed “The Dancing Tower” for the way one half of it leans romantically into the other.
Cross the street, keeping the Dancing Tower on your left, and begin walking down the busy Reeperbahn. Most of the action in the neighborhood is along this main drag, a broad avenue with heavy car traffic that runs between the St. Pauli U-Bahn stop and the Reeperbahn S-Bahn stop. The east end of the avenue, which you’ll see first, is fairly tame—it’s gentrifying quickly, with high-rise buildings, chain hotels, and classier coffee shops, restaurants, and clubs going up—along with real-estate prices (this is some of the most expensive land in town). The west end (which you’ll reach later) is more run-down.
As you stroll down the street, you’ll see nightclubs, casinos, restaurants, fast-food joints, glitzy brothels, erotic theaters, and sex shops displaying toys and gadgets for every persuasion. On weekend evenings, and into the wee hours, this place is hopping with thousands of young partiers from all over north Germany, who’ve converged on Hamburg to dance the weekend away. Dance clubs coordinate in a kind of throbbing relay to keep the beat going from Friday evening straight through to Monday morning.
Daylight makes the area feel seedy—the buildings look bleary-eyed and in need of makeup, and the sidewalks, littered with broken glass and puke, await cleaning. Nighttime is when it comes to life.
Red Light District: After a couple of blocks, on the left, you’ll see the most famous police station in Germany: a cute little red-brick building (“Davidwache”) that keeps an eye on things (it’s where the Reeperbahn meets the street called Davidstrasse, to the left, and Hein-Hoyer-Strasse, to the right). Turn left here and follow Davidstrasse a couple of blocks. Streetwalkers are only allowed in a few specific places here (such as the west side of Davidstrasse), and only after 20:00.
If you’re a guy, expect aggressive flirtation after dark on the right side of the street. The women may be down-and-out, but they’re clever at helping each other; if one figures out your language, she’ll whisper it to the next prostitute down the street so she’ll know how to engage you. If you walk on the left side of the street, you won’t be hassled at all.
Except for the streetwalkers and a few brothels nearby, Hamburg’s Red Light District is limited to Herbertstrasse, one small lane set apart by two Nazi-era metal barriers (two blocks up Davidstrasse, on the right). The fascist ideal was a Germany with no prostitution, but the Third Reich pragmatically allowed it in Hamburg to accommodate the hordes of sailors who’d come ashore here after many lonely weeks at sea. The rest of society, however, was meant to be oblivious to the city’s sex trade, so up went the barricades. Any man who wants to can scoot around them and stroll down the street, which is lined with glass-doored cabins where women try to entice prospective customers. Women, however, are by custom not allowed on Herbertstrasse (except the ones working here, of course), but I’ve seen female tourists walk around the barriers to gaze at the scene. Don’t take photos here. The prostitutes here are self-employed and run their businesses without pimps. Compared to the prostitutes on the streets and in the brothels, these are pricier and considered top-end.
From here you’re a short walk to the St. Pauli Landungsbrücken harborfront (described on here); if you want to visit it now, follow Davidstrasse—and the sound of seagulls—downhill as it curves and empties onto St. Pauli Hafenstrasse (landing you just across from the green-domed St. Pauli Elbtunnel entrance).
To finish this walk, return up Davidstrasse to the Reeperbahn, cross the boulevard, and turn left. A couple of blocks along, the brothel called Paradise Point of Sex is free to enter, open 24 hours—and staffed with security guards. In front you’ll see an old, tall, iron lamppost in the sidewalk that looks like it might be a portal to another dimension; it marks the historic border between Denmark and Germany (the long entry corridor leading to the brothel actually traces the old border). Go a few more paces to the next corner, with the round vinyl record-shaped pattern in the pavement and the cheap tin statues of a certain four English rock-n-rollers. This cross street is...
Grosse Freiheit: The street’s name means “Great Freedom”—a reference not to sexual liberation, but the religious and economic freedom of this formerly Danish border zone. For most of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, Denmark was particularly powerful, with borders that extended farther south than they do today (and much, much farther north). What’s now the Altona district (the area just west of the Reeperbahn S-Bahn stop) was, until 1864, the Danish city of Altona. In its heyday, it was Denmark’s second city, a leading port, the southern terminus of the Danish railway system, and a magnet for Germans seeking free trade (unconstrained by the regulations of guilds) and religious tolerance.
Today, Grosse Freiheit is lined with noisy teen dance clubs and table-dancing bars. While the Beatles Museum closed in 2012 (a sign of a declining Beatles fan base?), you can still visit a nearby monument to the now-gone Star Club, where the Beatles played a number of gigs (in a courtyard 30 yards before the church—behind the bar at #35 that features famous German transvestite Olivia Jones—go down the brick passage, follow Kiez Alm Hamburg signs, and look left).
Walk down Grosse Freiheit toward a church buried in all this sex and booze. Hamburg was an officially Protestant city, and, as elsewhere in Germany, any Christian denominations other than the locally established one were strongly discouraged. Danes, though also mostly Protestant, had a more tolerant attitude, and the street of “Great Freedom” was home to St. Joseph’s Church, the first Catholic church built in northern Europe after the Reformation (in 1660). Hamburg’s Catholics could sneak over the border to worship here at Grosse Freiheit 41.
