We visited Hamburg to attend a music gig and so booked a three-night stay at the end of August so that we could explore the city as well as attend the event. As well as my Beginner’s Guide to Visiting Hamburg, here are some ideas about how to organise your time and enjoy the perfect schedule for a 3-day Hamburg City Break.
Table of Contents
Hamburg City Break - Day 1
Start at the Binnenalster and Alsterarkaden
The Binnenalster (Inner Alster Lake) is a square body of water at the southern end of the larger body of water which is the Alster Lake. The Binnenalster sits at the top of Hamburg’s Old and New Towns with transport links arriving at the Jungfernstieg along the south side of the Binnenalster making it a good starting point for your day on a Hamburg City Break
Before you start sightseeing, check out the beautiful Renaissance style arcade of high-end shops opposite, called the Alsterarkaden. They overlook the Kleine Alster canal and provide a lovely setting for a coffee and breakfast if needed.
Walk through the Aldstadt (Old Town)
Hamburg Rathaus (Town Hall)
Across the Kleine Alster canal, you will find a square housing the city’s Rathaus (Town Hall) with a beautifully adorned Baroque facade. As well as admiring the front of the building, make sure to walk around the back to walk through its lovely inner courtyard. If you want to see the inside, you can take a 40-minute tour but check first as to whether the commentary is in German or English.
Ascend the Mahal St Nikolai (Memorial of St Nikolai)
An 8-minute walk southwest from the Rathaus brings you to the half-ruin of Mahal St Nikolai (Memorial of St Nikolai). Built in 1195, the church was bombed in 1943 but the tower deliberately left standing as a navigation point for bombers coming into the city. You need to take the glass elevator to the top as the tower is very high (76.3 meters) and offering excellent views across to the cranes in the container port area.
There are information boards about the Warsaw Uprising in the outside area which once would have been the church, and a small Anti-war museum in the old church crypt.
Enjoy coffee and potatoes on Deichstrasse
A 5-minute walk south from the Mahal St Nikolai brings you to the charming, cobbled street of Deischestrasse, a perfect street to pick up a coffee or have lunch at Kartoffekeller which specialises in potato dishes – potato salad, potato pancakes, potato dumplings and much more). Hamburg’s Great Fire of 1842 broke out on the street so many of the buildings are restored 18th century merchant houses.
Whilst wandering along the street we spotted an open door to a residential building with a working paternoster – an open, continually moving passenger lift which goes around in a circle but we weren’t brave enough to have a go!
Explore the Warehouse District
UNESCO Speicherstadt
Continue walking south from Deischestrasse and over the bridge which crosses the Binnehafen into the Speicherstadt (Warehouse District). This historic district of 7-story red brick warehouses has UNESCO Heritage status. Built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries the warehouses were created to store and handle imports alongside the canal network. The area is now filled with museums, galleries, and cafes alongst the impressive warehouse buildings.
There are lots of places to visit in the Speicherstadt such as Miniatur Wunderland, Speicherstadt Museum (all about the warehouse district and its contribution to Hamburg’s wealth) and the International Maritime Museum (covering 3000 years of maritime history), so you might want to pick one or two, depending on your time and interest in the museums, otherwise it will be overload.
Miniatur Wunderland
We decided to visit Miniatur Wunderland, the World’s largest model railway and airport, which was brilliant (surprisingly so!). Set out over several floors of a large warehouse, the team behind Miniatur Wunderland have created iconic scenes from locations all over the world, from Rome to Rio. It sounds naff if you’re not into model railways, but it was seriously impressive – everything moved and lit up, it even had landing planes in the airport scene. A serious amount of work had gone into it all.
It was busy at Miniatur Wunderland, and so if you prefer to visit at a quieter time then maybe come back at opening time. Make sure to prebook your tickets as the museum is so popular that it sells out.
Note – Book tickets which include the 30-minute Virtual Reality Session as it’s brilliant. The VR session takes place in a separate building to the actual model railway so make a note of your starting point and arrive 30 minutes early to check in, choose your characters and get into your headsets and equipment. Then you are ‘shrunk’ into miniature form so that you can virtually enter the model railway land. I don’t want to give the game away, but expect games, surprises and even rollercoaster style effects!
Elbphilharmonie concert Hall (‘Elphie’)
Make your way to the Elbphilharmonie concert hall in HafenCity to take the 82 meter long slightly ‘curved’ escalator up to the viewing platform. The Elphie is perched on top of an historic warehouse in the HafenCity area and looks like the prow of a ship with a wave shaped roof. It’s free to take the escalator but you need a ticket (helps to control visitor numbers) from the ticket office on-site before scanning the bar code on entry. When you get to the viewing platform, which wraps around the building, you are rewarded with views across the River Elbe and across to the port area.
Relax with a German tradition
Chill in Schumachers Biergarten, Hamburg Stadtpark
From the Elphie, you can walk 8 minutes to the Baumwall Station and take the underground (Yellow U3) straight to the Stadtpark, exiting at Saarlandstrasse station (11 stops, 20 minutes).
