Hamburg Travel Guide: What to Do & Where to Stay
The first time I visited Hamburg was in January nine years ago, and it was unfortunately far too short. Back then, I just wandered through the city without much of a plan and didn’t really make it to many museums.
Still, it already made a strong impression on me, and I knew I had to come back one day. This year it finally happened, and my boyfriend and I spent three nights in the beautiful Hanseatic city.
This time, I finally had the chance to explore it more in depth, go on a harbor cruise, and visit a few museums. It almost felt like discovering the city all over again.
If you’re also planning a trip to Hamburg soon, I’m sharing all the must-do activities in this post, along with my top accommodation recommendation.
TIP: I recommend getting the Hamburg CARD for your trip to Hamburg. It gives you discounts at over 150 attractions and free use of local public transport.
(This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a certain percentage of a sale if you purchase after clicking.)
Top 10 Things to Do in Hamburg For First-Timers
1. Wander Through Speicherstadt, Kontorviertel & HafenCity
When you think of Hamburg, you usually picture the red brick buildings by the water right away. These are typical for the historic Speicherstadt, which is the largest warehouse district in the world and one of the most iconic parts of the city.
It was built in the late 19th century and used for storing goods like coffee, tea, spices, and carpets. Today, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most atmospheric areas in Hamburg.
Most of the buildings are now used as offices, museums, or cafés and restaurants, but people don’t actually live there.
Right next to it is the historic Kontorhausviertel, also known as the Kontorviertel. This area was developed in the early 20th century as Hamburg’s first true office district, where trading companies had their headquarters.
It’s known for its impressive brick architecture, especially the famous Chilehaus, and is also part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Another area bordering Speicherstadt is HafenCity, which shows a completely different side of the city. This area used to be part of Hamburg’s busy harbor, filled with docks, warehouses, and industrial port facilities.
Over the years, the port activities were gradually moved further downstream, and the old harbor area was completely redeveloped into one of Europe’s largest inner-city urban projects.
Today, HafenCity is a modern district with glass architecture, waterfront promenades, offices, apartments, shops, and restaurants.
What I can really recommend is joining a tour through Speicherstadt, Kontorviertel & HafenCity. You get so much more context and insight that you would easily miss on your own.
We did ours with the Hamburg Tourist Guide Association, and our guide Hedda was wonderful. She shared so many stories and details that really brought the area to life and helped us understand how goods were traded and handled back then.
2. Have a Cup of Coffee in a Former Warehouse
As part of our tour, our guide Hedda showed us the Genuss Speicher, a café and food spot located inside one of the historic warehouse buildings.
Here, you can explore a selection of high-quality coffees from different parts of the world, all processed, brewed, and served directly on site.
It’s a really cool place because you’re literally sitting inside a former Speicherstadt warehouse. The space still has that typical industrial charm with exposed brick walls and high ceilings.
There are also information boards on the walls, sharing interesting facts about the history of the Speicherstadt.
In the connected shop, you’ll also find jams, honey, spices, and tea, all of which come from small regional producers or are made in-house.
While we didn’t have time to stop for a coffee during the tour, my boyfriend and I came back later on our own to enjoy a cup made from freshly roasted beans.
3. Head Up to The Elbphilharmonie Plaza
The Elbphilharmonie is one of Hamburg’s most iconic landmarks and a true architectural masterpiece.
It sits right on top of an old warehouse building in HafenCity and combines a historic brick base with a striking glass structure above. Today, it’s home to a world-class concert hall, The Westin hotel, and private apartments.
Its construction is still often discussed, as the project took many years longer than planned and ended up costing significantly more than originally estimated.
I am a huge fan of the building, though, and I personally think it blends perfectly into the surrounding HafenCity skyline and the harbor landscape.
The concert halls themselves are not open for general access, unless you attend a performance or book a guided tour.
However, you can visit the Plaza, a viewing platform situated at the junction of the old harbor warehouse and the modern glass structure, offering incredible 360-degree views over Hamburg, the harbor, and the Elbe River.
One of the highlights of visiting is the ride up via the “Tube”, the world’s first and longest curved escalator. It slowly takes you through a tunnel-like passage up to the top.
Tickets for the Plaza can be bought online or on-site and cost just €3 per person.
4. Enjoy Panoramic Views From St. Michael’s Church
While the views from the Plaza are already great, to get an even better 360-degree view of the entire city, head to St. Michael’s Church.
St. Michael’s Church – or “the Michel” as locals call it – is Hamburg’s largest church. Its distinctive copper spire is easy to spot from all over the city, especially around the harbor area. Inside, the church is bright and impressive, but the highlight is the tower.
You can take either the elevator (which I definitely recommend) or the stairs up to the viewing platform at around 106 meters high. From there, you get one of the best panoramic views over Hamburg, the harbor, and the Elbe River.