The Reeperbahn S-Bahn stop and the St. Pauli U-Bahn stop are nearby, and it’s a quick and easy €10 taxi ride back to your hotel any time of day or night. You’re also a short walk north to the youthful Schulterblatt (“Shoulderblade”) area (described next).
For music lovers, the Reeperbahn’s greatest significance is the role it played as the launching pad for the Beatles, who were unknowns when they arrived in Hamburg from Liverpool to play a season’s worth of gigs in 1960. The group consisted of John, Paul, and George, plus drummer Pete Best (later replaced by Ringo Starr) and bassist Stuart Sutcliffe (who gave up music for art school in 1961, and died shortly thereafter).
Unpolished amateurs when they arrived, the band members became tight, hard-driving musicians by playing to a tough crowd night after night—they played 98 days straight at one point. While they were here, Ringo joined the band, and Sutcliffe’s German girlfriend gave them their signature haircuts. By the time they left Hamburg for good in 1962, the Beatles had released several hit singles, had made their first TV appearance back in England, and were just months away from international stardom.
For a colorful slice of today’s Hamburg and a wonderful breath of fresh cultural air (especially if you’re coming here after walking the Reeperbahn), walk or ride the U- or S-Bahn to Sternschanze and explore an up-and-coming neighborhood with so many cafés it’s nicknamed “Latte Macchiato Boulevard.” While the broader area is known as the Schanzenviertel (for its main drag), the liveliest subsection is at the triangle formed by Susannenstrasse, Schulterblatt, and Schanzenstrasse. This trendy, youthful little area has piles of character, unique boutiques, and great places for a meal (for suggestions, see “Eating in Hamburg,” later). The streets feel enlivened by the creative energy of a squatter-building-turned-arts-venue (look for the ruins covered with graffiti overlooking Schulterblatt), an edgy-yet-charming park behind it (with a WWII-era bunker-turned-climbing wall), and a strip of fun eateries booming with a professional clientele composed of media/software/publicity-types.
The wide strip of parkland called Planten un Blomen (“plants and flowers”) stretches all the way from the harbor to the Binnenalster lake on the site of Hamburg’s old city wall. Of the park’s varied sections, the most worthwhile is the northern stretch, near the Stephansplatz U-Bahn or Dammtor S-Bahn stops. It’s an oasis of calm ponds, playful fountains, happy bunny rabbits, and colorful gardens (including a rose garden and a Japanese garden). Dotted with cafés, it’s an ideal place to stroll with an ice-cream cone after a day of sightseeing—or sit back in an Adirondack chair under the shadow of the ray-gun TV tower.
Cost and Hours: Free; daily 7:00-20:00, later in summer, best before dark; S-11, S-21, or S-31 to Dammtor or U-1 to Stephansplatz; www.plantenunblomen.hamburg.de.
Once Hamburg’s passenger ship terminal, this half-mile-long floating dock, which parallels the waterfront, is now a thriving, touristy, borderline-tacky wharf that locals call “the Balcony of Hamburg.” A visit is worth ▲▲. From here you can inhale the inviting aroma of herring and French fries while surveying the harbor and the city’s vast port.
From the Landungsbrücken S- and U-Bahn stop (or from Davidstrasse, if you’re walking down from the Reeperbahn), head toward the water. As you walk down, you’ll be assailed by employees of the many tour-boat companies, each pitching their trips—ignore them (most are German language-only excursions). You’ll see the venerable light-brown stone former terminal building (now filled with shops, a busy TI, and a Hard Rock Café), with its appropriately grandiose tower meant to evoke the ancient lighthouse in Alexandria, Egypt.
From the landing you can catch a public ferry, hop a guided boat tour, walk a short way to hike under the river, or tour a historic ship. Consider a lunch break at the harbor’s own brewery, the recommended Blockbräu.
Facing the water behind the terminal building, nine numbered docks—a.k.a. the Landungsbrücken (“landing bridges”)—stretch along the harbor. The numbers get larger from left to right—bridge 1 (with the SS Rickmer Rickmers museum ship and ferry #72) is to the far left; the Landungsbrücken S- and U-Bahn pedestrian overpass and ferry #62 are at bridge 3; and the terminal building and Rainer Abicht cruises are at bridges 1 and 4. Notice how this area, like the rest of Hamburg’s waterfront, is designed to accommodate the Elbe’s 13-foot tides.
On especially sunny days and most weekends the harbor swells with tourists eager to get on the water. Public ferries are crowded, and riders scrum at the gangway to fight their way onboard. If you’re short on time or patience, consider taking one of the tour boats (listed below) instead.
Of the hundred or so big-boat harbor tours that go daily here, only a few come with English narration. The best is Rainer Abicht, whose excellent tour (once a day in English) gives you a skyline view from the water of all the construction in Hamburg. The industrial port is a major focus of the trip, and getting up close to all those massive container ships, cranes, and dry and wet docks is breathtaking. The live commentary (which switches between English and German) is fascinating and entertaining. You can order a drink to sip as you take it all in from the deck (bring a sandwich for a discreet picnic).
