Dear Wandering Spirit,
In the North of Germany lies the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg on the Elbe river. It’s the second-largest German metropolitan after Berlin.
Hamburg is also the largest non-capital city in Europe and is growing fast. Here, you can feel the Hanseatic spirit, and contemporarily admire the 3rd largest European port.
A City that Never Sleeps
Several festivals catch tourists all around the year. 🎡 The Harbour Birthday in May is one of the most popular and oldest attractions.
Tourists also come to visit the Winter and Summer Dom, a fair with many foods and souvenir stands, carousels for children and adults, and all-in-all a very picturesque atmosphere. Furthermore, the Christmas markets in Hamburg are spread all over the town and give this place a very unique flair.
If you are into music, you’ll love to know The Beatles started their career playing here. 🎤 There’s a square called Beatles Square, and you can still go to the club where the young Fab Four guys from Liverpool used to play music in the Sixties.
How to Reach Hamburg
Although Berlin and Hamburg are almost 300 km away, several means of transport connect them efficiently. It is possible to reach Hamburg from Berlin by train in only 1h 45m and many times per day. To stay on budget, the ride via Flixbus lasts between 3h and 3h 30m. I’ve tried both transport methods, and they are both reliable and comfy.
Hamburg is served by an airport with both flagship and low-cost airlines. By car, it is possible to reach Berlin, Hanover, and Bremen for further national and international flights. ✈️ Also, direct flights from and to London are extremely cheap and all around the clock. The flight lasts 1h 40m.
Finally, it is possible to rent a car and drive to Denmark. From Hamburg to Odense the ride is about 3h 30m. If you take the ferry on the Fehmarn Island, you can easily reach Copenhagen in 4h 40m. I went to Denmark by car once, and I really enjoyed the ride across the peaceful Jutland landscape.
Why Visit Hamburg, Germany
In addition to the fair trades listed above, Hamburg is the most known city of the Hanseatic league, and it still keeps the word “free” within its name, as a free imperial city during the Roman Empire.
Here, merchants and tradesmen made this place one of the richest in all Germany. Several buildings celebrate this glorious past at the harbour (‘Speicherstadt‘ or City of Warehouses, UNESCO world heritage site since 2015).
Like many other north European cities surrounded by water, Hamburg is usually named as Venice of the north. Hamburg is the city with the highest number of bridges in the whole continent, with the Elbe river and the Alster crossing around 2500 bridges. 🏗
The glory of this place was threatened several times by fire (1842), North Sea floods (1962), plagues and even the bombs during WWII. Despite all these disasters, Hamburg flourished over and over until it was ranked one of the best places for high quality of life.
Hometown of the former German chancellor, Angela Merkel, Hamburg is an elegant city with many cultural and educational spots. Therefore, it hosts remarkable international events and fairs of all kinds.
Next to the red bricks, you can admire Expressionist buildings like Chilehaus and the contemporary Elbphilharmonie (“Elphi”) concert hall, one of the largest worldwide. 🌆 Also, there are numerous theatres and exciting musical theatres.
Hamburg Highlights
The city of Hamburg has much to offer at different times of the year, so I recommend you visit it at least twice to get an overall impression.
Below, you can find the list of the top things to see and to do in Hamburg, starting from the town centre. 
I recommend at least three days in a row.
- The Rathaus (the town hall), the nearby arcades and the ‘Jungfernstieg‘ boulevard downtown
- ‘Michel’ or St. Michael’s church
- Nikolai memorial
- Chilehaus’ expressionist façade
- Kunsthalle Art Museum
- International Maritime Museum
- Reeperbahn nightlife district, including ‘Spielbudenplatz‘ and the ‘Große Freiheit‘ street
- Hamburg port, the piers, and the old Elbe tunnel
- Dockland and fish market
- Elbphilharmonie concert hall and the Speicherstadt at the harbour
- Planten un Blomen, a green heart in the inner city with water and light games
- Stadtpark (Hamburg central park) in the northern part of the city
- Blankenese district with its stairs and traditional houses, and the Botanical Garden nearby
and the Botanical Garden nearby
Visit Hamburg in One Day
Again, Hamburg is a place you won’t see in only one day – but if you are running out of time or just passing by, below is a short one-day route I highly recommend: 🚧
Hamburg Morning Route
- Starting from the main station, walk towards the townhall, and you will see the Chilehaus and the Petrus church before arriving. (around 20 minutes’ walk).
- Cross through the arcades, over the obelisk for the victims of the war, and enjoy the beautiful view on the Alster inner lake along the ‘Jungfernstieg’ boulevard.
- You can stop at one of the cafés nearby for a quick coffee break or refill for the road.
- Walk back through the elegant ‘Neuer Wall‘ street with its high-end fashion stores and reach the Michel. On a sunny day, see the stunning panorama from the top.
- For lunch you have two options: either you walk 500 metres to the Portuguese quarter and take a break, or you cross it and reach ‘Landungsbrücken’ (approximately 1 km). Here, you can taste a fish bun sitting on the piers. 🌮
- If you are into a longer walk, you can cross the Elbe river from below: take the old Elbe tunnel and watch the view on the harbour from the other side (up to 30 minutes’ walk).
Hamburg Afternoon Route
After lunch, you have three different options, according to your taste (and time).
This route is for you if you enjoy a walk through the architectural and historic buildings of the city and if you like maritime history.
Bonus point: finish your afternoon visit at the Nikolai memorial. 🏛
Length: Around 50 minutes’ walk, but I know you will stop longer to take great pictures.
This route is for you if you enjoy walking along the river, want a stunning view of the harbour (Dockland – spoiler alert: many steps!), and then want a bit of the music scene.
Bonus point: the Bunker (currently facing a restyling), house of many concerts and music events. 🏟
Length: Around 1h 15m, but you will stop for a refreshing beer at the Reeperbahn.
This route is for you if you like walking through the park, want to relax by sipping a cuppa, and watch amazing water and light games.
Bonus point: the biggest Japanese garden and the tropical greenhouse. 🌵
Length: Around 1h walk, but you will take longer to see how different the gardens within one park can be.
All three options should end with a dinner in the ‘Schanzenviertel‘, a vibrant quarter where all young people meet.
Hamburg is a Must See
It might sound banal, but I love this city, and this is the reason why I currently live here. The weather is extremely variable for sure, but this place has so much to offer like few other places in Europe. ❣️
It would be a shame not to pay at least a visit. Either you are into art, music, sport, clubbing, sightseeing, outdoor activities, food or whatsoever, you will be spoilt for choice every time.
Having said that, it is clear enough that more extensive posts on Hamburg will be needed. This is a place you should fully enjoy more than just simple sight-seeing; therefore, I recommend combining the visit to a full week road trip around north Germany.
Are you curious about Hamburg? Have you already been here before?
Feel free to let me know in the comments’ section below!
Do not forget to check my north-east Germany travel journal here too.
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