Photo: Thomas Wolf, www.foto-tw.de · CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Hamburg
A harbour city of red-brick warehouses, ferries and a famous concert hall.
Germany's great port city: red-brick warehouses on canals, a glass concert hall on the harbour with a free viewing deck, ferries you ride on a city ticket, two lakes in the middle of town and the late-night streets of St Pauli.
Places to see
Elbphilharmonie PlazaViewpoint · A long curved escalator up through an old brick warehouse to the Plaza, a public terrace…Free- SpeicherstadtWalk · Rows of tall red-brick warehouses with turrets and green copper trim, standing straight…Free
Miniatur WunderlandMuseum · The world's largest model railway, filling two floors of a warehouse: tiny landscapes of…≈ A$39
When to go
- Jan4° / -1°Some rainQuiet
- Feb5° / -1°Some rainQuiet
- Mar8° / 1°Some rainQuiet
- Apr13° / 4°Some rainBusy
- May18° / 8°Some rainBusy
- Jun21° / 11°Some rainBusy
- Jul23° / 13°Often wetVery busy
- Aug23° / 13°Often wetVery busy
- Sep
Staying and getting around
Good areas to stay
St Pauli and the harbour. The Landungsbrücken piers, the old Elbe tunnel, the Sunday fish market and the Reeperbahn's nightlife, with the Schanze's cafés just north. Lively hostels; loud at weekends.
St Georg. Right behind the main station, along the Außenalster lake: many hostels and cheap eats, a busy, mixed street life and easy trains everywhere.
Flying in
Hamburg (HAM): S-Bahn line S1 to Hauptbahnhof, about 25 min, ≈ A$7. Every 10 minutes or so; an ordinary HVV single ticket, usually about €3.80 (check).
Flewaway's estimate for the usual budget way into Hamburg; check times and fares before you fly.
Getting around
Mostly on foot. A single ticket is ≈ A$7. The centre, the Speicherstadt, HafenCity and the harbour are walkable; the U-Bahn and S-Bahn link St Pauli and the rest. Harbour ferries take ordinary tickets (check).
Deutschlandticket (≈ A$110, 1 month (a subscription)): Covers Hamburg's U-Bahn, S-Bahn, buses and harbour ferries, and regional trains across Germany; worth it for a week or more. Cancel in time (check).
HVV day ticket (≈ A$15, 1 day (from 9:00 on weekdays)): Pays off with three rides, and covers the harbour ferries (check).