Cost and Hours: One-hour harbor tour-€20 (€30 combo-ticket with Roten Doppeldecker bus tour), English tour runs April-Oct daily at 12:00, no English tours off-season, tel. 040/317-8220, www.abicht.de. Their waterside ticket windows are by bridge 1 at the promenade and by bridge 4 (look for the blue-and-white boats).
Maritime Circle Line operates a 1.5-hour journey with English narration three times a day covering the basic harbor highlights. The only real benefit of choosing this over a harbor tour is the freedom to disembark at any of its stops, including the BallinStadt Emigration Museum.
Cost and Hours: €16 (€30 combo-ticket with Roten Doppeldecker bus tour, discounts with Hamburg Card), April-Oct daily at 11:00, 13:00, and 15:00, some off-season tours with fewer stops, tel. 040/2849-3963, www.maritime-circle-line.de. Ticket windows and departure point are at bridge 10.
Hamburg’s ferries, which take the same tickets and passes as the S-Bahn and U-Bahn, give you a fine look at the harbor and a lot of the port action, but won’t actually take you into the industrial port area—for that, you’ll need to take one of the privately operated tour boats listed earlier. There’s no point in riding this ferry if you’re already taking a privately operated tour. Take ferry line #62 (3-4/hour 7:00-21:00, 2/hour 21:00-23:00), and use your transit-system day pass (ticket machines on the docks and on board) or Hamburg Card. The ride described below takes about one hour. Only bigger ferries have WCs and snack booths—but bringing a picnic on board is fully OK.
Self-Guided Tour: From the Landungsbrücken terminal building, go to bridge 3 and find the signs for ferry line #62 to Finkenwerder. With stops, it’s a 28-minute trip downstream and another 28 minutes back—if you like, you can stay on the same ferry, but boats leave often enough for easy hopping on and off.
Riding toward Finkenwerder, the first stop is Fischmarkt, which hosts a popular market (produce, fish, flea market) that’s only open on Sunday morning (see here).
The second stop is Dockland, also the name of the enormous office building designed to look like a gigantic yacht. Its “stern” is actually a series of climbable terraces that lead to a viewpoint rooftop.
Soon after Dockland, watch on the right for the Schlepper (tugboat) station, with a row of tugs lined up and ready to go. Because Hamburg sits about 60 miles inland from the sea, arriving ships have to traverse a long stretch of river—and at the regulated low speeds, very large ships can’t get enough momentum going to steer, forcing them to rely on this fleet of plucky tugboats. Behind them, notice the red line on the quay. This was the high-water mark of the 1962 flood, which killed more than 300 people and destroyed about 6,000 buildings within the city.
As you pull into Neumühlen, the third stop, consider that you’re cruising right over the eight lanes of autobahn traffic that speed through a tunnel (built in 1975). You could break your journey here, below hillside villas in the posh neighborhood of Övelgönne. You can see the modest “museum harbor” (Museumshafen) of retired boats bobbing near the ferry dock, eat lunch at one of the two reasonably priced cafés nearby (Elbterrassen and Museumshafen Café), or enjoy Hamburg’s beach (a short walk downstream, visible from the ferry pier). Bus #112, which terminates at the Neumühlen pier, runs every 15 minutes and is an alternative way to get from Övelgönne back to St. Pauli and the train station (it also gives you a look at the suburb of Altona). Or, ride the boat all the way to Finkenwerder, then turn around to sail back to Landungsbrücken.
The Finkenwerder stop, where the ferry turns around, is on an island that’s home to Airbus’ test runway (closed to the public), which was used to develop the superjumbo A380.
Quickie Option: For a shorter ferry ride than the one I’ve just described, try this: At Landungsbrücken, go to bridge 1 and catch line #72 toward the city center to HafenCity and the Elbphilharmonie concert hall (7-minute trip, 2-3/hour, daily 9:00-20:00, weeknights until 21:30).
Continental Europe’s oldest underwater tunnel, built in 1911, is marked by a green-domed entry hall designed to resemble the Pantheon in Rome (just past the Hard Rock Café at the right end of the terminal building, close to bridge 6). To take a memorable look at some century-old technology, walk down the stairs or ride an elevator—ogling the big wooden industrial elevators that cars use (free entrance). At the bottom, look down the full quarter-mile length of the tunnel and wonder how it can safely lie just 40 feet under the surface of the Elbe (meaning big ships cannot go upstream past here). Inside, it’s 15 feet high—just high enough for a coachman to hold his horse whip upright. For a little exercise, and a great view of Hamburg from across the river, walk or bike through the tunnel to the other side. Once across, ride the elevator or huff up the stairs to the surface. As you exit, turn right and head toward the back of the building and the water to find a terrace with a great panoramic view of Hamburg and a helpful orientation board that identifies the major landmarks.