Tickets for the tower cost only €8 (or €6 with the Hamburg CARD) per person, so it’s definitely worth it.
5. Learn About Maritime History at The Maritime Museum
Since Austria doesn’t have access to the sea, I’ve never really grown up around maritime history or known much about it. That’s exactly what made the International Maritime Museum so interesting to visit.
The museum is located right in HafenCity, inside one of the oldest preserved warehouse buildings in Hamburg. Inside, it takes you on a journey through over 3,000 years of maritime history across several exhibition decks.
One of the highlights is definitely the huge model of the Queen Mary 2, built from around 780,000 LEGO pieces.
But there’s much more to see: over 40,000 miniature ship models, detailed exhibitions on navigation and shipping routes, historic uniforms, maps, and even original artifacts from different eras of maritime history.
Some parts are also interactive, like learning how to tie sailor’s knots or trying out a ship simulator where you can navigate a vessel yourself.
It’s an incredibly interesting museum and I can highly recommend it — even if you’re not that into maritime topics. Just make sure to plan a couple of hours, as there’s really a lot to see!
Tickets cost around €18 (or €14 with the Hamburg CARD) per person and can be purchased online or on-site.
6. Discover a Tiny World at Miniatur Wunderland
Whenever I told someone I was going to Hamburg, they immediately mentioned Miniatur Wunderland. It was the place people recommended to me the most, so of course we couldn’t skip a visit – especially since I didn’t go there the first time I was in Hamburg.
And honestly, it turned out to be 100% worth the hype. It was by far one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen!
Miniatur Wunderland is the world’s largest model railway exhibition. But it’s so much more than just trains. It’s a massive miniature world with incredibly detailed landscapes, cities, airports, mountains, and even entire countries recreated on a small scale.
Everything is in motion – trains, cars, planes, ships – and there are constantly new little scenes and stories happening everywhere you look. In fact, there’s so much to see that you could easily spend an entire day there and still discover something new.
My highlights were the airport section, where planes actually take off and land, Monaco with its Formula 1 grid, and the Carnival in Rio de Janeiro.
The whole exhibition is constantly being expanded, and they are always adding new areas. At the moment, they are working on sections like the Atacama Desert and the rainforest.
That means even if you’ve already visited once, you can come back on your next trip to Hamburg and still discover something completely new!
Tickets can be bought online or on-site and cost €22 per person. I recommend planning at least half a day to really take your time and explore everything without rushing.
7. See Hamburg From The Water on a Harbor Cruise
Another unmissable activity in Hamburg is seeing the city from the water on a harbor cruise.
There are many different boat tours to choose from, and we did ours with Barkassen-Meyer. We decided to go for a 1-hour harbor cruise that took us out to the cruise ship terminals, the container ports, and all the busy industrial areas along the Elbe.
You can also take smaller tours through the Speicherstadt canals, but since we had already explored that area on foot, we opted for the bigger harbor experience instead.
Our guide on board was super funny but also really knowledgeable, and he explained everything in a very easy-to-understand way.
We learned a lot about the different buildings along the waterfront, how the container terminals operate, and just how much goes on behind the scenes in one of Europe’s busiest ports.
Tickets for a standard harbor cruise typically cost around €30–€40 per person, depending on the length and type of tour. You’ll also get a discount with the Hamburg CARD.
8. Explore a Fully Operational Submarine
One of the most unique things you can do in Hamburg is explore a real submarine at the U-434 U-Boat Museum. This Soviet submarine from the Cold War is now permanently docked in the harbor and open to visitors.
It’s still floating in the water, which feels a bit daunting when you realize that once you step inside, you’re actually below the water surface in a real submarine. I had never been inside a submarine before, so I was pretty excited.
Inside, everything is extremely narrow, industrial, and not designed for comfort at all. You can walk through areas like the sleeping quarters, the engine room, the torpedo sections, and even the control room, which is only accessible if you book a guided tour.
To move through the submarine, you have to climb through very small, round connection hatches and go up and down extremely narrow ladders, so it’s definitely not for claustrophobic people.
It’s a really interesting and cool experience, but it also shows how difficult life must have been for the crew back then.
Tickets cost €9 per adult, plus €5 extra if you want to join a guided tour, and can be purchased on-site.
9. Take a Relaxing Walk Around The Alster Lakes
We were super lucky with the weather in Hamburg – it was sunny every day during our stay. So on one afternoon, we grabbed a cup of coffee and went to the Alster Lakes.
On one hand, there’s the Inner Alster (Binnenalster), and on the other, the Outer Alster (Außenalster). Both are formed by the Alster River, which flows through the city and creates these beautiful open water spaces right in the middle of Hamburg.
