What to see and do in Hamburg, Germany

This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).

Berlin wields the power, Munich has the traditions and Frankfurt banks the money. Yet Hamburg is Germany’s truly global city — the place where the River Elbe opens out into the waters of the North Sea, and where the Bundesrepublik opens its heart to the world. Saltwater runs in the blood here: for centuries Hamburg was a stridently independent city state and free port — a kind of European Singapore, on whose docks sailors and goods from distant continents mingled. You can understand this clearly by looking at a map — the city today is defined less by its grid of tarmac streets and squares, and more by its labyrinth of shipping channels, quays and lakes. Its moniker of the ‘Gateway to the World’ endures — armadas of container ships still dock here; forests of cranes still fidget along the wharfs.

At ground level, too, ordinary visitors can witness how saltwater has shaped the city. At the centre of Hamburg are the UNESCO-listed warehouses of the Speicherstadt district — where merchandise from coffee to carpets was unloaded in the 19th and 20th centuries, and restaurants and cafes now also ply their trade in the 21st. You can tour the nightclubs of Hamburg’s legendary thoroughfare the Reeperbahn, where shore-sick sailors once came for salty adventures — though landlubbers outnumber them these days on nights out. The motif of the sea recurs in Hamburg’s architecture, from office blocks shaped like ships’ prows to the Elbphilharmonie, which was built in 2017 and is perhaps Europe’s most extraordinary concert hall, its roof contoured like rolling swells. The profits of ocean-going trade have helped make Hamburg rich since the 12th century; its skyline is marked by some of Europe’s tallest and most opulent churches, their spires collectively resembling the masts of a flotilla.

Hamburg’s futuristic concert hall, Elbphilharmonie, sits in the middle of the river Elbe.

But above all, the tides of the sea — and tides of incomers — have shaped Hamburg’s identity, creating a place that’s liberal, open-minded and unpretentious. You sense this watching a game at FC St Pauli — Germany’s most left-wing leaning football club — whose piratical fans sail through the seasons under a flag with a skull and crossbones. You can understand it with a mouthful of fischbrötchen — the utilitarian fish sandwich that’s Hamburg’s civic delicacy, usually sold at a profoundly democratic price of under €5 (£4.30). And you can feel it standing on one of the city’s many bridges, watching the tide ebb and flow through Hamburg. The water is a perfect metaphor for the city it laps against: restless, dynamic and forever on the move.

What to see and do in Hamburg

1. Miniatur Wonderland
Hamburg is a city built on a vast scale, but its most popular tourist attraction is, by contrast, built on a very small one. Miniatur Wunderland is the world’s largest model railway — inside you can find tiny renderings of everything from Rome to the Rio Carnival. Naturally, a mini Hamburg is given pride of place at the centre.

2. Kunsthalle

The city’s heavyweight art gallery is set over a series of strikingly different buildings — from a grand temple-like structure to a space-age cube. The permanent collection covers everything from the Renaissance to the postmodern, but many flock here to see one specific piece: the collection’s famous work titled Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, by German Romantic painter Caspar David Friedrich.

The Kunsthalle art gallery holds 20 themed exhibitions every year.

3. Chilehaus
Hamburg is renowned for its bold architecture, the greatest example of which is the Chilehaus — a 1920s expressionist office block commissioned by a shipping magnate who amassed a fortune in Chile, hence the name. Admiring crowds come to stand inside its courtyard, to look at the carvings that bedeck the facade and to gaze up at its eastern end, which looks like a ship’s prow.

4. Bunker St Pauli
One of the most interesting developments in Hamburg is this Second World War-era anti-aircraft tower, a giant concrete eyesore rising tall over the west of the city. It’s now getting an architectural revamp — slated to open this summer — as a hotel, gig venue, memorial and public space. Curious visitors will be able to make for the viewing deck where gun batteries once stood, and enjoy a beer or coffee while gazing out at the Hamburg skyline.

5. Elbphilharmonie
This staggering concert hall opened in 2017 having controversially gone many times over budget — since then, it’s done much to redeem itself in the eyes of ‘burghers’, and now, like its equivalent in Sydney, it’s become the city’s most identifiable landmark. There’s a rich programme of classical music, but equally beguiling is the structure itself. Ride the escalator to the foyer to admire the hypnotic, organic forms designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron.

6. St Pauli Piers
Stately copper-domed port buildings rise over bobbing jetties at this peerless Hamburg attraction, where crowds come to spectate on the ferries and sightseeing boats putter along the Elbe. This spot is also home to the 1911-built Elbe Tunnel — pedestrians can tread a narrow subsea passageway, with ocean-going ships sailing directly over their heads.

The pier at Outer Alster lake offers scenic views of Hamburg’s city skyline.

See the city like a local

1. Outer Alster Lake
At weekends, locals beeline to the willow-draped shores of this watery expanse at the heart of the city. Some idle in deckchairs, others cast off in canoes but first-timers should get their bearings using StadtRAD — Hamburg’s bike hire scheme — which allows 30 minutes’ free cycling on almost all of its tariffs.

2. FC St Pauli match days
Football is the pulse of Hamburg life, and dockers and city-centre residents generally support FC St Pauli. Tickets for matches are in high demand. If you can’t get one, get a flavour of the atmosphere at the Jolly Roger — a supporter-owned bar, opposite the Millerntor stadium.

