The Best one day in Hamburg itinerary Germany

One Day in Hamburg – Planning Tips

1.Rathaus – Hamburg Town Hall

Start the day at the Rathaus, the superb Renaissance Revival Town Hall overlooking the inner Alster lake.   

It’s a gorgeous building outside and in, well worth visiting if you happen to be there on a guided tour day. There are around 10-15 such days each month, with three English language tours daily.

If the tours aren’t running during your one day in Hamburg, it may well be worth considering  Hamburg guided walking tour, which will take you to the following sights. Whatever you do, you’re free to take a look around the magnificent courtyard of the Rathaus.

And if you happen to be visiting Hamburg in December, bear in mind that the square outside the Town Hall – the Rathausmarkt – plays host to the Hamburg Christmas Market.

Hamburg has long been shaped by three bodies of water – the River Elbe and, a mile or so to the north, the two Alster lakes.

Hamburg shows its southern face to the world at the Elbe, and its northern face from the Binnenalster (Inner Alster) lake. From the Alster, you see the northern part of its skyline, dominated by the Rathaus and St Petri church towers.

The famous Jungfernstieg promenade runs along the south-western side of the Inner Alster lake. Its name means ‘young ladies’ walk’, and it’s the most elegant street in Hamburg, lined with high-end boutiques.

If you plan to shop in Hamburg, continue around the corner to the Alsterarkaden, on a canal facing the Rathaus.    

The Baroque steeple of the Michaelis Church is one of the icons of Hamburg, a 132-metre landmark used by sailors passing along the nearby river Elbe.

It’s a fine example of Protestant Baroque, not as ornate as the Frauenkirche Dresden but built to the same principles. The church has several fine organs, and don’t miss the crypt, where you can still see the coffin carts used for burials there.

I also recommend visiting the Michel to climb the tower. It offers extraordinary views over Hamburg – especially the harbour and Elbphilharmonie in the late afternoon.

It’s a little off the beaten path for Hamburg, but lovers of architecture may well wish to see the World Heritage-listed Chilehaus on Pumpenstrasse.

It’s a ten-storey Brick Expressionist office building in the Kontorhaus district, just to the northeast of the Speicherstadt.

It was built in the 1920s by Fritz Höger for British-born businessman Henry B. Sloman, who made a fortune from importing saltpetre from Chile – hence the name.

The best view of it is from the east, so if there’s some morning sunlight about, you may consider a short diversion here first.

When I first visited Hamburg back in the 90s, I was curious to find any hints or traces of ‘old Hamburg’. The city had been devastated by bombing raids during the Second World War, but there are some restored corners well worth seeking out.

The best place to see it is Deichstrasse, with a row of beautiful historic Baltic brick-style houses facing the canal. There are some lovely cafes along the southern end of the street, including a Breton one, Ti Breizh.  

When we travel with Our Little Man, we operate on a ‘one place for us, one place for you’ basis. It keeps him happy and often takes him to places he never thought he’d enjoy but does. This works the other way around as well.

However sometimes we hit on something we know we’re all going to enjoy. Hamburg’s Miniatur Wunderland is one such place. It’s the largest model railway in the world, including miniature models of some Hamburg landmarks.

It also takes in wonders such as Venice, Rome, Neuschwanstein Castle and the Grand Canyon.

The Harbour boat trip is one of the highlights of your one day in Hamburg. The trip normally takes around an hour and a half, beginning and ending on St-Pauli-Landungsbrücken.

The trip takes you along the River Elbe, around the harbour with its famous Blohm & Voss shipyard works. It continues along the waterfront, past Hamburg attractions including the museum ships, Hafen City and the World Heritage-listed Speicherstadt district.   

It’s a great experience at any time of year. The first time I did this trip, back in the mid-90s, the River Elbe was frozen over, so our boat doubled as an ice-breaker.  Some trips have the option of finishing with a drop-off at the Elbphilharmonie, but you can also continue to the starting point at the Landungsbrücken.

6pm – Dinner

Hamburg is a fantastic place to eat, and it’s always been somewhere I’ve enjoyed seafood. Particularly Portuguese seafood. There are around 20 (I’ve eaten at about half a dozen of them, all of which are excellent) Portuguese restaurants a block or two inland from the harbour near the Rickmer Rickmers museum ship.

You’ll find them on Ditmar-Koel-Strasse, and around the corner on Rambachstrasse. I particularly recommend Taparia Mar Salgado on the former and Lusitano on the latter.

The time to see the notorious Reeperbahn and surrounding streets is after dark. Partly because  There’s not much to see by day, partly because everyone is asleep, but the night lights make it much more of a spectacle.

If you didn’t know it already, the Reeperbahn district is the sleazy underbelly of Hamburg. It’s full of strip clubs, sex cinemas and pretty much anything connected to showing off as much flesh as possible and making money from it.

The Reeperbahn isn’t for everyone.  Many visit for the buzz of the place, and many men have visited the infamous Herbertstrasse to see the scantily-clad women coiled around tall barstools, rat-a-tat-tatting the wide glass windows to attract attention.

Women and children aren’t allowed to walk down this small backstreet, and there are signs clearly stating this.     

Your second evening option is a concert at the Elbphilharmonie Concert Hall. You’ll almost certainly need to book your tickets in advance, and bear in mind that there are two concert venues within the building.

Many of the performances are of classical music, but at the time of writing this article there are also performances by Elvis Costello and Ute Lemper. My good friend in Hamburg also enjoyed a concert there by the mighty Einstürzende Neubauten a couple of years ago.

