Attraction
Elbphilharmonie
Herzog & de Meuron's glass concert hall on a 1960s brick warehouse, with a public Plaza 37 metres up that gives a full circuit of views…
There are more things to do in Hamburg than many visitors expect from Germany's second-largest city. Built on the Elbe where the Alster and Bille rivers meet, and home to Germany's largest port, it is a maritime city at heart, with about 2,500 bridges, the red-brick Speicherstadt warehouse district and the Elbphilharmonie concert hall rising above HafenCity. The Alster lakes give the centre a calm, open feel, while St. Pauli and the Reeperbahn supply the nightlife and the Beatles history.
Most sights cluster in a compact area: the old town around the Rathaus and Jungfernstieg, the Speicherstadt and HafenCity, the Landungsbrücken piers and St. Pauli, with the Schanzenviertel and Karoviertel close by for cafés and independent shops. Food ranges from fish rolls and Labskaus to Michelin-starred tasting menus, and a Sunday morning at the Fish Market is a local ritual. Three days covers the main sights, a harbour tour and an Alster boat trip, with a fourth day for Hagenbeck's zoo, the Kunsthalle or a ferry ride along the Elbe.
Attraction
Herzog & de Meuron's glass concert hall on a 1960s brick warehouse, with a public Plaza 37 metres up that gives a full circuit of views…
Attraction
The world's largest model railway according to Guinness World Records, filling several floors of a Speicherstadt warehouse with miniature landscapes, trains, airports and cities.
Attraction
A 1.5-kilometre run of red-brick Neo-Gothic warehouses on oak piles and canals, inscribed by UNESCO in 2015 together with the Kontorhaus district and the Chilehaus.
Attraction
The Neo-Renaissance seat of Hamburg's parliament and senate, finished in 1897, with a free public foyer, a fountain courtyard and paid guided tours of its state…
Attraction
Hamburg's largest church and a symbol of the city, with a 132-metre Baroque tower, a viewing platform about 83 metres up and a crypt where C.P.E.…
Attraction
One of Germany's major art museums, spanning seven centuries from medieval altarpieces and Caspar David Friedrich to contemporary art in the Galerie der Gegenwart.
Café
An owner-run coffee roastery café in an 1888 Speicherstadt warehouse, roasting daily in a drum roaster and serving its coffees with homemade cake.
Café
The Schanzenviertel café of elbgold, a Hamburg specialty roaster since 2004 known for direct-trade espresso and filter coffee and homemade treats.
Café
A long-established Eppendorf pastry shop and Viennese-style coffee house, open every day of the year, known for Baumkuchen, petits fours, pralines and cakes.
Café
The first café of Hamburg roaster Public Coffee Roasters, opened in 2014 in the Neustadt near the Michel, serving its own coffee with cheesecake.
Café
A turquoise-and-gold café in the Karoviertel since 2010, baking cakes and tortes daily in its own bakery next door, with waffles, breakfast and vegan options.
Café
The flagship of Hamburg's Mutterland delicatessen next to the main station, with a café, restaurant and bar, a glass chocolate factory and 5,000 German specialities.
Hotel
Hamburg's grande dame on the western bank of the Inner Alster, a five-star hotel since 1897 with 156 rooms, Restaurant Haerlin and a rooftop spa terrace.
Hotel
A contemporary five-star hotel on the shore of the Alster, with floor-to-ceiling windows, private balconies, a spa with pool and the two-Michelin-star Lakeside restaurant.
Hotel
A 244-room hotel inside the Elbphilharmonie, with its lobby on the Plaza level, floor-to-ceiling harbour views, a spa with a 20-metre pool and the BLICK Bar.
Hotel
A playful, port-inspired design hotel in HafenCity with 170 cabin-style rooms, a rooftop sauna overlooking Magdeburg harbour and bikes for exploring the waterfront.
Hotel
A stylish design hotel in a restored 1880s building in the Neustadt, with 128 rooms, a French brasserie, the Asian restaurant JIN GUI and a rooftop…
Hotel
Hamburg's first design hotel, in a carefully renovated brick gasworks in Bahrenfeld, with 141 loft-style rooms, the Mangold restaurant and a sauna spa.
Bar
A small classic cocktail bar near the Rathaus where the Gin Basil Smash was created in 2008, serving cocktails, chilled champagne and canapés without reservations.
