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Hamburg Help

We're thinking of about a week in & around Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein. This would be a first trip to the region. We'll likely fly in and out of Hamburg from Spain or England (so no jet-lag!). It would be in late June, this year.

We're slow (i.e. lazy), travellers and happy to spend some time doing nothing (or eating & drinking), but we do like to see the top sights in any place. We've no overriding interests - old architecture, modern history, nice views, local museums, sport spectating, etc. would all be okay. Last year we spent three weeks in Poland (Warsaw, Gdansk, Torun, Poznan and Krakow) and loved the variety, sights, food and people. This will be a shorter holiday, however.

In Germany, we have only previously had long weekend breaks in Berlin and Munich.

And, "we" means my wife and I.

Here's the plan, does it make sense?

  • 4 nights in Hamburg, with a day trip to Bremen or Luneburg which both seem nice (any preference or alternatives?);

  • train to Lubeck for 2 nights, including Travemunde; and

  • train to Schleswig for 2 nights, then back to Hamburg (either direct to airport, or via another night in "X"?)

I realise we're missing Sylt and other islands. Given we live by the Mediterranean coast and wouldn't be doing any sun-bathing, should we try to include these and drop/shorten something else? Or would Kiel be an interesting stop?

We could stay up to 9 or 10 nights maximum.

I'd be grateful for any advice, both general and specific sight/hotel recommendations. Were fairly low maintenance for hotels - a bed, private bathroom and, ideally, a kettle are the only essentials.

Thank you in advance.

Posted by
3015 posts

Your basic itinerary gives you some time. Hamburg offers a lot of interesting sights and attractions.

Close to worth-visiting Lübeck & Travemünde you will find Timmendorfer Strand which is an exclusive destination at German Baltic Sea. Close to that you can visit Karls Erlebnishof (a farm park, famous in earlier times for its strawberry fields). At Brodten bluff you can do a walf trough nature.

Schleswig is also a remarkable good choice. Haithabu is a journey into the past of the Vikings. A remarkable hideaway close to Schleswig is Hotel Töpferhaus.

Maybe choose a rental car for exploring the countryside. Schleswig-Holstein is nice for a car round trip in summer. In Hamburg a car is not an advantage. On the way between Lübeck and Schleswig there are some interesting side trips:

  • Plön and Eutin with lakes (boat tour)
  • Molfsee is a historic village near Kiel
  • Some people enjoy a boat trip on Kiel fjord with a visit of Laboe Marine Memorial including WWII submarine U 995
  • Some interesting castles / palaces on the way in Schleswig-Holstein

Sylt is not meaningful with that time schedule. If you want to spend an extra day on the sea you can do a ferry ride to / from Helgoland.

Have a good journey.

Posted by
14985 posts

Good itinerary planned. I find this part of Germany interesting and captivating historically, sociologically, and geographically....not swamped by international tourists either, totally off the North American radar. The tourists you'll see, mainly, are German, if not exclusively, depending on where or none at all.

If you want to do a day trip from Hamburg, I would suggest Lüneburg and Lauenburg an der Elbe, Kiel, , Schwerin, (a direct shot),

If you're in Kiel, take the harbor cruise. Kiel was one of the first places to be raided by British bombers in 1942, and was hit over and over. not too much interesting architecture there. If you're visiting in late June, (same time I was there last year), you are there during Kieler Woche and all the festivities.

From Kiel the interesting towns, culturally to see are Eutin/Holstein (aside from the historical aspect), Schleswig, (the famous Schloss), Husum, and Plön.

I would not count on having a tea maker in your hotel room. That has not been my experience staying in Kiel, Lüneburg, or Hamburg in 2 or 3 star hotels.

Posted by
346 posts

We were in this area two summers ago for a family reunion, that explored a branch of the family that moved to Bremen. We rented a car, so some of the things we did, I don't know if you can do by train or not. We also had limited time, so it was a lot of one nighters.

Hamburg - we did the St Nickolai memorial, wandered to the Rathaus, and wandered through the Warehouse district. Later on in the day we found Beatles Platz. We ate dinner at the fisherman's market. I tried the eel soup, which was wonderful, and the herring, which was not my favorite. Hubby had asparagus soup and herring. It was nice to sit on the river and watch boats sail by. We also saw a 300 million dollar yacht anchored across the river which will play into the story a bit later. We arrived on Sunday, but our flight was delayed so we didn't get to do the Fisherman's market in the morning :( I also wanted to do the Spice museum, but jet lag kicked in.

We went to Kiel the next morning. There we found a light house. We toured WWI/WWII bunker while everything was in German, it was fascinating. One of the exhibits there was local students interviewed WWII residents and got their stories from the war. A few of them broke my heart. Then we did a small aquarium and were there right when they were feeding the sharks and rays. It was so cool. We walked through the UBoat memorial. Then our GPS sent us on a scavenger hunt trying to find the Uboat that you can go through. We finally found it 10 mins before it closed so we ran through it. Wowsa it was tight quarters. I would not like to be the man who slept under the torpedo...We stayed that night at Hotel California. We were hoping they wouldn't let us leave...no such luck. It was nice to stick our toes in the Baltic and walk the beach.