Sailboat enthusiasts will enjoy this three-masted, steel-hulled ship (moored near bridge 1). Built in Bremerhaven in 1896, it’s been restored—largely by volunteers—and is now open to the public. You can explore the ship’s four decks, including the crew quarters, engine room, and a handful of exhibits.
Cost and Hours: €5, daily 10:00-18:00, tel. 040/319-5959, www.rickmer-rickmers.de.
Nearby: In front of the ship is a café that’s a little quieter than the others along the Landungsbrücken—it’s a pleasant place to eat lunch while watching the ferries come and go.
Together, the neighboring port districts of HafenCity and Speicherstadt are worth ▲▲. A century ago, Hamburg’s port was the world’s third largest, and in Europe it’s still second only to Rotterdam’s. The port was built right up next to the city center, as the small city-state of Hamburg couldn’t defend a remote harbor. But with the advent of huge modern container ships, most marine business shifted to a larger and more modern port nearby (you’ll see these big container ships docking under the huge cranes after their North Sea voyage). All this prime real estate, just a half-mile from City Hall, suddenly became available and is now being redeveloped.
Getting to HafenCity and Speicherstadt: For an atmospheric approach, go to the Landungsbrücken S- and U-Bahn stop and take public ferry #72 one stop upstream (see here). You’ll disembark by HafenCity’s landmark Elbphilharmonie concert hall.
You can also take the U-3 subway line to Baumwall, walk across either of the Niederbaumbrücke bridges, and turn left onto Kehrwieder street and into the Speicherstadt district. After strolling between the canal (on your left) and a row of warehouses (on your right) for about five minutes, look for Block D (described later).
HafenCity is Europe’s biggest urban development project (and, they claim, the biggest ongoing project in the world for the next 20 years). When it’s done, downtown Hamburg will be 40 percent bigger, and the city will again face the Elbe River. Planners hope that 45,000 people will eventually work here and 12,000 will call it home. The area feels like a city in itself, with a maritime touch, interesting modern architecture, and a mix of business, culture, and leisure. On weekends locals flock here to take a stroll, bask in the sun, and enjoy a break from the city.
The centerpiece of the HafenCity development (and a building that promises to become a symbol of modern Germany) is the jaw-dropping Elbphilharmonie—a combination concert hall, hotel, and apartment complex, all contained in a towering and wildly beautiful piece of architecture. Though it was staggeringly behind schedule and over budget (costing €865 million instead of €77 million), it’s nevertheless a source of pride and excitement among Hamburg’s citizens. Its daring design and huge size fit in well with the massive scale of the port around it—and when approached by water, it calls to mind the looming prows of the steamer ships that first put Hamburg on the world map.
For visitors, the heart of the complex is the Plaza level, which connects the renovated old harbor warehouse below with the modern glass tower above. From the main entrance of the 360-foot-tall, 360-foot-long structure, visitors ride a 270-foot-long escalator (dubbed the “Tube”). At the top you’ll enjoy a spectacular view down the Elbe toward the harbor and docks. A second, shorter escalator takes you to the Plaza level, where you’ll find an outdoor promenade that wraps around the entire level (plus a café and souvenir shop).
Cost and Hours: The Plaza level is open daily 9:00-24:00 to anyone with a Plaza ticket. Tickets are free for same-day visits but subject to availability (get tickets from machines in the entrance foyer, open daily 11:00-20:00). To guarantee you’ll get in, buy timed-entry tickets a day or more in advance (€2, buy online or at the ground-floor ticket office, tel. 040/3576-6660, www.elbphilharmonie.de). Anyone with a concert ticket can enter the Plaza for no additional charge up to two hours before the event. It’s at Platz der Deutschen Einheit 1.
Concerts: Tickets for events and concerts at the Elbphilharmonie can be booked by telephone, online, or by email (ticket tel. 040/3576-6666, www.elbphilharmonie.de, tickets@elbphilharmonie.de), or in person at the visitors center described earlier.
Guided Tours: Hour-long guided tours of the complex run in English daily, taking visitors through the old Kaispeicher warehouse, the Plaza, the foyer areas, and the Grand Hall. Tickets are released roughly one month out and can be purchased online or in person at the ground-floor ticket office (€15, schedule varies with performances, no tours in July, www.elbphilharmonie.de/tours).
This state-of-the-art exhibit fills nine floors of a towering brick ex-warehouse with thousands of maritime artifacts—while reminding visitors that “the sail came before the wheel” and “rowing came before the saddle.” Despite its name, its perspective is more German than international, but that’s part of what makes it interesting (and nearly everything is well-described in English).
Ride the lift to the ninth “deck” (floor) to start with the world’s biggest collection of miniature ship models, and then work your way down—each floor has a different military or civilian maritime theme: paintings and ship models; deep-sea research; the history of merchant shipping and cruise ships; exploration, colonization, and warfare (with good exhibits on the naval warfare of World Wars I and II); uniforms, medals, and insignias from around the world; the history of shipbuilding; global seafaring history; and navigation. Between the first and second decks is an enormous model of the RMS Queen Mary 2 (which often sails from just a few blocks away)...made entirely of Legos.
