Stay in Hamburg

Miniature Wunderland.......the website doesn't do it justice. I went to Hamburg just to see this and it was worth it.

https://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/?_ga=2.52638056.1553164331.1626815115-1208378254.1626815115

Watch the video on the website.

I"ll probably go back in a couple of years to see the new sections.

I stayed at the Madison Hotel. It was nice.

Miniature Wunderland is one of the wonders of the world right up there with the
Taj Mahal and the Grand Canyon. It's a must see attraction! I had a good stay at the 25hours Hotel in the Hafen district. It's right next to the maritime museum and a short walk to Wunderland.

If you want upscale and fancy, Fairmont Vier Jahreszeiten or Hotel Atlantic. If you want fairly nice and a great view, Hotel Hafen Hamburg.

Areas to explore for a short stay:
--Sternschanze for the local brewery, cafe, and brunch scene with a touch of radicals and squatters at the Rote Flora.
--Reeperbahn at night for the club and party scene, but also just to people watch. It's quite safe (except maybe some pick pockets) despite being the red light district. Hans Albers Platz or the Große Freiheit/Beatles Platz would be the best places to go. This area is best by night, but can be interesting by day--research recommended
--Landungsbrücken down to the Altona Fischmarkt for waterfront. Catch a ferry back up to the Elphi
--Portuguese Quarter (between Landungsbrücken and the Michel church) for food
--Nikolai church for history, then make your way up to city hall via the Trostbrücke
--the Alster for upscale shopping, feeding the swans, and ice cream on the banks
--The canals on the outer Alster for renting a canoe and seeing the villas and getting on the water
--The 62 ferry (cheap) or Maritime Circle (in English) for seeing the water/Hamburg port
--Blankenese for the beach or the Treppenviertel (a sort of Mediterranean feel with northern European flair)
--the Elphi--it's free to go inside to the viewing platform
--and of course Speicherstadt, the brick warehouse district, which is where you will find the aforementioned Miniatur Wunderland as well as the Wasserschloss and the Maritime Museum

Hamburg is all about the water, so if you aren't enjoying either waterfront or getting out on the water, you have missed the most important part of Hamburg.

For our Rick Steves tour in 2019 we stayed at the Hotel Alster Hof. Well priced & well located with a good breakfast buffet.
The Opera House, Elphilharmonie, offered great views. Also, check out Rick’s sights in the guidebook. We enjoyed Hamburg more than we expected!

I agree about Miniatur Wunderland. You can probably spend all 30 hours there just exploring it. They have a Youtube channel I can recommend for a bit more understanding of the size of it, many videos have English subtitles. https://www.youtube.com/user/MiWuLaTV

We did not know about Miniatur Wunderland until after we arrived, and we were only here 3 days. The place is currently booked out about a week. My friend told me that could change after the kids go back to school but I sure wish I had known about it before! Book it now if you can!