Home › Travel Guides › Europe Travel Guide › Germany › Hamburg › Things to see in Hamburg
Image gallery

Hamburg

© germany-tourism.co.uk

+100
Hamburg Local time

Weather in Hamburg
Partly Cloudy Day
-
4
°C
Germany

Things to see in Hamburg

Tourist information: 

Hamburg Tourismus
Hauptbahnhof, Hamburg
Tel: (040) 3005 1300.
Website: www.hamburg-tourism.de
Opening times: Mon-Sat 0900-2100, Sun 1000-1800.

Hamburg’s main tourist information office is at the back of the Hauptbahnhof (main railway station), by the Kirchenallee entrance. There are also offices at the St Pauli Landungsbrücken (between piers 4 and 5), in the airport arrivals area, at Dammtor station and at Jungfernstieg station.

Passes: 

One of the best ways to get into and around Hamburg and its main attractions is with the Hamburg Card, which can be purchased at the tourist office and gives unlimited travel on all public transport in the Greater Hamburg area as well as free or reduced-price admission to many top attractions, museums and excursions.

Hafen Hamburg (Port of Hamburg)

Hamburg’s port and harbour district is a busy commercial area that’s still the beating heart of the city’s affluence and economic success, as it has been for centuries. It also makes for a great tour. Check out the city’s newest landmark, the 4km-long (2.5 miles) Köhlbrandbrücke (Köhlbrand Bridge) which spans the Elbe to link this area with the rest of town, then stroll along the Hafenrandpromenade, a pedestrian route around the harbour running from the Messberg to the Fischmarkt, before visiting the famous Warehouse district. Known as the Speicherstadt, this historic section of Hamburg’s port is the world’s largest warehouse complex. Its impressive, 19th-century, gothic red-brick buildings continue to store a treasure trove of exotic merchant goods. Many of these warehouses now contain museums, including the excellent Hamburg Dungeon, detailing the more gruesome aspects of the city’s past.

Admission Fees: No
Disabled Access: Yes
Unesco: No
Address: Speicherstadt, south of Zollkanal, Hamburg, Germany
Website: http://www.hafen-hamburg.de
Kunsthalle

As one of Germany’s most important art museums, Hamburg’s Kunsthalle houses a wealth of work from leading German artists, including the country’s masterful yet overlooked impressionists. There’s also plenty of space devoted to two of 19th-century romanticism’s most important painters, Caspar David Friedrich and Philip Otto Runge, as well as rooms given over to modern art, contemporary work, new media and print-making. One of the museum’s artistic highlights is the Grabow Altarpiece depicting the creation, painted for St Petri Church in 1379 by Master Bertram, Hamburg’s first famous painter.

Opening Times: Tues-Sun 1000-1800 (Thurs until 2100).
Admission Fees: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes
Unesco: No
Address: Glockengiesserwall 1, Hamburg, Germany
Telephone: (040) 4281 31200.
Website: http://www.hamburger-kunsthalle.de
Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte (Museum of Hamburg History)

Put the city in context with a visit to the fascinating Museum of Hamburg History, and follow the story of this crucial harbour town, from it origins as an early settlement to its burgeoning role as a port, trading from the eight century right up to the present day. Detailed scale models of Hamburg at various times during its development will also help with orientation for further exploring. Conveniently located in the city centre, but closed on Mondays.

Opening Times: Tues-Sat 1000-1700, Sun 1000-1800.
Admission Fees: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes
Unesco: No
Address: Holstenwall 24, Hamburg, Germany
Telephone: (040) 42813 22380.
Website: http://www.hamburgmuseum.de
Planten un Blomen

In a bustling metropolis that’s currently home to nearly 1.8 million people, this beautiful park right in the centre of Hamburg provides a green and leafy sanctuary for visitors and residents alike. This oasis of calm, created in the early 1800s, is a sizable 47 hectares (116 acres) of fountains, lakes, lawns and flower-beds. It also houses Hamburg’s botanical garden. The park is open all year-round, and the peace is only occasionally punctuated by one of the park’s spectacular water-light concerts, or equally popular open-air theatre and live music performances.

Opening Times: Daily 0700-2300 (May-Mar); daily 0700-2200 (Apr).
Admission Fees: No
Disabled Access: Yes
Unesco: No
Address: Planten un Blomen, Hamburg, Germany
Telephone: (040) 4282 32150.
Website: http://plantenunblomen.hamburg.de
St Michaelis

From humble origins, Hamburg’s church developed, from 1647 onwards, into the grand edifice that today forms such a prominent city centre landmark. With its unmistakable, 132m-high (433ft) baroque tower stunningly clad in beaten copper, St Michaelis continues to form an unmistakable part of the city skyline, even though it has undergone major reconstruction three times in its history, most recently after WWII. The tower can be climbed for an unsurpassed view of Hamburg. Equally impressive inside is the church’s mammoth organ, on which recitals are regularly given. Outside above the door, a huge bronze statue depicting the archangel Michael vanquishing the Devil, lets you know exactly where you are.

Opening Times: Daily 0900-1930 (May-Oct); daily 1000-1730 (Nov-Apr).
Admission Fees: No (charge for the tower and the crypt)
Disabled Access: Yes
Unesco: No
Address: Englische Planke 1a, Hamburg, Germany
Telephone: (040) 376 780.
Website: http://www.st-michaelis.de
The Reeperbahn

The St Pauli district of Hamburg used to make rope for ships but you can bet anyone still doing that here today is using it for far more ‘specialist’ reasons. This is the area containing the Reeperbahn, a half-mile strip that’s become one of the most notorious red-light districts outside Amsterdam, and one which has similarly managed to attain acceptable tourist attraction status, as curious visitors mingle with the locals and the workers here in this vibrant melange of strip-clubs, bars, erotic theatres and glass-fronted bordellos. Like it or not, the place buzzes after dark and is also the focal point for most of the city’s mainstream nightlife. Hamburg is a hard-working city, and its residents like to play hard too.

Admission Fees: No
Disabled Access: Yes
Unesco: No
Address: Reeperbahn, Hamburg, Germany
Tierpark Hagenbeck (Hagenbeck Zoo)

It may seem a slightly dated concept these days, but Hamburg’s zoo is still well worth a visit, being widely regarded shortly after its founding in 1848 as the zoo that set the gold standard for others around the world. Hamburg’s zoo was one of the first to do away with cramped, fenced enclosures in favour of large, open paddocks. Following the marked route through this large complex is recommended - and soon you’ll be strolling past carefully recreated, open environments housing flamingos, crocodiles, zebras, elephants, lions, giraffes, penguins, sea-lions and more.

Opening Times: Daily 0900-1900 (Jul-Aug); daily 0900-1800 (Mar-Jun and Sep-Oct); daily 0900-1630 (Nov-Feb).
Admission Fees: Yes
Disabled Access: Yes
Unesco: No
Address: Lokstedter Grenzstrasse 2, Hamburg, Germany
Telephone: (040) 530 0330.
Website: http://www.hagenbeck.de
Travel Deals

Recommended Sites:

Protect yourself from malaria
Before you travel, find out if your holiday destination is in a malaria zone.
(An educational initiative organised and funded by GlaxoSmithKline Travel Health. UK/MARK/0173/10 September 2010)
Africa, the way it should be seen
We´re cutting the cost of Africa overland trips by up to a whopping 40%. 25% off many trips departing by 30/6/12.
Travel insurance
For residents of over 150 countries. High levels of medical, evacuation, emergency & most adventure activities covered.