Cost and Hours: €13, daily 10:00-18:00, audioguide-€3.50, Koreastrasse 1, Kaispeicher B, tel. 040/3009-2300, www.imm-hamburg.de.
This “Warehouse City,” between HafenCity and the city center, is a huge stand of red-brick riverside warehouses. It was originally built over a 40-year span, starting in the 1880s. Half of it, however, was destroyed in World War II. The area was rebuilt and officially remained part of Hamburg’s port zone until 2003.
But after container terminals sprung up across the river, it no longer made sense to store goods here. Rather than tear down the warehouses, the city preserved them as part of the urban landscape, with a few museums and theme-park-like attractions catering mostly to German visitors. The redevelopment is still a work in progress, and the new buildings are not yet fully occupied, but the project is a great source of pride and interest among locals and German tourists (it’s the best-known waterfront revival effort in this mostly landlocked country).
Wander around. Make sure to cross one of the side bridges to experience the length of the loading canals and to imagine this industrial area when it was full of barges and dockworkers. On the Pickhuben Bridge, at the corner of Pickhuben and Kannengiesserort, a plaque shows photographs of the warehouses after the WWII bombing. Each of the older Speicherstadt warehouses is labeled with a letter—such as Block D, home to the sights listed next.
The most fun sight within the big Block D complex—and worth its high entry fee—Miniatur Wunderland claims to have the world’s largest model railway, covering over 16,000 square feet with more than 9.5 miles of track. Marvel at the tiny airport (with model planes taking off), and watch night fall every 15 minutes. Visit the Alps, Scandinavia, Italy, and the US in miniature (the latter complete with a shootout scene and even Area 51). Little bits come to life with a press of a green-lit button—bungee jumpers leap, the drive-in plays a movie, and tiny Bavarians hoist teeny beer mugs to their mini-mouths. Hamburg’s harbor is lovingly rendered—including the building you’re standing in—with a model of the Elbphilharmonie that lets you peek inside.
Cost and Hours: €13, daily 9:30-18:00, longer hours in peak season, Kehrwieder 4, Block D, tel. 040/300-6800, www.miniatur-wunderland.com.
Crowd-Beating Tips: The model railway is wildly popular, so it’s a good idea to reserve online or via phone at least a couple of days in advance (no extra charge). If you haven’t reserved, expect as much as a two-hour wait to get in. Check their website for estimated wait times and recommended arrival times for the day you want to visit. It’s most crowded from midmorning through early afternoon, and swamped on school holidays.
This café and coffee roastery in Block D is worth a visit for its display of historical photos. On the entry-hall wall on the right, you’ll see photographs of Speicherstadt when it was still lined with medieval-looking half-timbered warehouses. These were torn down after 1881, when Hamburg joined the German customs union, and the current, then-state-of-the-art buildings were constructed. The café serves sandwiches, cakes, and desserts, and sells coffee by the bag and other small gifts (daily 10:00-19:00, tel. 040/3751-8683). You’ll enter the café through a flood gate—which can be closed in high water. (Tidal bores are a real danger along the Elbe, so all new building in Hamburg is well above water level.)
As you leave the café, look straight ahead across the canal into the city center to see a single short row of surviving half-timbered warehouses that still stand along Deichstrasse...and mentally expand this stretch across the harbor area to imagine the industrious, salty charm of 17th-century Hamburg.
This engaging museum, a German counterpart to Ellis Island, tells the story of emigration to America through Hamburg from the mid-19th century up through World War II. Especially after 1890, many emigrants from the Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires—today’s Eastern Europe—went first to Hamburg, by train or even on foot, before boarding a ship to cross the ocean. The museum has less in the way of actual artifacts and more in the way of big, colorful re-creations of living conditions and interactive exhibits. It offers a dynamic and kid-friendly look at a powerful topic, and can be a moving experience for travelers with emigrant roots.
The museum complex is named after Albert Ballin, who was director of the Hamburg-America Line at the time the former emigration halls were built. Considered the father of the modern cruise industry, Ballin started his career working in his family’s small emigration agency. He committed suicide in November 1918, worried (rightly, as it turned out) that his company’s ships would be confiscated as reparations after World War I.
Cost and Hours: €12.50, daily 10:00-18:00, Nov-March until 16:30, last entry one hour before closing, tel. 040/3197-9160; www.ballinstadt.de.
Getting There: BallinStadt is right by the Veddel S-Bahn station, two stops from the train station on the S-3 or S-31 (direction: Neugraben, Stade, Buxtehude, or Harburg Rathaus; about a 7-minute ride). From the S-Bahn platforms, follow the BallinStadt signs for about 200 yards across the parking lot and street to the museum. You can also get here on the Maritime Circle Line hop-on, hop-off boat (see here).
Visiting the Museum: The museum occupies three restored dormitory buildings that opened in 1901 to house and quarantine sick emigrants until they were healthy enough to ship out. Buy your ticket in Haus 1, “Port of Dreams,” where you’ll find the personal history of Albert Ballin on display (there may also be special exhibits).
