Last Autumn, Jack and I decided to explore the German city of Hamburg. We were attracted by the famous architecture, the food and of course, the culture. We spent three days trying out local attractions, sights and food, giving us a great insight into the city. Although it is not at the top of everyone’s bucket list to visit, it must be said we both loved the city, and would certainly recommend it for a weekend away! Read on to find out exactly how we spent three days discovering historic Hamburg..
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Day 1
After an early flight we arrived into Hamburg Airport at about 9.30am and hop aboard bus that would drop us directly in front of our hotel for the next two nights, the Best Western Alsterkrug. Less than ten minutes later we arrived at the hotel and were able to check in, leave our bags, and then set off to explore the city.
Our first stop once we made it into the city was the lively neighbourhood Sternschanze, which is Hamburg’s most popular entertainment and nightlife district. During the daytime however there is still plenty to see as Sternschanze is the epicentre of hipster Hamburg with numerous laidback bars, a varied choice of cheap but trendy restaurants, boutiques, and lots and lots of street art. The perfect place for me? Yes I think so!
Wandering through the streets of Schanze we came across a number of unexpected things – huge murals, painted high on walls above us, stencil art in doorways and cool, independent shops bustling with customers, selling all sorts of weird and wonderful things.
After a decent amount of walking along quite a major road that took us past the Millerntor Stadium, the base of St Pauli FC, we found ourselves standing at the far end of the famous Reeperbahn, the centre of Hamburg’s red light district. Nicknamed die sündigste Meile (the most sinful mile) in German, the street is lined with restaurants, night clubs, discos and bars, as well as strip clubs, sex shops and similar businesses. Not your conventional tourist sight but nonetheless something you have to see when in Hamburg.
About a mile down the Reeperbahn (rope walk), we came to Beatleplatz, a plaza built to commemorate Hamburg’s importance in The Beatles’ history as it was one of the first cities where the Beatles played in the early 1960s. The circular plaza paved in black is meant to look like a vinyl record and features five statues representing each of the band members (including the original bass guitarist).
At this point we decided we had had enough of the ‘interesting’ neighbourhood and so put our best foot forward and continued towards the Harbour, a ten minute walk away. We soon arrived at the iconic Landungsbrücken, also known as the St Pauli Piers, a series of ferry stations and also a major tourist magnet with numerous restaurants and departure points for harbour pleasure boats.
It was approaching 3 o’clock which we decided was a good time for a beer and the first place we set our eyes upon was the Hard Rock Café. Before we went inside we didn’t even realise it had a roof terrace with views over the port but we soon decided it was the perfect place to have a short break and watch the world go by.
Half an hour and one beer later we decided to leave our spot and leave Landungsbrücken behind. Our next destination was not too far away but having already walked a good few miles, we thought we would make the most of our transport ticket and so jumped on board an U-Bahn (underground train) as far as Baumwall. It was then less than a ten minute walk to our next stop, Minitur Wunderland.
Even if you can’t speak German, you can probably work out that this means something along the lines of ‘miniature wonderland’ and guess what, you’re completely right! Minitur Wunderland is the largest model railway in the world, and one of the most successful permanent exhibitions in Northern Germany. The exhibitions covers no less than 200 square metres and is home to over 50,000 ‘Wunderländer’ (as its inhabitants are called), including the Hamburg itself, the mountainous German region of the Harz, the Austrian Alps, France, Italy, North-America and even Scandinavia!
We must have spent the best part of two hours inside the museum, admiring all of the different sets and their incredible detail, as when we emerged back into the open it was getting dark. To finish our afternoon in true German style we headed for the nearest place offering coffee and cake, and we both treated ourselves to a huge slice of cake! After that we slowly made our way back to our hotel in the north of the city where we opted to grab dinner and then enjoyed a relaxing evening in after our early morning and long day of exploring.
Day 2
We started our second day in Hamburg with a hearty breakfast in our hotel. Once we were fuelled up with tea and our stomachs were satisfied, we set off for the city centre.
Our first stop was Mönckebergstrasse, Hamburg’s equivalent of New York’s Fifth Avenue without the enormous skyscrapers! Mönckebergstrasse, or the “Mö”, runs from the central station down to the Rathaus (Town Hall) and is lined with all sorts of shops catering for young and old, and big and small wallets. You can also find a number of bakeries and cafes as well as various street stalls, providing the perfect place to stop when you need a rest from shopping.
We didn’t look into too many shops this time around but where we did venture was into the Levantehaus, a beautifully decorated shopping arcade filled with shops, restaurants and cafes.
Leaving the warmth of the shopping arcade, we continued along Mönckebergstrasse, passing Hamburg’s oldest parish church St Petri on the corner of Bergstrasse.
By this time it was already getting close to lunchtime and so we decided to have a pre-lunch snack and try the wonder that is German Currywurst. There is only one word needed to describe our experience – yum!
Suitably fuelled after quick snack we walked the short distance down to the Rathaus. If you’ve visited Germany before you will know that town halls tend to be pretty impressive. I’ve visited lots of German cities in my time and I would say that Hamburg’s is particularly impressive with its 112 metre high tower and bright stone appearance.
