On the third weekend of January 2023 (21–22 January) we popped over from Berlin to Hamburg – Germany’s second-largest city and one of the biggest ports in Europe. January isn’t the best time for walks by the water, but even in the grey the city made a good impression on us. We’ll definitely have to come back some time in a warmer season. On Saturday we focused on the port and the new HafenCity district, and on Sunday on the centre and the area around Lake Alster.
Table of contents
- Speicherstadt and the Elbphilharmonie
- Landungsbrücken and the old Elbe tunnel
- The port up close – the ferry, Dockland and Altonaer Balkon
- Sunday: the Alster, Planten un Blomen and the town hall
- Practical information
Speicherstadt and the Elbphilharmonie
We started Saturday near the Main Church of St. Catherine (Hauptkirche St. Katharinen) – one of Hamburg’s five main churches, standing right next to the warehouse district.
Speicherstadt is a former district of red-brick port warehouses, built on wooden piles on islands between canals. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most distinctive places in the city – it looks especially nice from the little bridges over the canals.
A few minutes further on, at the tip of the new HafenCity district, stands the Elbphilharmonie – a concert hall with a wavy glass structure built on top of an old brick port warehouse. You get to the Plaza viewing terrace, which runs all the way around the building, by long, curved escalators. Entry to the terrace is free (tickets for a specific time are issued), and the view of the port, the Elbe and HafenCity is great.
From the concert hall we walked to the Magellan-Terrassen – stepped terraces by the water in HafenCity.
Landungsbrücken and the old Elbe tunnel
Along the waterfront we walked to the Landungsbrücken – floating piers from which ferries and tour boats depart. An elevated metro line runs above them, and from the terrace on the hill above the piers you can see this whole part of the port.
Next to the piers is the entrance to the old Elbe tunnel (St. Pauli Elbtunnel). You go down to the tunnel by lift or by stairs in a huge shaft, and the tunnel itself lies 24 metres underground and is 426 metres long. Walking through is free. On the other side of the river there is a viewpoint (Aussichtspunkt Alter Elbtunnel) – the best place to see the Hamburg skyline with the Landungsbrücken and the Elbphilharmonie (the photo at the top of the post).
The port up close – the ferry, Dockland and Altonaer Balkon
A nice way to see the port from the water is an ordinary ferry – in Hamburg the boats are part of public transport, so a trip on the Elbe doesn’t require a separate tour.
Our next viewpoint was the Dockland office building, shaped like a ship’s bow – public stairs lead up to its roof, and from the top you can see the Elbe and the container terminal. We watched the sunset over the port on our way to the Altonaer Balkon park on the bluff above the river, where Gerhard Brandes’s 1968 sculpture “Fischer” stands.
In the evening we also took a walk along the Reeperbahn – the best-known nightlife street in the St. Pauli district.
Sunday: the Alster, Planten un Blomen and the town hall
On Sunday we started at the Außenalster – a large lake in the middle of the city, surrounded by parks and villas.
Then we went to the Planten un Blomen park with its Japanese garden (Japanischer Garten). The Heinrich-Hertz-Turm TV tower rises above the park.
For lunch we tried kumpir – a big baked potato stuffed with various toppings, very popular in Hamburg.
In the afternoon we explored the centre: the neo-Renaissance town hall by the canal, the Jungfernstieg promenade on the Binnenalster lake and the ruins of St. Nicholas’ Church, left after the destruction of the Second World War as a memorial. On the way we passed a huge ship’s propeller and a monument to the pirate Klaus Störtebeker, and finally the memorial park at the former Hannoverscher Bahnhof station on Lohseplatz, from where Jews, Roma and Sinti were deported during the war.
Practical information
- How much time? A weekend is enough for the main sights, but in winter the days are short – in a warmer season you have more time for walks by the water and in the parks.
- Elbphilharmonie: the Plaza viewing terrace is free, with entry on a timed ticket (from the ticket office on site or booked online).
- The Elbe tunnel: free for pedestrians; it’s worth crossing to the other side for the view of the city skyline.
- Ferry: ferries on the Elbe run as part of public transport – a cheap way to see the port from the water.
- Food: try kumpir or a fish roll at the Landungsbrücken.
- In the same area, about an hour’s drive from Hamburg, is the Heide Park amusement park in Soltau.
