5 Top-Rated Tourist Attractions in Hamburg
Hamburg, the largest city in Germany after the capital of Berlin, lies at the head of the long funnel-shaped estuary of the River Elbe. Its location makes it an important link between the sea and Germany's network of inland waterways and numerous islands. The city is best known for its famous harbor area, the Port of Hamburg. In addition to being a major transportation hub, Hamburg has become one of Europe's most important cultural and commercial centers, as well as a major tourist destination.
The only part of old Hamburg to survive centuries of fires and wars, the narrow, curving Deichstrasse gives a sense of the city's past. Built long before the 19th-century warehouses and 21st-century harborside complexes, the street offers a glimpse into the city's Hansa past. The Hanseatic League was a medieval association of independent port cities and merchants along the Baltic and north Atlantic from the 11th to the 18th centuries, and even into the 19th century. Its distinct architecture is found throughout Baltic Germany.
Deichstrasse takes you straight onto a bridge over one of the city's many canals. Massive brick warehouses, built a couple of centuries after the Hansa's power faded, form a canyon along the canal's sides.
A second footbridge leads into the hottest new neighborhood, Hafencity, where old and new mix in a striking blend of 19th-century, neo-Hansa brick with contemporary steel-and-glass apartments, their balconies jutting out over attractive cafés, eye-to-eye with vintage sailing vessels. Many of the most interesting things to do in Hamburg are in this port area.
To help find the best places to visit in Hamburg, be sure to refer to our list of the top attractions in this important port city.
1. Port of Hamburg & Speicherstadt
The Port of Hamburg, the Hamburger Hafen - also known as "HafenCity" - encompasses 100 square kilometers of tidal harbor and is known as the Gateway to Germany. It's also where you'll find many of the city's most-visited tourist attractions, and on summer evenings and weekends, it's full of local residents relaxing.
A lovely pedestrian trail takes in the old 19th-century Warehouse District, the Speicherstadt, with its continuous lines of tall brick buildings once used to store tobacco, coffee, dried fruit, and spices. Built up from 1883 to 1927, it's reputedly the world's largest such warehouse district and was in 2015 designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Another landmark of the Port of Hamburg is the Köhlbrandbrücke, a 3.9-kilometer bridge that spans the harbor. The newest and most spectacular addition to the waterfront area, though, is the Elbphilharmonie, the city's most important cultural venue (see more on this attraction in #3 below). The adjacent Traditionsschiffhafen/Sandtorhafen harbor lines the peninsula and is a great place to see vintage tall ships at their docks.
If you've got time, a good way to explore the Port of Hamburg is by boat, with numerous tours departing from Landungsbrücken.
2. Miniatur Wunderland
Although billed as the world's largest model railway, Hamburg's Miniatur Wunderland is really much more than simply a toy train layout. This is definitely one of the best places to visit in the city's historic Speicherstadt warehouse district. It's the world's largest model railway, boasting more than 15,400 meters of track and 1,040 trains (so expect to spend plenty of time here, especially if you're traveling with kids).
Built on a truly massive scale, the attraction covers an impressive 2,300 square meters. Highlights include areas dedicated to the USA, Scandinavia, and Germany, as well as an airport with planes that actually take off, plus some 100,000 vehicles that actually move, all of it illuminated by more than 500,000 lights and containing some 400,000 tiny (and unique) human figures.
As this is one of the most visited attractions in Germany, you can avoid a long wait by reserving your ticket online. Fun, behind-the-scenes guided tours are available and are highly recommended. Dining and snacks are available on-site, including a restaurant for the kids.
3. Elbphilharmonie
The magnificent Elbphilharmonie known locally as "Elphi," the imposing Elbphilharmonie (Elbe Philharmonic Hall) is the crown jewel of the revitalized Port of Hamburg. Located at the point of the Grasbrook peninsula, this new building has become the city's major landmark, and is considered one of the largest - and most acoustically pleasing - concert halls in the world.
Opened to great fanfare in 2017, its base consists of a 1960s-era, six-story-tall former cocoa, tea, and tobacco warehouse built of red brick, above which rise an additional twenty stories of curved, shining glass.
The largest of its three concert halls seats 2,150 and features 10,000 plates specially designed to tune sound waves. The building is also home to a major hotel, residential apartments, restaurants, and other features, including parking.
A publicly accessible observation platform, the Elbphilharmonie Plaza provides splendid views of the harbor and the city.
Classical music fans should also plan on an evening at the Hamburg State Opera (Staatsoper Hamburg), much-admired for its rich program of opera and its excellent acoustics.
4. Hamburger Kunsthalle
Hamburger Kunsthalle Occupying three separate but connected buildings on the Glockengießerwall, Hamburger Kunsthalle - literally translated as the "Hamburg Art Hall" - is one of Germany's top art galleries. Highlights include numerous altarpieces, works by local artists of the 14th century, and Dutch masters of the 16th and 17th centuries. Also of note are its fine collections of 19th-century German and French paintings, plus substantial modern and contemporary art collections. Tours and fun programs for children are available.
Another notable art collection is housed at the Deichtorhallen, one of the largest galleries of contemporary art and photography in Europe.
5. Hamburger Rathaus (City Hall) and Mönckebergstraße
In the center of Hamburg's Rathausmarkt stands the majestic City Hall, or Rathaus. This large, elaborately decorated Neo-Renaissance building adjacent to the Stock Exchange (Börse) was completed in 1897 and consists of 647 rooms, many opened to the public for the city's annual Long Night of Museums event. Notable features include the spectacular painted ceiling in the Kaisersaal, which depicts the importance of German merchant shipping. Guided tours are available, as are opportunities to observe the local government in action.
From the Rathaus, the wide Mönckebergstraße, Hamburg's principal shopping and business district, leads past 14th-century St. Peter's Church, a cathedral and fine example of brick Hansa architecture notable for its 133-meter bell tower.
A column in the south part of the church bears a painting called Christmas 1813, commemorating citizens who were locked in the church that year for refusal to provide food to Napoleon's troops. Continue on Mönckebergstraße all the way to the Central Station and the Schauspielhaus theater.
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