A weekend wandering through Hamburg (Hamburg)

Member Name: Smyles

Product:	Hamburg
Date:	23/07/07 (104 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting history, beautiful parks and waterways, lakes, nightlife.

Disadvantages: Not so much 'wow' as some other European cities.

Waterways, parks, culture, and the red light district - welcome to a weekend in Hamburg. This city in northern Germany is perhaps not a popular weekend getaway destination but in some ways that is a shame as you can certainly have a great time there (as we did). On the other hand there are other cities both in Germany and other countries in Europe that probably have more impact or ‘wow’ factor. Perhaps therefore I would say that Hamburg is a great place to visit for a short trip if you have already explored a lot of other European destinations, or if you if you a little more time to look around the region.

Lufthansa offer reasonably priced direct flights from London to Hamburg, although unfortunately Ryan air and Easyjet don’t offer direct flights. If you travel first into another European city however, I would highly recommend the excellent ICE bullet train services to and from Hamburg. The trains are whisper quiet, very clean and comfortable, extremely reliable, and of course, fast! The only downside is that they can be a little expensive so make sure you book ahead to get the best prices. See www.db.de for more details - all services are available in English as well as German in case your German is not exactly up to the task!

The city, Germany’s second largest, is set around a number of waterways, lakes, and the Hamburg port. This makes it a very picturesque city, and indeed there are many beautiful parks and walkways throughout the city.

On a sunny day, a walk along the waterfront at the port (get off at Baumwall underground station), around one of the central city lakes the Binnenalster and Aussenalster where swans and geese glide peacefully, or visit Plannten and Bloomen (the literal meaning is ‘plants and flowers’), the city’s gorgeous botanical gardens and sit in one of the provided deck chairs on the smooth lawns. To take full advantage of the city I would have to recommend visiting in summer, I admit that I haven’t been there in winter, but the parks and lakes were a real highlight and I don’t think they would be as enjoyable in freezing temperatures!

The architecture in Hamburg is another attraction, with the formidable Rathaus (town hall) the biggest draw card. The building has 647 rooms - 6 more than Buckingham Palace - is exquisitely preserved/restored, and is situated in the central city overlooking a lively square. We were able to enter the ground floor hall and there was a small photography exhibition being held in the foyer, which was interesting, and it was amazing to see how intricately the interior was decorated, from the moulded ceilings, to the interesting stained glass windows depicting astrological signs (possibly a throw-back to Germany’s pagan history?).

Other notable buildings in the city include the five main churches, with their tall spires that punctuate the city skyline, and the distinctive colouring of the green copper plating. St. Michaeliskirche (kirche means church in German) is in the baroque style and visitors can take the lift up the tower for a small fee. St. Petrikirche, St. Jakobkirche, and St. Katharinenkirche are also worth a visit if you’re interested. St Nikolaikirche, however, is a must when visiting the city. The church has been converted into an antiwar monument and a memorial of the carpet bombings of Hamburg during 1943. The church was severely damaged during the raids, when Allied bombers used it’s 100m tall spire as a navigating aid, and was not repaired after the war due to a lack of funds and a diminishing parish. It was slowly developed into a memorial during the 1980s and 90s. The spire, which survived the bombings, has been left in its charred state and is certainly a striking reminder of the violence of W.W.II, and you can take a lift up 75m to get a wonderful view of the city, including the Rathaus and lakes. There is a very authentic feel to the church - it hasn’t been too cleaned up for tourism - and there are some incredible photos showing what Hamburg looked like after the Allied bombings, as well as a short but informative and very balanced discussion of the bomb raids on the city.

The port area of the city, along the banks of the Elbe River, is also worth at least a few hours of your time. There is a wide pedestrian promenade that runs along the harbour and harbour boat tours are plentiful with many operators offering tours of various prices and durations. I’m sure these would be pleasant if you had time and felt like the extra expense, but personally I felt like you could explore a lot of the areas on foot just as well. Walk west along the waterfront to the fish markets, or take the train to Konigstrasse. But be warned - the markets are only open until 10am so you need to get there early!

