Must-see attractions in Hamburg

  • Sunday morning market in Fischmarkt

    Fischmarkt

    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, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 04:  Visitors walk through the large hall of the newly-completed Elbphilharmonie concert hall on November 4, 2016 in Hamburg, Germany. Designed by the archiecture firm Herzog and de Meuron and begun in 2007, the Elbphilharmonie was originally slated to be completed by 2010 at a cost of EUR 241 million. Instead it was finally finished on October 31, 2016 at a cost of EUR 789 million. Germany has been burdened with a string of high-profile construction projects whose completion has been years delayed and whose costs have ballooned. The first public concert at the Elbphilharmonie is scheduled for January 11, 2017 as part of its official opening.  (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

    Elbphilharmonie

    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…

  • Miniature Wonderland in Hamburg, Germany; Shutterstock ID 696145270; Your name (First / Last): Gemma Graham; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: BiT Destination Page Images

    Miniatur Wunderland

    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…

  • (GERMANY OUT) Deutschland, Hamburg Veddel: Auswanderermuseum BallinStadt. (Photo by Uwe Steffens/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

    Auswanderermuseum BallinStadt

    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…

  • (GERMANY OUT) Hamburg: herbstliche Szene auf dem Altonaer Balkon in Altona. Sie Menschen sitzen in der Sonne auf B?nken und dem Gel?nder und schauen auf die Elbe. Aufnahmedatum:1999. (Photo by Schwartz/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

    Altonaer Balkon

    Hamburg

    Thrill to some of Hamburg's best harbour views from this accurately named and quite pretty park.

  • St Michaelis Kirche

    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 Nachtmarkt

    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…

  • Germany, Hamburg, International Maritime Museum at Magdeburger Hafen in Hafencity

    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…

  • Bullenhuser Damm Schule

    Hamburg

    During WWII, 20 Jewish children were chosen by Dr Josef Mengele at Auschwitz and sent to Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg for medical…

  • Tanzende Türme

    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)…

  • Süllberg Hill

    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…

  • Flakturm IV

    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…

  • Museum für Völkerkunde

    Hamburg

    North of the Altstadt, the much-updated Museum für Völkerkunde demonstrates seafaring Hamburg’s acute awareness of the outside world. Modern artefacts…

  • Tierpark Hagenbeck

    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…

  • Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe

    Hamburg

    The Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe is lots of fun. Its vast collection of sculpture, furniture, fashion, jewellery, posters, porcelain, musical instruments…

  • Davidwache

    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…

  • HafenCity InfoCenter

    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…

  • Krameramtswohnungen

    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…

  • Rote Flora

    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…

  • Altona Museum

    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…

  • Kaffee Museum

    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…

  • Johannes Brahms Museum

    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…

  • Baakenpark

    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…

  • Speicherstadt Museum

    Hamburg

    A century-old warehouse is the atmospheric backdrop for exhibitions on Hamburg’s trading past, especially within its namesake district. There are…

  • Dockland

    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…

  • Komponisten-Quartier

    Hamburg

    This engaging museum celebrates the classical composers with a significant connection to the city, among them Felix Mendelssohn, Gustav Mahler and Carl…

  • Grossneumarkt

    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…

  • Hansaplatz Fountain

    Hamburg

    The centerpiece of Hansaplatz square. Completed in 1878, the fountain shows important figures in Hamburg's past, including Emperor Constantine the Great…

  • Sankt Pauli Museum

    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…

  • Panoptikum

    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…

  • Park Fiction

    St Pauli & Reeperbahn

    Hamburg's maritime tableau spreads out before this park created by local residents and overlooking the Elbe. Pick up some beer and have your own sunset…

  • Cap San Diego

    Hamburg

    A beautiful 1961 freighter, the 10,000-tonne Cap San Diego is open to tours that give a good feel for when sea voyages were a relaxing and low-key way to…

  • Herbertstrasse

    St Pauli & Reeperbahn

    Along Davidstrasse, a painted tin wall bars views into Herbertstrasse, a block-long bordello that’s off-limits to men under 18 and to women of all ages…

  • Hamburg Dungeon

    Hamburg

    This camped-up chamber of horrors is brought to life by actors, incorporating various thrill rides, and is housed in an old warehouse. It's pricey and not…

  • HafenCity Nachhaltigkeitspavillon

    Hamburg

    For alternative, greener take on the whole HafenCity development, this intriguing exhibit takes a look at sustainable urban development and…

  • Alsterarkaden

    Hamburg

    The elegant Renaissance-style arcades of the Alsterarkaden shelter upscale shops and cafes alongside the Alsterfleet canal. This is ground zero for…

  • Wochenmarkt

    Hamburg

    This weekly eco-market (think organic farmers' produce) adds a little life to Friday afternoons in the heart of St Georg. It sometimes shifts to Friday…

  • Beatles-Platz

    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).

  • Star Club Memorial

    St Pauli & Reeperbahn

    The seminal venue for the Beatles opened in 1962. It has since burnt down and there is a sad historical marker. Thai karaoke now echoes off the walls.

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