Day Trips from Hamburg June 2024

Lübeck is a lovely day trip from Hamburg. A beautiful and well-preserved mediaeval Hanseatic port with streets of gorgeous houses. Famous for amber and marzipan!

It’s about 45, 50 minutes by frequent direct train.

You could always take a train up to Warnemunde/Rostock--on the coast. It's Germany's version of the Florida coastline and where they go on vacation. And the town is quite cute with decent restaurants, etc.

The Hamburg area is not one with beautiful scenery--like Bavaria. It's pretty flat up there.

Not true! Our scenery isn't mountains, but there is a TON of beautiful scenery up here.

An easier, shorter day trip that is very pretty is Glückstadt. It's only a 40 minute train trip from Hamburg, and it is a cute little town with a lovely square. Find a place to try matjes, a pickled herring dish popular in the region. Glückstadt is actually regionally famous for its matjes, hosting a big matjes festival (town of 10,000 grows to 100,000!) in early/mid June each year. Walk through the square, down little cobbled alleys, and down the harbor so like Copenhagen's Nyhavn that you'd swear you were in Scandinavia. In fact, the town was founded by the Danish king Christian IV, whose bust is in front of the little church from the 1600s. And for scenery, walk along the dike. Sheep, blowing sea grasses, and a river so wide you almost feel you are on the ocean.

There is a local history museum (Detlefsen), but even if you skip it (unlikely much is in English), you can visit the little Jewish cemetery right next to the train station. Glückstadt had freedom of religion (unlike Hamburg), and it was a prosperous town, so there was a decent Jewish population. The last one died in the 1920s, so there was nobody left to deport in WWII, but the cemetery was vandalised and was only restored 20 years ago or so. Glückstadt was the seat of the Duchy of Holstein--there is a former palace which was an elementary school before becoming an adult education center. It was besieged but not taken during the 30 years' war. So it has cool history.

Like in any small town you will find that most older folks have limited English, but you should still find people accommodating. There is a small tourist information center that you can contact if you want more guidance.
https://glueckstadt-tourismus.de/en/

My recommendation would be to check into your tour hotel upon arrival and spend the afternoon/evening in a place in Hamburg not included in the tour. My recommendation would be either take the S-Bahn out to Blankenese and walk down the stairs through the Treppenviertel to the beach (if it's low tide you can see two shipwrecks) or to explore the Sternschanze neighborhood. The former is prettier and less likely to be on the tour, the latter is edgier and has more interesting food options. Get to bed early, then do the morning / mid-day in Glückstadt before meeting your tour group. Glückstadt is not that big or far, it's pretty, easy to access, has good local cuisine, interesting history, more rural pretty scenery, and is not as demanding or overwhelming as a trip to Lübeck. Perfect for more of a half-day of pre-tour.

If you prefer to go straight to Glückstadt for your first night, stay either right on the square or right on the harbor.

Thanks everyone! This is great information. We are open to all suggestions. HowlinMad, thank you for the recommendation and the history lesson. Learning the history of the area is one of my favorite things about traveling. Thoughts on a free day in Munich?

I might be missing something. You are arriving and immediately want to go on a half-day trip outside of Hamburg, presumably by train? If that interpretation is correct, have you considered any of Hamburg's wonderful museums that aren't on the RS tour itinerary instead of traveling elsewhere? Kunsthalle, International Maritime Museum, Museum for Hamburg History (check re-opening dates following renovations), Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, International Maritime Museum, Ballinstadt Immigration Museum, Miniature Wonderland (miniature trains!!), etc. There are more. This area near St Michael's Church is interesting for history. (not a large area) https://www.shmh.de/kramer-widows-apartment/ Not sure if it would be included on an RS tour - the street is very narrow and less extensive than other more obvious areas like Speicherstadt to take a tour group. My thinking is that staying in Hamburg gives you the easy option of returning to the hotel if you are jet-lagged or tired. Hamburg is a pleasant city to walk. You might consider Planten un Blomen Park - public gardens/park near central Hamburg and Lake Alster.

If you are considering a train journey out of Hamburg, We did Bremen as a full day trip from Hamburg in July 2024. Easy day. Old city center, Schnoor Quarter, Das Viertel, some interesting museums. It would work as a half day if you wanted to walk through the older sections. Our trains were about an hour ride, many scheduled.