The core of the museum is in Haus 2, “World in Transit.” Creative themed exhibits give a look at the origins of the five million German emigrants who passed through here, the reasons they chose to leave (from poverty to pogroms), their experiences on the transatlantic ships, their arrival in New York City, and their challenges forging a new life in the new land. Haus 3, “Biographies,” showcases the stories, fates, and personal memories of BallinStadt emigrants. The visit ends with a room where you can search genealogy databases (basically just Ancestry.com).
Eating: The museum’s reasonably priced restaurant, in Haus 3, is a good place to try Labskaus, a Hamburg specialty similar to corned beef hash; see here.
Visitors disappointed by Hamburg’s lack of a cute medieval old town should consider an outing to Lübeck, almost on the Baltic, 45 minutes northeast of Hamburg by train; or to Lüneburg, a small university town that got rich off local salt mines, 30 minutes to the south. Both have classic, well-preserved old centers with typical North German/Hanseatic brick architecture.
Hamburg has plenty of reasonably priced places to stay and only a few of the special events that send prices skyrocketing in Frankfurt or Cologne. As the city is a popular musical theater destination for Germans, Friday and Saturday nights can be more expensive than the rest of the week. Staying somewhere with good public transport links is helpful in this well-connected city. If you’ll have a rental car in Hamburg, ask about parking rates and availability when reserving your room—many hotels in the city have dedicated garages.
The St. Georg neighborhood is a convenient place to sleep, thanks to its comfortable midrange hotels, proximity to the train station and walking paths around the Aussenalster, good restaurants, and lively street life. Some neighborhoods around European train stations are seedy at best; somehow St. Georg defies the stereotype. Its main thoroughfare, Lange Reihe, is busy with inviting eateries, cafés, and shops (reach it via the station’s north exit by track 3 onto Kirchenallee). As you walk off Lange Reihe toward the water (the Aussenalster), the buildings become more and more elegant, with an upper-class, diamonds-and-poodles feel. Just a few streets in the other direction is Steindamm, St. Georg’s other major avenue (reached from the station’s south exit); it’s a raucous immigrant boulevard that feels like Queens compared with Lange Reihe’s Manhattan.
$$$$ Hotel Europäischer Hof has 275 rooms, a sixth-floor wellness center (complete with a 500-foot waterslide), and a striking resemblance to a casino. Choose between standard, standard-plus, or comfort room categories (includes 3-day transit ticket, elevator; Kirchenallee 45, tel. 040/248-248, www.europaeischer-hof.de, info@europaeischer-hof.de).
$$$ Hotel Wedina—hip, full of character, and design-conscious—has 63 rooms in five renovated townhouses in a people-friendly neighborhood that’s a 10-minute walk from the station. Each building has a different theme (literature, architecture, the Mediterranean, tradition, and art). Three of the buildings are connected; the fourth, with reception, breakfast room, and a tranquil garden oasis in back, is across the street. The fifth, in a charming old half-timbered townhouse, is two blocks away, right on Lange Reihe. Every room is a little different, with its own extra touches (family rooms with kitchen, breakfast extra, lots of stairs, bike rental, pay parking; Gurlittstrasse 23, tel. 040/280-8900, www.hotelwedina.de, info@hotelwedina.de). From the station, walk up Lange Reihe, then go left on Gurlittstrasse. Or catch bus #6 from the station (stop is across the street, just right of Hotel Fürst Bismarck, direction: U Borgweg, leaves every 5-10 minutes) and hop off at the first stop (Gurlittstrasse). From the top of Gurlittstrasse, the hotel is just down the street on the right.
$$$ Hotel Aussen Alster, in a handsome townhouse near the lakeside, has 27 pleasant, straightforward rooms over a polished lobby. The hotel has loaner bikes for guests, as well as a sailboat that you can take out on the Aussenalster, just a block away (reserve ahead). The garden in back is a fine place to relax (elevator, pay parking, Schmilinskystrasse 11, tel. 040/284-078-570, www.aussenalsterhotel.de, info@aussen-alster.de). It’s a 10-minute walk from the station up Lange Reihe, then left on Schmilinskystrasse. Or you can hop bus #6 from the station (see previous listing), and get off at the second stop (AK St. Georg), then backtrack a half-block to Schmilinskystrasse and turn right.
$$$ Hotel Senator, on Lange Reihe just down from the station, is a quiet oasis with pastoral decor in each of its 56 airy rooms. Rooms on the fourth and fifth floors come with air-conditioning and a higher price; these “wellness rooms” also have waterbeds (the first I’ve seen in Europe) and some have balconies—though the views aren’t worth the extra money (elevator, Lange Reihe 18, tel. 040/241-930, www.hotel-senator-hamburg.de, info@hotel-senator-hamburg.de).
$$$ Ibis Hotel Hamburg Alster Centrum has 165 reliable rooms right by the station. Ask for a front-side, street-facing room—they’re quieter than those in back overlooking the tracks (rates can vary drastically, breakfast extra, air-con, elevator, bike rental, pay parking; Holzdamm 4, tel. 040/248-290, www.ibishotel.com, h1395@accor.com). Exit the station at the north end of track 3 to Kirchenallee, then turn left and walk five minutes onto Holzdamm.
$$ Hotel Fürst Bismarck is draped in Old World charm and elegance—from regally carpeted halls to a marble lobby. Its 102 bright, contemporary rooms reflect the friendly staff’s care and attention. You’ll find yourself searching for Prince Bismarck himself checking in, as he once did 150 years ago (breakfast extra, includes 3-day transit ticket, elevator, Kirchenallee 49, tel. 040/790-251-640, www.fuerstbismarck.de, hotel@fuerstbismarck.de).
