Hamburg: Itineraries

A Top Day in Hamburg

Vibrant and outgoing, Hamburg has so many great cafes it's almost a sin to eat breakfast in your hotel. I regularly make an early morning beeline for the Schanzenviertel, where people sun themselves on the pavement piazza while eating Portuguese custard tarts. After this, I simply have to get on the water. The choice is head-spinning, but the harbour is nearby, so I take the cheapest option and use a normal day pass to catch ferry No. 62 to Finkelwerder, where I change to 64 to Teufelsbrücke. From here, it's a healthy wander back towards Hamburg and Neumühlen. Lunch? Something simple at the trendy Strandperle kiosk on the sandy riverfront, perhaps. Or if I've been clever and booked, a simple bite at the converted fisherman's cottage Das Weisse Haus. This restaurant looks relatively humble, but it's owned by young TV chef Tim Mälzer, Germany's answer to Jamie Oliver. Back in town, I make one of my frequent pilgrimages to the Chilehaus; its ocean-liner shape puts it among my all-time favourite buildings. At this point, I'll dither over visiting a museum. The Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (Museum of Arts & Crafts) has fun special exhibitions; the Kunsthalle art gallery has an impressive collection of 19th, 20th and 21st century works; and the Museum für Völkerkunde (Museum of Ethnology) is memorable for its huge, ghost-like Papua New Guinean sculptures made from bark. In the end, though, I'll probably wander through the atmospheric Speicherstadt warehouse district and briefly check out the latest in HafenCity - Hamburg's Docklands and Europe's biggest building site - waiting for them to put the wave-shaped glass top half on Herzog & de Meuron's much-anticipated Elbe Philharmonie building. Early evening, a quick drink in the Hotel Hafen's 14th-floor Tower Bar gives great views of the twinkling harbour lights. Then it's back to the western riverside for dinner and the Schanzenviertel for drinks. My top day hasn't included one of my favourite (but time-consuming) pursuits - clambering over the riverside hills of the outlying Blankenese district. But there's always more to enjoy in Hamburg. Oh yes, the shopping is quite good, too.

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