From the Rathaus we made our way towards the Alster Lakes. In medieval times, a dam transformed the Alster river into a water reservoir to power the mills which operated on its banks. Whilst the mills have long been replaced by city buildings, the collection of water remains and now forms two lakes; the Außenalster (Outer Alster) and the Binnenalster (Inner Alster). We soon found ourselves standing at the edge of the Binnenalster, the smaller of the two lakes, and took some time to enjoy the views. The many fancy buildings along Jungfernsteig along with Hamburg’s many church spires and of course, the fountain in the centre of the lake, made for quite a picture and apart from the wind provided a peaceful place to stop and take in the views.
Lunchtime was soon upon us and our stomachs were rumbling so we set off for a bite to eat. It had been recommended to me to try out a place with a big claim – the Best Burger Company – and both myself and Jack were more than ready to test this out! Both of us enjoyed a massive burger (with all the trimmings) along with a portion of fries, and the fact that we hardly said a word to each other whilst we filled up on food goes to show how great the food was!
You would have thought that after a large breakfast, a Currywurst snack and a huge burger for lunch, we wouldn’t be able to face anymore food, but alas our afternoon had yet more edible treat in store. From the centre of town we made our way back out towards Speicherstadt until we reached our destination, Chocoversum – the heart of chocolate in Hamburg.
Our afternoon was spent touring the chocolate museum and learning about Hamburg’s connection to chocolate, along with the chocolate making process. Each room was packed with lots of interesting information and there were a number of interactive exhibition areas where we were able to inspect the cocoa beans as a quality controller and learn how to distinguish the differences between chocolate flavours. The true highlight of the trip was in the so-called ‘Aroma Studio’ when we were given the opportunity to become a chocolatier and create and decorate our personal slab of chocolate.
After our 90 minute tour and the collection of our chocolatey souvenirs we headed back into town. We had a bit of time to waste before our dinner reservation so we wandered through the elegant Colonnaden, featuring magnificent Wilhelminian architecture and specialty boutiques before we turned onto Poststrasse, along which we indulged in a spot of window shopping and enjoyed the rich colours of the evening sunset.
Eventually 7pm arrived and it was time to head towards our dinner spot. We walked the route from Poststrasse to Gansemarkt, and then we skirted the Alster along Neuerjungfernstieg with a brief stop to enjoy the city’s lights reflecting off the lake.
We soon arrived at the restaurant we had booked dinner at, the Kleinhuis restaurant inside the Alsterhof hotel. We had a very pleasant dinner and were treated to a very German menu of Sauerbraten – tasty!
Day 3
Our final day in the city was soon upon us and we still had plenty on our to-do list. After breakfast our first stop of the day was the harbour, as we had decided to explore the famous harbour by boat. Unfortunately the blue skies of the day before had disappeared and instead we were met with a ceiling of grey cloud. As we hopped aboard our harbour ferry the heavens opened and the next hour was spent watching the rain drops run down the boat’s windows. Strangely calming I must say!
Despite the rain we still enjoyed our tour of the harbour and learnt plenty of interesting facts from our jolly guide Max.
After a good hour on the water we were back on dry land. We took the path along the waterfront, passing an uncountable number of seafood outlets, until we reached the warm brick buildings of Speicherstadt. As the rain has eased we decided to spend a bit of time wandering along the roads of the former warehouse quarter and trying our luck with a bit of penny throwing onto one of the huge wooden pillars sticking out of one of the waterways. After several attempts we managed to throw our penny so that it landed bang-smack in the centre of the pillar!
Leaving Speicherstadt behind us we stumbled across Deichstrasse, supposedly Hamburg’s oldest remaining street. The quaint cobbled street dates back to the 14th century and houses carefully restored 17th – 19th century buildings – all that is left of the old harbour district!
Passing St Nicholas Church we made it as far as Roedingsmarkt before we hopped aboard the Ubahn bound for the centre of town and the Rathaus. We had a quick peek inside the Ratskeller which was decorated for a Halloween celebration (either that or they seriously need to do some dusting!) and then made for the very big shopping centre just off Mönckebergstrasse.
The shopping centre was absolutely heaving, not a surprise given it was a pre-Christmas Saturday afternoon, so after a quick trip to the ReWe supermarket in the basement and a raid of their chocolate supply we decided it was time to head somewhere a little bit quieter.
This decision lead us to the leafy district of Eppendorf, which I didn’t realise until some recent research, is Hamburg’s oldest village. The reason for our visit was that of another recommendation, this time an excellent Konditorei aka a German patisserie.
Located along the Eppendorfer Landstraße, Konditorei Lindtner has earned its name as one of Hamburg, and Germany’s best coffee and cake establishments. Needless to say I had to visit! As we entered the cosy cafe we were met with a huge selection of traditional German baked goodies; from baked cheesecakes to black forest gateau, we were spoiled for choice. After some deliberating, I opted for a slice of strawberry cake layered with different sponges, fruit and lashings of cream. Jack on the other hand went for a cherry cheesecake which looked very very good!
Sadly it was soon time to leave Konditorei Lindtner and indeed Hamburg too, so we caught the bus back to the hotel where we collected our bags and then we travelled onwards to the airport. Our short holiday had really opened our eyes as to quite how much there is to see and do in the northern German city and we were both sad to leave it behind. No doubt we will return again in the future as there are still plenty of things to see, do and of course, eat!
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I really hope you enjoyed my post on my trip to Hamburg. Have you ever considered Hamburg as a destination for a city break? Has my post perhaps inspired you to visit in the future? Either way, do let me know in the comments below! Love V x
Have you seen my Hamburg vlog?
https://youtu.be/PF_4h62uehI