Lubbock is also wonderful city. Worth more than a half day. (If I'm understanding your time frame.)

English is well spoken in the area.

Regarding days trips from Hamburg, there are numerous choices open to you. Any particular direction? West, north, south, or east?

How about going east, ie into eastern Germany to area of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, namely the city of Schwerin to see that lovely and amazing Schloss/chateau. Politically and culturally, that immediate area was called Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

From Hamburg Hbf is a train to Schwerin, direct. Much more feasible than accessing Schwerin from Berlin as a day trip.

If you should have any interest in history museums in the greater Hamburg area, I can suggest some of them, (I've tracked them down, seen seen all of them, all in German ), depending on the level of your interest.

These museums and monuments all have to do with Prussian-German history.

I support the ideas of Schwerin and Lübeck. Compared to Lübeck Schwerin has an old town and a castle. The bakery bistro Junge at Schwerin main station is really good - to-go and for sitting in.

I would take a harbour cruise or just the regular harbour ferries.

Blankenese was mentioned above. You could take one of the regular ferries (part of the public transit system of the city) one way, and train the other. But do check the ferry route as HADAG are one ship short at the moment and that route is only running from Cranz (Finkenwerder if the water levels on the Elbe are high).
Cranz is easily reachable by express bus from Hamburg HbF railway station, and Finkenwerder is on the regular ferry lines from the city centre- takes 30 minutes.

I recommend against Lübeck or Schwerin because the tours typically start in mid-afternoon, and jet lag will be a factor. So you would have basically from mid-day of the day before the tour (depending on arrival and transfer times) to about 4pm on tour day. That isn't really enough time for larger excursions.

I said Glückstadt because it is close, easy, and if you have to cut off your excursion to meet your tour group, you don't feel you are missing something. It's a gentle day, well suited to jetlag, likely mostly outside (which helps with jet lag) and ticks your boxes of food, scenery, and history. It also gives you a very good idea of local life. Lübeck and Schwerin and especially Bremen are certainly worth a visit, but they are longer, more intense trips and more touristy. They are not really suitable for a truncated day. I love all three and would HIGHLY recommend each, but if you are meeting your tour group at 4pm, you really only have a shortened timeframe. I would have also suggested Altes Land, but though it's closer, it is harder to access than a town like Glückstadt.

Museums are great, but not suited for arrival day for most people. When you can barely keep your eyes open, quiet, indoor spaces with lots of reading are not ideal. That's why I suggested Blankenese's Treppenviertel and the beach / shipwreck (pretty, interesting, some history, neighborhood has good food--I really like Goa, an Indian restaurant). There is a restaurant with more regional dishes on the pontoon at the beach. You can also visit the Museumshafen Övelgönne or ride the ferries a bit. Outside is better for arrival day. The suggestion of Planten un Blomen / Wallanlangen is also a good one--it's beautiful and interesting, although less historical and the park doesn't have great food options. But in that area you are close to Sternschanze, which does have good food, and the Karolinenviertel, which also has good food.

Your tour covers the harbour, Speicherstadt, Landungsbrücken, St. Nikolai, and thus likely the areas of Deichstraße and St. Michel (and if it doesn't, pop into the aforementioned Krameramtstuben). It probably also includes the more modern Rathaus / Alster areas and maybe even the composer's street (Peterstraße). I don't know how much of the Reeperbahn you cover, but based on your stated interests it didn't strike me as your speed--although it is far more interesting and historical than the seedy reputation indicates.

Also in town but harder to access than some of the places I mentioned are the Boberger Sanddünen--a sand dune landscape in town!--or you could, if this is your speed, rent a canoe and paddle through some of the fancy neighborhoods along the Alster. Or perhaps a trip to Neuengamme concentration camp?

There are a million and one cool things to do in and around the city. I can make suggestions all day long. I just thought Glückstadt checked your boxes.

For Munich I have far fewer ideas. Some, mostly a trip to Freising / Weihenstephan.

Thank you for all of your responses! We have some research to do based on your recommendations. We appreciate your input.

We took the train to Lüneburg about 30 minutes from Hamburg for perhaps half a day or so. I thought it was one of the most beautiful small towns we had visited anywhere. Safe travels.