Even after a concert, a Hamburg night is still young. It’s only a short hop from the Elbphilharmonie to the Reeperbahn, and if you’re a fan of the Beatles like me you may well be curious to seek out some of their former hangouts.

Hamburg reminds me a lot of their home city Liverpool, a cosmopolitan port city with a strong dash of sea salt. The Beatles lived in Hamburg for a few years, honing their licks often on enforced 12-hour shifts at the Indra Club at 64 Grosse Freiheit.

They also played at several other clubs close by including the Kaiserkeller, now more widely known as Grosse Freiheit 36, a couple of minutes’ walk away from the Indra.

I’d strongly recommend a Beatles tour in Hamburg if you’re a big fan of the band you’ll get far more insight than if you just see a few plaques and the Beatles statues on the Reeperbahn (at Beatles-Platz, where Grosse Freiheit meets the Reeperbahn).

Morning  – Rathaus / Town Hall

Afternoon – Harbour Cruise

Dinner – near the Harbour

Night – Reeperbahn and/or concert at Elbphilharmonie

I’ve spent something like six weeks in Hamburg over the last 30 years or so, and still feel like I’m just getting started, so if you can get to spend more than one day in Hamburg, it’s well worth your while.

An extra day or more in Hamburg gives you time to explore some Hamburg museums. The Museum of Hamburg History is an excellent place to start – it’s at the southern end of the Planten und Blomen park, another place worth an hour or two of your time. This is somewhere else to go if you’re visiting Hamburg with kids, with a cool playground and mini golf course for them.

It’s a couple of minutes’ walk from the park to Peterstrasse, one of the most beautiful streets in Hamburg. It’s full of wonderful brick-gabled houses, which are home to the Composers Quarter. The street hosts several exhibitions on composers with connections to Hamburg, including Johannes Brahms, Gustav Mahler, Felix Mendelssohn and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach.

Hamburg has also had a bit of an unusual line in, for want of a better description, football tourism, over the last few decades.  The city has two teams – the once-successful Hamburg SV (HSV) and perennial second-division strugglers FC St Pauli.  My friends from the area are all huge St Pauli fans.

The club has always had a strong affinity with the St Pauli community, and it’s the nearest thing you’ll ever find to (again, for want of a better term) a punk rock football club. If the corporate petro-state-funded world of football isn’t for you then I recommend a trip to their stadium, the Millerntor on match day.    

I’ve been introduced to many more unusual Hamburg places to visit over the years, and one of my favourites is the city beach a couple of miles west of St Pauli at Övelgönne. It’s a typically quirky Hamburg spot, with a splendid view across the Elbe to a container port. Head here in the summer on a sunny day with a bottle of beer or two.

Bremen, an hour to the south-west of Hamburg, is one of the most underrated cities in Europe. It was a free market city during the Middle Ages, its splendid Town Hall and Roland statue testament to this.

As well as more fine medieval monuments and architecture, don’t miss the gorgeous Böttcherstrasse, one of the most beautiful streets in Europe, lined with brick Expressionist buildings housing galleries and shops.   

Lübeck, an hour northeast of Hamburg, is one of the most beautiful cities on the German Baltic coast, and one of the best places to visit in Germany. It was one of the prime movers of the Hanseatic League for centuries, and grew very prosperous from its role as one of the main trading centres of northern Europe.  

The historic centre of Lübeck is a World Heritage Site, a magnificent ensemble of buildings in red brick including some amazing churches and the iconic Holstentor city gate.

The train brings many more places within easy reach of Hamburg. I also recommend the stunning water castle at Schwerin, one of the most beautiful castles in Europe.

And there is the wondrous landscape of the Lüneburger Heide (Lüneburg Heath) to the southeast of the city, which is carpeted in glorious pinkish-purple heather in July and August each year.

Hamburg is in the north of Germany, next to the northernmost province in the country, Schleswig-Holstein. It’s also 160 km (100 miles) south of the border with Denmark.

Berlin to Hamburg distance – 288 km

Cologne to Hamburg distance – 357 / 400 km

Munich to Hamburg distance – 614 km

Amsterdam to Hamburg distance – 467 km

Copenhagen to Hamburg distance – 335 km

Hamburg is very easy to reach, with excellent air, rail and road connections.  

It’s as little as two hours from Berlin by train, and four hours from Cologne. Trains from Munich to Hamburg take six to nine hours.

Around 50 airlines fly to Hamburg from all over Europe and the Middle East. If you’re travelling from North America, Australia or New Zealand, you’ll need to catch a connecting flight, train or bus to Hamburg from your European point of arrival. Or you could drive, of course.

Hamburg is very easy to get around. I’ve always used the U-Bahn and S-Bahn train network which covers everywhere in the city centre and suburbs. There is also an extensive bus network, which includes Hamburg airport.

There are also over 250 StadtRad bike hire points around the city. Hamburg is very cycle-friendly and easy to get around. You might want to consider this option if you want to explore the Elbe further, or take a ride around the Aussenalster lake north of the city centre.  

Hamburg is a fantastic city, one I’ve been privileged to get to know through a local and expert. It’s like Berlin in that it’s a little gritty, but compelling and fascinating.

I’ve been travelling there for 30 years and still want to see more. Spend one day in Hamburg and you may well find your appetite whetted too.

David Angel is a British photographer, writer and historian. He is a European travel expert with over 30 years’ experience exploring Europe. He has a degree in History from Manchester University, and his work is regularly featured in global media including the BBC, Condé Nast Traveler, The Guardian, The Times, and The Sunday Times.  David is fluent in French and Welsh, and can also converse in Italian, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Czech and Polish.

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