Walking along the harbour between Landungsbrucken and Baumwall stations there are a number of places to eat or get a drink. My recommendation though is to stick to a great German beer and some snacks before heading off somewhere else for dinner - we were eager to try the fish thinking that this close to the ocean it must be good, but unfortunately we were rather disappointed. Your typical fish and chips meal is more of a chips and fish nuggets in Germany - quite disappointing when you’re expecting a fresh fillet!

The old city, located a short walk east of Baumwall underground station is a fascinating walk. Along the narrow canals are stately old refurbished warehouses in rich red brick and gold lettering. Some of the warehouses have been converted into tourist attractions and you can visit the miniature museum, which houses an array of model trains, the Hamburg Dungeons, which (judging by the promotional material) is a sort of tunnel of horrors adventure ride. There are also a number of theatres and smaller museums in the area.

And for a night out, there is simply no going past the Reeperbahn. We had heard of this infamous area before going to Hamburg, it is the red light district of the city and is famous for its sex shops, strip joints, and more. We were expecting therefore that it would be worth a look but not the sort of place you’d want to be too late after dark. How wrong we were. The Reeperbahn is a long street running approximately east-west through Hamburg, one section of the road, I would guess around 10 blocks, is jam-packed with bars, restaurants, and all sorts of alternative nightlife activities. The red-light aspect of the place is definitely there, and going strong, but I certainly didn’t find that it felt seedy or dangerous. There was a strong sense of fun and an almost tongue-in-cheek attitude to all the live sex shows, strip bars, and porn shops. Even if it isn’t your idea of a turn-on, you are certain to find something that makes you giggle.

Quite apart from anything kinky there are a huge number of bars and restaurants in the area. We were there on a Saturday night and the streets were absolutely jumping. The crowds were boisterous but pretty harmless I’d say - I would recommend keeping your wallet/bag pretty close though, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was quite a bit of pickpocketing going on, although we didn’t have any problems. And when you’ve had enough partying, you will find any kind of cheap, late night snack you can imagine before you head home. Judging by the sheer numbers of people in the area.

In terms of accommodation, there are a number of the usual chain hotels in Hamburg, plus a few backbacker type hostels if that’s more your price range. We weren’t looking at the pricey end but did have a look at the hostels - beds in dorms are usually around EUR20 from the research we did, but they must book out fast because we couldn’t get into any when we were booking about 10 days before our trip! In the end we opted for a cheap hotel on the Reeperbahn. Again we were a bit concerned it might be slightly dodgy but were pleasantly surprised to find it clean, if spartan, and very secure. If you are a very light sleeper you either will want to make sure you get a back room or perhaps look in another area though, because (faint but still would be disturbing for a light sleeper) noise of the party on the street went on ALL night. I had no problems and I am a reasonably light sleeper, but should mention it.

If you want to fit in a bit of shopping there are quite a few options, though I wouldn’t say it is an especially good city to shop in. The centre of the city, around the Rathaus, consists of many open malls and small streets lined with chain stores and designer stores. To be honest I didn’t spend too much time here, it seemed rather like what you could find in any main city. There is also quite a bit of shopping in the Hauptbahnhof (the central train station), and actually this is an amazing station so worth a visit anyway. Probably the most interesting area we came across for shopping was in the north-west of the city between Messehallen and Feldstrasse stations. In this alternative corner, a nice change to the rather conservative central city, you will find quirky clothing boutiques, secondhand stores, interesting cafes and crafts. It is definitely worth a visit but best if you can get there on a Saturday - we were there on Sunday and (perhaps luckily for my finances) could only window shop as most things were closed. Still a nice walk though and a chance to stop for a coffee.

So, in summary, Hamburg has many appealing aspects, and indeed quite a variety of attractions. It is relatively easy to get around with a EUR5.10 24 hour public transport card, although we did find some of the stations rather counter-intuitively marked and therefore a little confusing at first. We had one day of beautiful sunshine and one day of torrential rain. I definitely recommend the city in the sun! Unfortunately we didn’t have time to visit the city galleries or museums, though I have heard that Hamburg city spends more on the arts than most cities so I expect the galleries would be interesting. It would have been nice to have another day to explore a bit more but all in all we felt like we saw most of the city in 2 days and had a good mix of partying, history, and relaxation.

Summary: Very pleasant quick getaway destination or as a stop off on a longer trip.