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Hamburg: special things to do and see

Hello,
My husband and I are taking a Baltic cruise in June. We are both in our 50's and are active.
At the end of the cruise, we are traveling to Hamburg for two full days thrn taking a plane from there and heading back home to the Pacific Northwest.
I have done some research on what there is to see. Just wanting to see what others our age have
enjoyed or experienced. Are there any fun restaurants? Must see's?
Thank you in advance for any and all responses.

Posted by
346 posts

We are heading there the end of May through the beginning of June. Right now on my list is the Fish Market. I can't wait to photograph it. Beatles stuff near the Reeperbahn. The area around the Townhall too. And just being near the water. We are also venturing to Kiel, Lübeck, Lüneburg, Stade, Cuxhaven, Bremen/Bremerhaven and then back to Hamburg to fly home. I am super excited! I will post any cool stuff we find :)

Posted by
2086 posts

We also spent two days in Hamburg on a cruise last May. We skipped the usual monument,museum, church plan and spent a long and pleasant day walking. We walked all over, around the lovely lakes, down a main drag shopping/cafe street, went to Miniatur Wunderland , the warehouse area by the water, etc. At Miniatur Wunderland, we pretty much just walked in....very organized admission system. We spent about two hours...many we spoke with spent the day. The warehouse district is interesting to see, but honestly remember seeing little activity or anybody for that matter..just rows of brick buildings. We actually wondered if they were occupied...though we miss a lot even when staring at it. Perhaps we just didn't "get it". We felt OK with our day, and on day 2 chose to visit Luneburg (with an umlaut above the "u"). Hands down one of the most beautiful small towns we have visited anywhere and spent the entire day. We traveled there by train. Lubeck (also with umlaut "u") is nearby. We visited it on our cruise for a day. A large and attractive city with many beautiful, historic buildings interspersed among contemporary. We stopped in some beautiful churches and walked the neighborhoods. I found some of the marzipan for which the city is noted. We have visited Germany a few times but never Hamburg, planned to spend both full days, but changed plans after one. Surprised myself. I mention Luneburg and Lubeck if you may be interested in a day trip. Safe travels.

Posted by
485 posts

Another suggestion for the Miniatur Wonderland but I believe you need to reserve ahead of time.

Posted by
14980 posts

Certainly Lübeck and Lüneburg are well worthy of your visiting time. The first two places I stayed at and visited upon arrival in Germany were these two cities. Hamburg is very important, the cultural center of North Germany, Kiel was one of the first cities to be plastered by British bombs in 1942....I like going back to Kiel.

Posted by
898 posts

You'll see the new Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg.

The Elbphilharmonie, a concert hall in Hamburg encased in glass and set upon a giant brick warehouse, is surrounded on three sides by the waters of the city’s bustling harbor. Designed by the Swiss architecture firm Herzog and de Meuron, the building cost about $850 million, took more than a decade to design and build, and was for a long time cited as a joke — a dark joke — among Germans who fretted that the project had become an albatross: unbuildable, over budget, and wildly out of proportion to what the sensible people of this mercantile city wanted or needed.

If you're looking for someplace different to stay, try this old converted water tower. There is a funky neighborhood nearby, the Sternschanze.