Then walk 8 minutes to Schumachers Biergarten in Stadtpark to relax and soak up the atmosphere along with the locals. You will also be taking part in a very German tradition, of communal beer drinking in the park. The perfect end to a day of sightseeing on a Hamburg city break.
Note – when you book your trip to Hamburg, check whether there are any concerts on in the open-air venue in the Stadtpark as it’s a lovely place to see live music.
Hamburg City Break - Day 2
Neustadt, botanical gardens and St Michael’s Church
Start your day at the Binnenalster again and decide whether to walk through the shopping area of NeuStadt (New Town) to St Michael’s Church, or to take a slightly longer, but greener route through the ‘green lung’ of Hamburg.
Stroll through Planten un Blomen
Planten un Blomen park is an amazing green space right in the city centre which includes a botanical garden with a tropical house and large Japanese garden. You can either explore the whole of the park area, or simply follow its arc south around the west of Neustadt – it just depends whether you prefer to look at shops or enjoy a walk through the park!
Climb St Michaelis Kirche Tower (“Der Michel”)
About 25 minutes south, will bring you to ‘the Michel’ or St Michael’s Church. The church is a beautiful Baroque building with green copper spire – climb the 453 steps to the top of the spire (83 meters up) rewarding views of the city.
Zitronenjette – opposite the church, spot the statue of the lemon seller and rub her finger for good luck!
Near St Michael’s Church is the Brahms Museum if you are interested in classical music or the Krameramtswohnungen, a row of pretty half-timbered 17th century houses which used to be almshouses for widows of the Guild of Small Shopleppers.
Spend time at the harbour
Grab a fischbrötchen for lunch on St Pauli Piers
Walk from St Michael’s Church down to the St Pauli Piers on the waterfront ready to pick up a boat tour of the harbour from the 700 meters of floating dock ‘Landungsbrucken’.
But first grab a fischbrötchen from Brücke 10 on the St Pauli Piers before picking up your boat tour. As mentioned in my Beginner’s Guide to Hamburg, fischbrötchen are like a German fish finger sandwich but much tastier and authentic!
Relax on a boat tour of Hamburg’s harbour
We didn’t pre-book our boat trip, although you can. It was easy enough to book at one of the ticket booths along the promenade. Our tour was with Barkassen-Meyer for one hour. Unfortunately, no English commentary and so we downloaded the App which accompanies the tour for non-German speakers. Then just grab a beer, sit on the top deck and take it all in.
We saw lots of boats of different descriptions, graffiti on the harbour walls including the ‘Welcome to Hamburg’ postcard, dry docks, containers waiting to be loaded onto ships, cranes and super yachts – so all things nautical!
Once off the Harbour tour, there are several options such as:
- Elb Tunnel – walk through the Elb Tunnel under the river which is Art Deco in style and was built in 1907. It is Continental Europe’s longest tunnel under river – half a km long and 24 meters under the water;
- Rickmer Rickmers – visit the 1886 three masted windjammer ship called Rickmer Rickmers.
- Altona Balcony – walk further along the Elbe River promenade toward the Altona Balcony for wonderful views over the river, stopping at the U-Bootmuseum if you like submarines along the way.
Dinner at Fischerhaus or the ALEX Hamburg
Depending on your timings, you could return to the St Pauli Piers and have dinner at Fischerhaus, an institution in Hamburg dating back to 1898 and serving regional fish cuisine in an ‘informal atmosphere’. Alternatively, if it’s too early for supper, then you could return to the Binnenalster to eat at the ALEX Hamburg, but make sure you wait for a table overlooking the water!
Hamburg City Break - Day 3
Option 1 - Take a day trip to Lübeck
Lübeck is close enough to Hamburg to pop across for the day on the train – it only takes 40 minutes and you will be transported to a Medieval gem and UNESCO Heritage Site. Find out more in my blog Take a day trip from Hamburg to the Medieval Town of Lübeck, Germany.
Option 2 - Explore the Alster Lake
There is a Hop On, Hop Off boat which travels around Lake Alster which is a lovely thing to do. Pick up the boat at the Jungfernstieg and either go all the way around the lake or choose a couple of stops to embark and explore.
Option 3 - Check out some world class art
Hamburge Kunsthalle is the city’s heavyweight art gallery set over a series of strikingly different buildings (closed on Mondays). The Deichtorhallen (House of Photography) displays top quality modern art and photography exhibitions. However, also check the listings for the Bucerius Kunst Forum as we caught a fantastic exhibition of photographer Henri Cartier Bresson when we visited Hamburg.
Note – if visiting the Deichtorhallen, then you can make a short detour (8-minute walk) to see the Chilehaus built in the 1920s which is an icon of Expressionism and one of Hamburg’s most beautiful buildings shaped like an ocean liner.
Option 4 - Take the Beatles Walking tour around St Pauli
If your timetable allows book onto the Beatles Walking tour around the St Pauli neighbourhood. It doesn’t run very often in the week and so it might not coincide with your timings. The tour is led by Stephanie Hempel who carries a ukulele with her and encourages audience participation.
Whatever you decide to do on your Hamburg city break, I think you’ll be impressed!
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