$ Motel One Hamburg-Alster, a monstrous, 460-room, inexpensive hotel with cookie-cutter but surprisingly stylish rooms, is a good-value option, especially if cozier places are booked (breakfast extra, air-con, elevator, guest iPad at front desk, pay parking; Steindamm 102, tel. 040/4192-4970, www.motel-one.com, hamburg-alster@motel-one.com). The hotel is right at the Lohmühlenstrasse U-Bahn stop (one stop from the station) or a 10-minute walk down the seedy Steindamm.
$ Hotel-Pension Alpha, a decent budget choice, has 21 rooms almost in sight of the station. The rooms are basic but they’re more than adequate, and everything is well-kept by kindly Georg (breakfast extra, Koppel 4, tel. 040/245-365, www.alphahotel.biz, info@alphahotel.biz). From the station, exit by track 3 north onto Kirchenallee and look for the red-brick church (St. Georg); the hotel is across the street on the right side of the church. Confirm your arrival time in advance (if Georg won’t be there, he’ll give you a code for the door).
These budget options are easy to reach from the train station by U-Bahn.
Near the Hamburg Museum: Part of the stylish and affordable chain, $$ Motel One Hamburg am Michel is ideally located right next to the Grosse Wallanlagen area within Planten un Blomen gardens, steps from the Hamburg Museum, St. Pauli, and St. Michael’s Church (breakfast extra, air-con, elevator, guest iPad at front desk, limited pay parking; Ludwig-Erhard-Strasse 26, tel. 040/3571-8900, www.motel-one.com, hamburg-am-michel@motel-one.com).
Near City Hall: True to its name, $ Pension am Rathaus is just a block from City Hall, in an appealing downtown neighborhood. The 15 rooms are simple and bright, and many share bathrooms (family room available, no breakfast, no elevator, reception open 9:00-15:00 & 16:00-19:00, Rathausstrasse 14, U-Bahn: Rathaus, tel. 040/337-489, www.pension-am-rathaus.de, info@pension-am-hamburg.de).
Near the Landungsbrücken: Located atop a hill right behind the Landungsbrücken S- and U-Bahn station, the ¢ Jugendherberge Hamburg “Auf dem Stintfang” hostel has a super location and commanding view of the Elbe. It’s big, bright, modern, and well-run. Choose from bunks in a dorm room or a private room with its own bath—but all the doubles are bunk beds (dinner available, elevator, Alfred-Wegener-Weg 5, tel. 040/570-1590, www.jugendherberge.de, djh-service@jugendherberge.de). From the train station, take the S-1 or S-3 three stops to Landungsbrücken, then follow the signs up the steep stairway, or—if you have wheeled luggage—take the long way, circling around back.
Hamburg’s food traditions have much in common with Scandinavia’s. Fish is a fixture on local menus, even if little of it is actually caught in the nearby North Sea. Herring is common in sandwiches, as a main dish, and at breakfast (often rolled up with pickled vegetables inside and secured with a toothpick, called Rollmops). Labskaus, a traditional northern German dish, is not unlike corned beef hash; it’s typically served with pickles, red beets, a fried egg, and sometimes a herring filet.
After Dinner: To walk off your dinner, stroll the Reeperbahn area after dark, following my self-guided walk (described on here). Home to Hamburg’s Red Light District, this is one of Germany’s liveliest and most famous nightlife scenes.
(See “Hamburg” map, here.)
The main street through the St. Georg area, Lange Reihe, is lined with a great variety of shops and eateries. Dine here if you’re sleeping at one of the nearby recommended hotels. Otherwise head to the Schulterblatt (“Shoulderblade”) neighborhood for a better scene.
$$$$ Kajüte sits on pontoons on the Aussenalster (opposite Hotel Bellevue) and is good if you’re willing to pay a little more for atmosphere. It has both indoor and outdoor seating. Come in the evening to watch sailboats and the setting sun across the water (daily 11:00-23:00, reservations smart, An der Alster 10a, tel. 040/243-037, www.kajuete.de).
$$$ Schifferbörse sits right across the street from the train station. It’s touristy and the service is surly, but it cooks up solid northern German food at fair prices. You’ll eat in a fun dining room elaborately decked out like a Cubist take on a ship’s galley (daily 11:30-23:00, Kirchenallee 46 between Bremer Reihe and Ellmenreichstrasse, tel. 040/245-240).
$$ Hee-Yang, at the train-station end of Lange Reihe, appeals to locals who enjoy sushi and Thai dishes (daily 11:30-24:00, Lange Reihe 15-17, tel. 040/2805-6227).