Bar
A bar, restaurant and open rooftop terrace at the top of the Dancing Towers on the Reeperbahn, 98 to 107 metres above the Elbe, with cocktails…
Bar
A Reeperbahn club founded in 1989 that pioneered dancefloor jazz and breakbeat sounds, now hosting concerts and club nights beneath the Dancing Towers at Reeperbahn 1.
Bar
Hamburg's best-known indie and rock club, now at Reeperbahn 136 with the Top Ten Bar stage, hosting concerts, club nights, readings and slams.
Bar
A club and concert venue on the fourth floor of the huge bunker on Feldstraße in St. Pauli, hosting rock, hip-hop and electronic nights in its…
Bar
A year-round beach club on the Elbe in St. Pauli with sand, fire pits and harbour views in summer and a heated alpine hut with fondue…
Restaurant
Kevin Fehling's three-Michelin-star restaurant in HafenCity, serving a single six-course menu built around fish, shellfish and meat at two evening seatings.
Restaurant
A two-Michelin-star loft restaurant in a former factory, where Thomas Imbusch and Sophie Lehmann serve a seasonal surprise menu cooked on a central Molteni stove.
Restaurant
A Michelin-starred villa restaurant on the Elbchaussee, open since 1976, where chef Heinz O. Wehmann has cooked classic North German haute cuisine since 1980.
Restaurant
A traditional restaurant beside the Michel with roots going back to 1795, known for Labskaus, lobster soup and other North German classics served all day.
Restaurant
A French brasserie near the Rathaus with a tiled Art Nouveau hall and painted ceilings, serving breakfast through to late dinner, from tartare to bouillabaisse.
Restaurant
A harbourside seafood restaurant between the Elbe and the Altona fish market, with yacht-style interiors, a large terrace and views towards the Elbphilharmonie.
Thing to do
Hamburg's floating harbour station, a listed 1900s pier complex with a tide-gauge clock tower, where harbour tours and public HADAG ferries set off along the Elbe.
Thing to do
A tiled 1911 tunnel 24 metres beneath the Elbe, reached by lift cages under a copper dome, which pedestrians and cyclists can cross free to views…
Thing to do
A Sunday-morning market on the Elbe running since 1703, where market criers sell fish, fruit and flowers and live bands play in the 1896 fish auction…
Thing to do
Hamburg's 930-metre entertainment mile in St. Pauli, packed with theatres, live music clubs and bars, and the stage where the Beatles played in the early 1960s.
Thing to do
Hamburg's grand lakeside boulevard on the Inner Alster, with a waterfront terrace, the Alsterpavillon café, Alster boat departures and the Alsterhaus department store.
Tour operator
A long-established Hamburg shipping company with a fleet of 31 vessels, running harbour tours, evening light cruises and charters from the Landungsbrücken all year.
Tour operator
A Hamburg harbour tour company on the Elbe since 1919, offering one-hour and two-hour harbour tours, evening light trips through the Speicherstadt and charters.
Tour operator
The operator of Hamburg's Alster steamers, with round trips on the lakes, canal cruises, twilight trips and longer river routes from the Jungfernstieg pier.
Tour operator
A non-profit Hamburg tour association running themed city walks, St. Pauli and Beatles tours, bike tours and culinary walks for more than 35 years.
Tour operator
Hamburg's red double-decker sightseeing buses, in business since 1978, with a hop-on hop-off line of 20 stops from the Landungsbrücken and Hauptbahnhof.
Three days covers the old town and Rathaus, the Speicherstadt and Elbphilharmonie, a harbour tour, an Alster boat trip and an evening in St. Pauli. Add a fourth day for Hagenbeck's zoo, the Kunsthalle or the International Maritime Museum.
The streets around the Binnenalster and the Neustadt put you within walking distance of most sights, HafenCity is best for the harbour and the Elbphilharmonie, St. Pauli suits nightlife lovers, and the area around the Hauptbahnhof is convenient for budget stays and train travel.
The S1 S-Bahn runs from Hamburg Airport to the Hauptbahnhof in about 30 minutes, and a taxi takes around 20 minutes depending on traffic.
Hotels and fine dining can be pricey, but many highlights cost nothing: walking the Speicherstadt, Planten un Blomen, the Old Elbe Tunnel and the Landungsbrücken piers are free, and harbour ferries are part of the public transport network.
Take the usual care with bags and phones in crowds. On the Reeperbahn, the tourism office advises watching for pickpockets, ordering from drinks menus in bars and respecting the weekend glass bottle ban and the weapons ban zone.