3. Portuguese Hamburg
The city is a simmering stew of identities: the Portugiesenviertel, beside the docks, has been an enclave of Portuguese and Spanish immigrants since the 1970s — but you can get good Portuguese food right across the city. Head to Pastelaria Transmontana to taste some of the best pastéis de nata north of Portugal.

Where to shop in Hamburg

1. Walther Eisenberg der Mützenmacher
Set midway between Hamburg’s main station and the town hall, this independent hatmaker is one of the city’s most intriguing shops, with headgear for all occasions. Most dapper are the nautical hats, tailored for real ship’s captains (and probably some pretend ones, too).

2. Boutique Bizarre
Set on the notorious Reeperbahn, Europe’s largest adult store has been a Hamburg institution for nigh on 35 years. Its inventory includes whips, chains and various other items whose function are not fit for print.

3. Felix Jud & Co
This handsome bookshop has been in business for a century. It was founded by anti-Nazi activist Felix Jud, who survived the concentration camps and returned to rebuild his business after the war. Inside you’ll find first editions and second-hand volumes — also somewhat splendid is the historic arcade in which it stands, with art nouveau-style frescoes gilding the ceiling.

Where to eat in Hamburg

1. Brücke 10
Superior specimens of Hamburg’s city dish, fischbrötchen, are served at Brücke 10 — a restaurant on the floating pontoons of St Pauli Piers. It’s essentially fish served in a bun, often with onions and gherkins, but here the sandwiches take myriad forms — pollock schnitzel, Bismarck herring, and crab are among the classics.

Harbour restaurant Hobenköök serves a range of local speciality dishes such as Labskaus.

2. Kleine Pause
Of the many imbiss — traditional German fast-food restaurants — that stand on the street corners of the St Pauli district, Kleine Pause is perhaps the most characterful. It has charmingly retro West German-style interiors and an array of wursts to choose from, but the classic imbiss option is an extra spicy currywurst.

3. Hobenköök

Set in an old warehouse, Hobenköök translates as ‘harbour restaurant’ — though there’s more to it than the name suggests, with a food market and sometime gig venue also part of the set-up. Artfully constructed dishes include local specialities — dive into labskaus: a hearty beef broth that’s a North Sea staple.

Where to go after dinner

1. Gaststätte Dreyer
A sometime setting for a German TV detective show called Großstadtrevier, this smoky and eccentric neighbourhood pub in the Neustadt district offers a delicious slice of Old Hamburg — its interiors adorned with more than 300 antique clocks. Head to the hefty wooden bar to order a Holsten Pils — Hamburg’s traditional beer.

2. Große Freiheit 36
With its iconic neon sign shaped like a guitar, this club just off the Reeperbahn bills itself as both the largest and the oldest in Hamburg. Some people come here for gigs and club nights, while others come to catch echoes of the past; it was in the adjoining basement, named the Kaiserkeller, that the Beatles honed their craft in the early 1960s, playing seven hours a night, seven nights a week.

3. Le Lion
This cocktail bar is the apex predator among the city’s drinking establishments and is decorated with sculptures of prowling cats. The signature is the gin basil smash: a refreshing, lemony concoction.

Where to stay in Hamburg

1. Pyjama Park Reeperbahn
Part of a small family of hostel-cum-hotels in Hamburg, this spirited establishment has both double rooms and dorms decorated with colourful artworks — including nods to the Beatles who first honed their skills as a band playing nightclubs nearby. The dorm-room ladders to upper bunks can be quite a challenge after a night out on the Reeperbahn.

2. Motel One Fleetinsel
This hotel scores highly for its location — perched on a sliver of land between two canals, a two-minute stroll from the harbour. Compact, comfy rooms have Juliet balconies — lean out and you might spot the Elbphilharmonie rising over the cherry trees outside.

3. Reichshof
In operation on and off since 1910, this splendid pile opposite Hamburg Hauptbahnhof station was once Germany’s biggest hotel. It remains one of the most opulent, with marble columns and chandeliers in the lobby, and a handsome wood-panelled dining room.

How to do it:
British Airways Holidays offers a three-night city break package, staying at the NH Hamburg Altona, room only, from £379 per person, including flights from Heathrow.

Best time to visit Hamburg:
The city has a reputation for year-round rain and wind, although the daytime highs of around 23C in August mean that, during summer, little ‘beach clubs’ optimistically set up shop on the banks of the Elbe at St Pauli Piers. In winter, a Christmas market opens next to the town hall; December sees average temperatures drop to 4C.

Getting there & around:
British Airways, EasyJet, Eurowings and Ryanair fly daily from UK airports such as Edinburgh, Gatwick, Heathrow, Manchester and Stansted. It’s a half-hour train ride from the airport into the centre. It’s also possible to travel from London St Pancras International to Hamburg by rail, leaving London after breakfast and arriving at your destination in time for dinner. You’ll need to change at Brussels Midi/Zuid and then at Cologne Hauptbahnhof, which is also a good spot for lunch.

Hamburg’s city centre is fairly compact and easily navigated on foot — if you’re going further, the good-value Hamburg CARD entitles you to unlimited journeys on buses, U-bahn (underground), S-bahn (tram) services and ferries on the Elbe for €11.90 (£10.20) a day. Hamburg has a comprehensive network of cycle lanes — to use the StadtRAD cycle scheme, download the app. Bike hire charges are capped at €9 (£7.75) per day.

This story was created with the support of the German National Tourist Office.

Published in the July/August 2024 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).

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