Altstadt
St Nikolai church was the world’s tallest building from 1874 to 1876, and it remains Hamburg’s second-tallest structure (after the TV tower). Mostly…
Must-see attractions in Hamburg
St Pauli & Reeperbahn
Here's the perfect excuse to stay up all Saturday night. Every Sunday in the wee hours, some 70,000 locals and visitors descend upon the famous Fischmarkt…
Hamburg
Welcome to one of the most Europe's most exciting recent architectural creations. A squat brown-brick former warehouse at the far west of HafenCity was…
Altstadt
A treasure trove of art from the Renaissance to the present day, the Kunsthalle spans two buildings linked by an underground passage. The main building…
Altstadt
With its spectacular coffered ceiling, Hamburg’s baroque Rathaus is one of Europe’s most opulent, and is renowned for its Emperor’s Hall and Great Hall…
Hamburg
‘Der Michel’, as it is affectionately called, is one of Hamburg’s most recognisable landmarks and northern Germany’s largest Protestant baroque church…
St Pauli & Reeperbahn
Wednesday late afternoon and evening is a terrific time to be in St Pauli when the weekly night market takes over Spielbudenplatz with food stalls, live…
Hamburg
Even the worst cynics are quickly transformed into fans of this vast miniature world that goes on and on. The model trains wending their way through the…
Altstadt
One of Hamburg's most beautiful buildings is the crowning gem of the new Unesco-anointed Kontorhaus District. The brown-brick 1924 Chilehaus is shaped…
Hamburg
Sort of a bookend for New York's Ellis Island, Hamburg's excellent emigration museum looks at the conditions that drove about 5 million people to leave…
Hamburg
Thrill to some of Hamburg's best harbour views from this accurately named and quite pretty park.
Internationales Maritimes Museum
Hamburg
Hamburg's maritime past – and future – is fully explored in this excellent private museum that sprawls over 10 floors of a revamped brick shipping…
Hamburg
During WWII, 20 Jewish children were chosen by Dr Josef Mengele at Auschwitz and sent to Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg for medical…
St Pauli & Reeperbahn
Watching over the eastern gateway to St Pauli since 2011, the 'Dancing Towers' are a Hamburg icon. The two towers buck and weave by up to 3m from the…
Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte
St Pauli & Reeperbahn
Hamburg's history museum has lots of kid-friendly features: it's chock-full of intricate ship models, has a large model train set (which runs on the hour)…
Hamburg
The best views of the Elbe (nearly 3km wide here) and its container ships are from the 75m-high Süllberg hill. To get to Süllberg, take the S-Bahn to…
Hamburg
The Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe is lots of fun. Its vast collection of sculpture, furniture, fashion, jewellery, posters, porcelain, musical instruments…
St Pauli & Reeperbahn
South of the Reeperbahn stands the star of many a German crime film and TV show, the Davidwache. This brick police station, festooned with ornate ceramic…
Hamburg
You can pick up brochures and check out detailed architectural models and installations that give a sense of the immensity of the project; there's a scale…
Hamburg
In an alley off Krayenkamp 10 are the Krameramtswohnungen, a row of tiny half-timbered houses from the 17th century that, for nearly 200 years, were…
Hamburg
One of the most outstanding remnants of the area’s rougher days, the graffiti-covered Rote Flora looks one step away from demolition. Once the famous…
Hamburg
Coffee has always been an important part of Hamburg's trading scene and this excellent museum takes you through this history and has a live roasting…
Hamburg
Master composer Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was born in Hamburg. Although the house where he was born was destroyed in 1943, this fine 18th-century…
Hamburg
Opened in May 2018, Baakenpark, on the southeastern reaches of HafenCity, is proof that the HafenCity development hasn't forgotten the need for parks…
Hamburg
A century-old warehouse is the atmospheric backdrop for exhibitions on Hamburg’s trading past, especially within its namesake district. There are…
Hamburg
One of Hamburg's more striking waterfront structures and right on the water, Dockland was finished in 2006; it has wonderfully sharp angles and terrific…
Altstadt
Hamburg’s Great Fire of 1842 broke out in Deichstrasse, which features a few restored 18th-century homes, most now housing restaurants. You can get a feel…
Hamburg
This engaging museum celebrates the classical composers with a significant connection to the city, among them Felix Mendelssohn, Gustav Mahler and Carl…
Hamburg
Once the hub of Neustadt life, this large, leafy square is pretty quiet these days, although it comes to life with market stalls on Wednesday and Saturday…
St Pauli & Reeperbahn
To make historical sense of St Pauli, this museum is an excellent place to start. It takes you back to the earliest days of the neighbourhood, brings to…
Altstadt
Who needs an excuse to fall in love with chocolate? This fun museum involves a 90-minute guided tour through the world of chocolate and even lets you…
HafenCity Nachhaltigkeitspavillon
Hamburg
For alternative, greener take on the whole HafenCity development, this intriguing exhibit takes a look at sustainable urban development and…
St Pauli & Reeperbahn
Designed like a vinyl record, it has abstract steel sculptures resembling cookie cutters of the Fab Four (including a hybrid of Ringo Starr and Pete Best).
Altstadt
Two grandly restored brick market halls, built in 1911 and 1913 respectively, are home to high-profile special exhibitions of modern art and photography.
St Pauli & Reeperbahn
Rising up from the northern reaches of St Pauli, this brooding concrete structure was built during WWII as an anti-aircraft defence position but doubled…
Hamburg
North of the Altstadt, the much-updated Museum für Völkerkunde demonstrates seafaring Hamburg’s acute awareness of the outside world. Modern artefacts…
Hamburg
The 2500 animals that live in Hamburg's zoo have open enclosures over 27 hectares. In addition to elephants, tigers, orang-utans, toucans and other…
Hamburg
This moderately interesting collection is devoted to the art and culture of northern Germany since the 18th century. An unusual aspect is the focus on…
Hamburg
The centerpiece of Hansaplatz square. Completed in 1878, the fountain shows important figures in Hamburg's past, including Emperor Constantine the Great…
St Pauli & Reeperbahn
If wax museums are your thing, Hamburg has a decent version with more than 120 figures spread over four floors. Everyone gets a run, from Queen Elizabeth…