The next day we drove Lübeck. This is a place where I need to go back and spend more time. We walked around the city. Photographed the famous gates. It was hot hot hot when we were there so we spent quite some time shopping for cooler clothes for the hubby. We ate cake at Niederigger - the famous marzipan place. We did some shopping. This is a fun place to do that. We toured some churches and found the devils statue. He is so cute. The we spent time at the Wally Brandt museum. It was a well done museum. I wish we had more time to do the Gunter Grass musuem too. It was fun to wander the alley ways here. Lübeck is on my list for places to go back to.

We did Lüneburg the next day. This place is so charming. We did the water tower. (Take the elevator up and the stairs down) Then we wandered through the town. The old crane is cool to see. We found the cutest hard candy store. Which was a ton of fun to photograph and of course buy some sweets. We were there on market day, and I am a sucker for farmer's markets. We found the church that the columns holding up the church are crooked as it was built on top of a salt mine and is sinking. That night we stayed at a working farm in the Lüneburge Heide called Hotel Hof Tütsburg. You have to have a car here, it is way out in the middle of no where, but it was our favorite place we stayed. It was so peaceful and beautiful. They have a herd of the special sheep that live in the Heide. They have goats too.

The next day we wandered through Stade and then drove to Cuxhaven. Cuxhaven we found the place where the ships leave the Elbe for the North Sea. It was so cool there was a gentleman who was announcing the ships and giving information on the ships as they sailed by. It was in German, but worth going as the ships are huge. We saw the 300 million dollar yacht sail past, it was not announced...But it was the Katara which is owned by the Emir of Qatar. Cuxhaven is known for its mudflats. I wanted to walk on them, but was vetoed. We stayed a bit south of a town and were able to find a cool light house at sunset. I was like a little kid in a candy store here photographing it. We dipped our toes in the north sea.

Posted by
2090 posts

We took a day from Hamburg to visit Luneburg. I think it is absolutely one of the most beautiful towns I’ve seen anywhere in Europe. The folks In the Hamburg train station helped with the tickets.

Posted by
346 posts

Cont

The next day we went to Bremen for the family reunion - where we stayed in one place for the weekend. This is another place that I want to go back. There was so much we didn't get to do here. The Schnoor looked like a cool place to go shopping. But we were on a family tour and couldn't stop to shop. We also go to tour the Rathaus and Chamber of Commerce Building, but I think special arrangements were made for that. We went to the Focke Museum and the Art Museum. The Focke museum (in German) was cool, but they pulled some special family artifacts for us to see. One of the family members was a well known artist in the area. Near the Focke Museum is a huge cemetery that we walked around.

After the reunion we headed to Bremerhaven for the immigration/emigration museum. Which was really interesting! The German part of the family headed to an artist colony near by called Worpswede. They were excited to see it. If we had more time, we would have joined them.

This post is a lot longer than I intended, but we had such a amazing trip, and I want to go back to the northern part of Germany again as there is so much more to see and do.

Posted by
1297 posts

Many thanks to all of you for your very helpful comments and suggestions. We'll definitely be using them in our "planning" over the coming days. And, you have all given me confidence that this is certainly a part of the world we'll both enjoy seeing.

Thank you, again.

Posted by
14985 posts

The bunker in Kiel...interesting, didn't know about that... I'll try to see that when I am there in June.

Posted by
14985 posts

@ Susan K...Thanks very much for the link...very informative and enlightening info on the Flandernbunker. from WW1. Admittedly, I had never heard of it and this esoteric site. Particularly helpful was the bus information on how to get to it.

Posted by
4 posts

Here are some more thoughts: if you want to go to Kiel, you could try to be there on Saturday June 29th for the “Windjammerparade”. It takes place in the morning, 11am - 1 pm, an event of “Kieler Woche” (Kiel Week, sailing competitions). Up to one hundred sail boats will be out on the water, among them vintage sail ships. It can be an impressive sight. (Don't forget your rain jackets!)

If you arrive in Kiel by train and want to go to Laboe to tour the submarine (and maybe see the parade of ships), there is a ferry that will take you to Laboe, see schedule below.
https://www.sfk-kiel.de/en/ferries/fjord/

In Lübeck, I recommend the “Buddenbrookhaus”. Thomas Mann wrote “The Buddenbrooks”, a novel about the stiff Hanseatic traditions of his home town, that was first not well received by its citizens. Now a historic house museum.
https://buddenbrookhaus.de/index.php?seid=1269

From Schleswig, you could drive to Seebüll to see the paintings of Emil Nolde, a locally beloved painter of the Schleswig - Holstein landscapes and gardens (about 1 hour).
https://www.nolde-stiftung.de/en/

On the way back to Hamburg, I recommend stops in Husum and/or Friedrichstadt.
Friedrichstadt is a lovely small town with a strong Dutch influence:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrichstadt

Definitely, skip Sylt!

Have a great trip, and let me know if you have questions.

Posted by
14985 posts

"train to Schleswig for 2 nights...." Good! I did a short day trip to Schleswig from Kiel last summer.

While in Schleswig be sure to visit Schloss Gottorf if you're into the history...well worth it. I didn't have enough time to devote to the Schloss but will be back in Schleswig on this summer's trip.