The Inner Alster is the smaller of the two lakes with a fountain in the middle, while the Outer Alster is much larger and surrounded by parks, old trees, and elegant residential areas.
It’s a popular place for walking, jogging, cycling, or even watersports like sailing, kayaking, and stand-up paddling. In fact, when we were up at St. Michael’s Church, we could see so many sailboats on the Outer Alster.
With our coffee in hand, we sat down at the Inner Alster to relax and enjoy the sun, and then continued walking a bit along the Outer Alster as well.
10. Admire The Impressive Hamburg City Hall
A building not to miss in the city center, and one that can easily be combined with a stroll around the Alster Lakes, is the famous City Hall.
The building itself is stunning, with its detailed neo-Renaissance façade, towers, and rich decorations. It’s actually much larger than it looks at first glance and still serves as the seat of Hamburg’s government today.
Inside, you can visit parts of the building on a guided tour, including the ballroom, the plenary hall, and the orphan’s room.
Even if you don’t go inside, it’s definitely worth stopping by to admire the architecture and take some photos – especially from the square (Rathausmark) in front, where you get a perfect view of the entire building.
The Rathausmarkt is also often used for events, fairs, and seasonal setups, so there’s usually something going on. In winter, it turns into the City Hall Christmas Market, which is considered one of the most beautiful Christmas markets in Europe.
Where to Stay in Hamburg: PIERDREI Hotel
There are normal hotels – and then there’s PIERDREI Hotel.
This place is honestly much more than just somewhere to sleep. It’s designed as a kind of urban experience space that brings together hotel, culture, food, and community all under one roof.
Location
The location of the hotel honestly couldn’t be better. Right at the beginning of HafenCity, directly next to the Speicherstadt, you’re perfectly based to explore some of Hamburg’s most beautiful areas.
We ended up walking almost everywhere because so many highlights like the Elbphilharmonie, the Maritime Museum, and Miniatur Wunderland are just a short stroll away.
Rooms
It offers several room categories, from smaller rooms to larger rooms and family-friendly options with bunk beds.
We stayed in a Medium Plus room, which has the perfect size for a city trip: spacious and very well designed, with smart use of space, enough storage, and everything you actually need. It also features a comfy sofa, a rainfall shower, a fridge, a TV with built-in Bluetooth speakers, and even board games.
If you’re looking for something even more extraordinary, you can stay in one of three campers at the hotel’s Camper City. I’ve honestly never seen anything like this before – what a cool idea!
Restaurant & Bars
PIERDREI Hotel features a rooftop bar (MOON 46) with amazing views over HafenCity, a restaurant, and the stylish Three Fingers bar/lounge for drinks.
Breakfast is served in the restaurant each morning and was honestly one of the highlights of my stay. On our first morning, I noticed a sign at the entrance saying that if you’re vegan, you can let the staff know.
So once we were seated, I mentioned that I’m vegan, and the waiter told me the chef could prepare a special vegan plate for me, which I happily accepted. I also ordered a latte macchiato with oat milk, which was no problem at all.
A few minutes later, I was served a beautifully arranged plate with vegan cheese, vegan salami, plant-based butter, red beet couscous, spreads, and fresh vegetables.
I grabbed some bread from the buffet and noticed there were plenty of vegan options there as well, including spreads, plant-based milks, jams, nuts, cereals, fruits, and vegetables.
What Else to Find
As mentioned before, PIERDREI Hotel offers way more than just the usual facilities.
There’s, for example, a small in-house shop with carefully selected local products, unique souvenirs, and even some of the hotel’s own items like mugs or skincare products.
You’ll also find a theater and the “SPÄTI” 24/7 kiosk, where you can grab snacks, drinks, and essentials like toiletries anytime – basically your own minibar, just way better.
There’s even an entire room for kids, with separate areas for younger children and teens where they can play, watch movies, and take part in activities. I wish I could be a kid here again!
The perfect location, the comfortable room, the great breakfast, the cool extras, and of course the incredibly friendly and helpful staff all made for a fantastic stay.
We had a wonderful time at PIERDREI Hotel and can honestly recommend it to everyone!
This blog post was written in cooperation with Hamburg Tourismus and is based on my personal experience.
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Do you want to travel like me?
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Flights: I prefer using CheapOair to book flights. I often search for “Anywhere” to uncover the best flight deals!
Accommodation: Booking.com is my favorite site to find some great hotel deals.
Travel Insurance: There are many reasons why travel insurance is important and I never travel without one. I use the simple and flexible one from SafetyWing that protects me against unforeseen events.
Tours: I love taking tours to explore destinations like a local. My favorite website to book them in advance is GetYourGuide.
Camera Gear: I use a Nikon D5300 camera with an 18-105 mm and a 10-20 mm wide-angle lens to take my photos.
