What to see in Hamburg for two full days.

We did a Hamburg harbor tour and a city bus tour. On my next trip in 2018 we will be including the 'Miniature Wonderland' museum: http://www.miniatur-wunderland.de/

Here's a video of the Miniatur Welt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACkmg3Y64_s

A guidebook is really cheap compared to all of your other costs.

• 36 hours in ...

• Elbphilharmonie

We had a day in Hamburg and there was still more we wanted to do.

We arrived too late to do the Fish Market (Our flight was late getting in). It opens at 5:30 in the morning on Sundays and goes until 9:30. So we headed for the Speicherstadt (The Warehouse District) it is a UNESCO world heritage site. We wanted to go to Spicey's Museum, but it wasn't open yet. From there we went to St Nicholas' Church. It was a church that was bombed in WWII. All that is left is the tower. We took the elevator to the top. The view was worth it. But I will warn you it is under construction, so most of my photos have scaffolding in them. We then walked to the Rathaus (the town hall/parliament building. Hamburg is a city state, so the building houses both. It is a beautiful building. I didn't know until we got back that you could take a tour through it. But I am going to blame it on the jet lag. We grabbed a late breakfast and were off again. We went through St Peters Church, St Jacobs Church and St Katherines Church. All were different and really beautiful. You would have sworn they were all Catholic Churches, but this they were all Lutheran. Then we wandered back toward the Speicherstadt. My feet were killing me, plus the jet lag started to really kick in so we went to check into the hotel. After a nap we headed back to Hamburg. We found Beatles Platz, then ate dinner at a restaurant near the Fish Market. It was fun to watch the big ships go up the river towards the sea. Then took some pics near the Landungsbrücken. Then back to our hotel to crash.

There was a tea place, a spice museum, the lakes, and a few other museums. So those are on the list for next time ;)

Places near Hamburg that we enjoyed were Stade (about an hour from Hamburg by train), Lübeck (about 45 mins by train) and Lüneburg (about 50 mins by train)

It was hot when we were there in the end of May, so I would take light clothes. I would also take an umbrella. We got sprinkled on when we were there. But I also needed a cardigan for the evening. So layers is a great suggestion.

Most of the stores are closed on Sunday in Germany unless they are souvenir shops.

Your cruise looks fantastic! I am going to note it down!