Enjoy the ultimate city break to Hamburg

Due to Covid-19, some of these attractions may not be open. Please check with the relevant organisations before making travel plans.

Germany’s second-biggest city and largest port city has much to offer those who visit it. With its rich architectural heritage, concert halls, theatres and lively entertainment district, Hamburg offers something for everyone.

Let’s take a closer look at what makes Hamburg so special - and why it is widely regarded as one of Berlin’s most beautiful cities.

Hamburg’s Museums and Heritage

The Hamburger Kunsthalle is one of Germany’s largest and most important art museums, with an impressive permanent collection that includes North German paintings from the 14th century and 16th and 17th-century paintings by Flemish, Dutch and Italian artists. This collection is one of the very few in Germany that can transport visitors from the artwork of the Middle Ages to modern exhibits: you’ll find artwork here from the likes of Picasso, Andy Warhol and Caspar David Friedrich. Something for everyone indeed.

Hamburg’s Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe (Museum of Art and Industry) is similar in many ways to London’s V&A, offering a collection of artifacts that encompass 4,000 years of European and Asian history. The museum is located centrally, near the city’s main railway station, and is renowned for its keyboard instruments, Islamic decorative artwork and Art Nouveau furniture.

Exciting new additions to the city scene

Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, popularly nicknamed as the Elphi, has emerged as a new cultural landmark, with three concert halls and a Plaza that offers breathtaking panoramic views of the city.

A bold glass structure set atop an old brick warehouse, the venue has attracted more than 2 million visitors and hosted over 1,000 concerts since its opening in 2016. Public and private guided tours are available to visitors eager to find out more about the concert hall’s mind-boggling acoustics and architecture.

Take a tour of the harbour

Embarking on a harbour tour through the port of Hamburg is the only way to do justice to one of the largest ports in the world. Tours of the harbour offer visitors views of the city’s fish market, the Elbphilharmonie and the impressive repair docks of Blohm & Voss.

In the northeast part of the Hamburg Harbour you’ll find the Speicherstadt, or ‘warehouse city’, an area of renovated warehouses filled with cafés, museums and luxury loft apartments. The world's largest warehouse complex was made a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2015, and it is characterised by large, red brick buildings that are designed in the Gothic style, with green gables, bay windows and towers that are reflected in the many hundreds of canals that crisscross the district.

We recommend taking the time to visit the Hamburg Dungeon, the Wasserschloss (Water Palace) and the Miniatur Wunderland,a model railway and miniature airport attraction which is the largest of its kind in the world.

Now’s the perfect time to take that city break in Hamburg

If you’re looking for an adventure after months spent indoors, now’s the perfect time to get away from it all with a weekend trip to Hamburg.