By air
Hamburg (HAM), ~10 km
Europe · Germany
Hamburg, Germany
A port city of canals and the Elbphilharmonie
Getting there
Best time to visit
May to September — summer
Don't miss
The Elbphilharmonie
The Speicherstadt
The Reeperbahn
The Alster lakes
Things to do
The Elbphilharmonie
The Speicherstadt
A harbour cruise
Miniatur Wunderland
Where to eat
Sources: Photo: kallerna · CC BY-SA 4.0
What to pack
A rain jacket
A quieter corner
The Sunday fish market at dawn
Questions travellers ask
What's there to do in Hamburg?
See the Elbphilharmonie and the Speicherstadt, take a harbour cruise, and visit Miniatur Wunderland. The Reeperbahn and the Alster lakes round it out.
When is Hamburg's fish market on?
On Sunday, at dawn — set an alarm.
What's the best season for Hamburg?
May to September, in summer. Bring a rain jacket anyway.
What should I snack on in Hamburg?
Fischbrötchen and Franzbrötchen.
About Hamburg
- Riverside
Where it is
Hamburg is Germany's second-largest city and one of its three city-states, a great port on the Elbe river in the north of the country, where the Alster and Bille join it and the long Elbe estuary begins its run to the North Sea.
History
The city takes its name from the Hammaburg, a castle built in the 9th century, and its 1241 alliance with Lübeck is seen as the founding moment of the Hanseatic League. A great fire destroyed a quarter of the inner city in 1842, the Speicherstadt warehouse district rose from the 1880s, and after heavy bombing in 1943 Hamburg was rebuilt; the Elbphilharmonie opened in 2017.
People
Hamburgers speak German, and Low German, Hamborger Platt, is the city's original language. Maritime life shapes the city, from the Sunday fish market by the harbour to Labskaus and Franzbrötchen, a cinnamon pastry, and the Beatles honed their act in the clubs of St. Pauli between 1960 and 1962.
Known for
- The port and harbour cruises
- The Speicherstadt warehouse district
- The Elbphilharmonie concert hall
- The Reeperbahn in St. Pauli
- Miniatur Wunderland
Did you know?
Hamburg's rivers and canals are crossed by around 2,500 bridges, more than in any other city in Europe.
We haven't written a guide for this place yet — you can still plan a trip here.