$ Frau Möller is a popular neighborhood hangout—a rollicking bar serving up very affordable, hearty Alsatian and Hamburger classics (sandwiches, huge salads, and daily specials that usually include one or two local specialties). The interior can be jammed and the service overwhelmed; try for one of the sidewalk tables, ideal for taking your time while people-watching (daily 11:30-late, Lange Reihe 96, tel. 040/2532-8817).
$ Café Koppel, a bright, inexpensive vegetarian café, occupies an art center reachable from Lange Reihe by walking through an archway and across a courtyard. Choose between two indoor floors or quiet garden seating; there are a couple of main courses available every day, as well as soups and big salads (daily 10:00-23:00, summer garden until 19:00, Lange Reihe 75, tel. 040/249-235).
Supermarkets: The Galeria Kaufhof department store, by the train station, has a supermarket at basement level (Mon-Sat 10:00-20:00, closed Sun; exit the south bridge of the train station by track 14 toward Mönckebergstrasse and look for the entrance to your left). REWE, inside the Europa Passage shopping mall, has a good selection of prepared foods at affordable prices (Mon-Thu 7:00-22:00, Fri-Sat until 23:00, closed Sun). The Edeka supermarket inside the train station, on the upper level of the north bridge over the tracks, is smaller and more expensive (daily 7:00-23:00).
(See “Hamburg” map, here.)
Fun restaurants with good people-watching fill the streets just south and west of the Sternschanze U-Bahn stop (see description on here). There’s a world of options here: German, Asian, Turkish/Middle Eastern, Italian, Greek, French, Spanish, and more. Many places serve tapas or pizza and have generous outdoor seating. The highest concentration of good eateries is in the cross section between Schulterblatt, Schanzenstrasse, and Susannenstrasse. I’d just wander and browse. But if you’re having a hard time deciding, here are some suggestions.
Bullerei, right next to the Sternschanze U-Bahn stop, is the most serious restaurant in this neighborhood. The brainchild of German celebrity chef Tim Mälzer, it fills a gorgeously restored red-brick meatpacking hall with a vast, vibrant dining room and a cozy bistro—both stylish and dressy. There’s also outdoor seating on a tree-lined brick patio. The $$$$ restaurant is pricey, while the $$ bistro is a bit more casual. On the menu: meat, of course. Reservations are smart (bistro open daily 11:00-23:00, restaurant daily 18:00-22:00, Lagerstrasse 34b, tel. 040/3344-2110, www.bullerei.com).
Altes Mädchen, just around the corner from Bullerei in a repurposed brick warehouse, serves up a short-but-refined menu alongside seemingly unlimited varieties of craft beer, much of it brewed right here at the Ratsherrn microbrewery (€6.40 sampler available). Dishes are made with locally sourced ingredients, and the bread’s baked fresh in their wood oven. The expansive, retro-rustic $$$ interior houses a fireplace and lots of bare wood; the $$ self-service tables outside are equally pleasant (daily 12:00-24:00, Lagerstrasse 28, tel. 040/800-077-750, www.altes-maedchen.com).
$$ Oma’s Apotheke is a gemütliche café-bar-restaurant. The decor is vintage, the mood is relaxed, and it’s a good place to connect with locals. Their tasty, mostly German food comes in huge portions for a small price (weekday lunch specials, daily 9:00-24:00, Schanzenstrasse 87, tel. 040/43-6620).
$$ Mikawa sushi bar, a peaceful oasis in the midst of a happening neighborhood, offers a wide variety of nigiri, sushi, and bento boxes (daily 12:30-22:00, Susannenstrasse 15, tel. 040/430-0220).
$$ Pamukkale offers big portions of fresh, tasty, authentic Turkish food. It’s a good choice for satisfying your döner kebab craving. If you’re in a hurry, order from the takeaway counter—otherwise enjoy the cozy atmosphere and attentive service inside or out (long hours daily, Susannenstrasse 34, tel. 040/430-2411).
$$ Bok serves up well-executed Japanese, Thai, and Korean cuisine in an airy, modern atmosphere (daily 12:00-23:30; Schulterblatt 3, tel. 040/4319-0070).
(See “Hamburg” map, here.)
$$ Blockbräu, a huge, modern beer hall, features local cuisine and its own beer in the Landungsbrücken terminal building. It has a thousand seats, including a great rooftop terrace with harbor views (daily 11:00-23:30, Landungsbrücken 3, tel. 040/4440-5000).
Lining the harborfront is a long row of equally marginal fast-food booths, selling big glasses of beer, paper cones of French fries, gut-bomb Currywurst, and more—to go, to stand up, or to sit down.
From Hamburg by Train to: Berlin (1-2/hour direct, 2 hours), Leipzig (hourly, 3 hours, some transfer in Berlin), Cologne (hourly direct, 4 hours), Frankfurt (hourly, 4 hours), Munich (hourly direct, 6.5 hours), Copenhagen (direct trains almost every 2 hours, 5 hours), Amsterdam (every 2 hours, 5.5 hours, 1 change). Train info: Toll tel. 0180-699-6633, www.bahn.com.