Second largest city in Germany, and often cited as the wealthiest, Hamburg is a fabulously varied destination: culturally rich, and well known for its beer, it’s also gaining a reputation for innovative cuisine. And it’s just really cool.
Hamburg's neighbourhoods are still distinct and varied, attracting distinct and varied visitors. Altstadt is ideal for a city break, with historic architecture and numerous museums, galleries and theatres. St Georg, just to the north is also good for city breaks; it is more multicultural and a good place to look for good value accommodation. St Pauli has the Reeperbahn, and the first clubs The Beatles played in; while Blankenese is a good match for lovers of the finer things, including fine food and drink.
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Hamburg-Altstadt is the Old Town, a central spot packed with beautiful, historic architecture and landmarks. It’s picturesquely positioned alongside the Nikolai Canal, allowing for riverside walking, and waterfront eating and drinking opportunities. While the architecture may look old but well kept, much of it had to be rebuilt after WW2. One of the largest landmarks of the Altstadt is Hamburg’s Town Hall, or Rathaus. In front of the Town Hall is an elegant platz the Rathausmarkt, and around that spread out alleyways, narrow streets and bridges, all of historic interest. Some of the most impressive historic buildings in Altstadt can be found along the Deichstraße, which was built in the 17th century, and is today lined with chic boutiques, cafes, bars and restaurants.
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Rotherbaum is a stylish neighbourhood, which began to become so around 1800, when well-to-do Hamburg residents started to build their mansions on the beautiful banks of Außenalster lake. These buildings were designed by the same architects and designers responsible for some of Hamburg’s great civic buildings, so there’s a lot to be impressed about inside and out. Rotherbaum feels further from the centre of Hamburg than it really is — it’s neighbours with Neustadt, St Pauli and Schanzenviertel, and St Georg is on the opposite bank of the lake, so close enough for visitors who want to stay somewhere quite special and luxurious. Rotherbaum isn’t fusty, though, the student population from the University of Hamburg, and the University of Music and Drama of Hamburg, help keep the atmosphere lively, youthful, arty and intellectual. This is also the part of Hamburg where embassies are based. Think hip students meets a ladies-who-lunch vibe.
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The St Georg neighbourhood is a lively and colourful option just to the north of Altstadt. You’ll pass through if you arrive by train, because this is where you’ll find Hamburg’s central railway station. It has the variety of many central railway neighbourhoods: the convenience stores and tourist bars and cafes, but also the colourful cultural mingling, and a collection of luxurious accommodation options. St Georg has both the Centrum Mosque and the Mariendom — which is the seat of the Archbishop of Hamburg — and it’s the centre of the LGBT+ community in Hamburg. It's a popular neighbourhood for university students, who walk the few kilometres to the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, past the Outer Alster Lake — which provides the neighbourhood’s green space. The students keep the neighbourhood young, but there are a number of high end bars and restaurants, excellent boutique shopping, three renowned art museums (Kunsthalle Hamburg, MKG Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe and Deichtorhallen), several major theatres and a rather grand cinema.
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Probably best known as the neighbourhood of the Hamburg Reeperbahn (also called The Kiez), one of Europe’s most famous red light districts, St Pauli is bigger than sleaze and fast food. Draw concentric circles outwards from The Kiez and you’ll get to a web of narrow avenues, on which you’ll find a more respectable offering, including Große Freiheit, where The Beatles famously found fame. This is also the circle in which you’ll find theatres and cabaret venues, and if you draw your circles large enough you’ll come to Karolineviertel, which is the fashion district. St Pauli is also part of the port district, and its riverside spot means the seafood is excellent. On the edge of St Pauli is the Planten un Blomen, beautifully manicured gardens, complete with water fountains, a Japanese raked garden, an ice skating rink, and a mini golf course.
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Schanzenviertel is a tiny neighbourhood long considered one of Hamburg’s counter-cultural hubs. It still has a cool and quirky vibe, but today it’s probably just as well known for its vintage shopping, cosy bars and cafes, lively Saturday market and charmingly colourful architecture. In the evening it becomes lively, but friendly. Schanzenviertel follows that classic pattern of gentrification, where increased investment has priced out some of the artier residents who made it desirable in the first place — but it’s still a very popular neighbourhood with young creatives. Despite being small, Schanzenviertel still has two parks, the hip Flora Park — popular with skateboarders for its adjacent skatepark, and Schanzenpark, which is on top of the hill.
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HafenCity is new news, an entirely new neighbourhood, built atop the old port district, and scheduled to be finished in 2025. It’s neighbours with Speicherstadt, and also right on the water, and accommodates cruise ship docks into the plan. There area architectural jewels aplenty here including the Elbphilharmonie; but it doesn’t just stand alone, these canals and docks are now dotted with innovative steel and glass structure whereever you look. In addition to staying in this incredibly exciting and changing neighbourhood, guests of HafenCity are close to all the landmarks and attractions of Speicherstadt, and well located for sightseeing across the city. HafenCity has an ever expanding range of places to eat and drink too, from high-end haute cuisine, to friendly, laid-back dining.
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The Blankenese neighbourhood is a little outside of Hamburg — about 20 minutes on the S-Bahn — right on the Elbe River. It’s green and leafy, luxurious and peaceful, and has some wonderful high-end accommodation. It also has some charming fishermen’s cottages and mini-mansion conversions arranged along narrow lanes leading down to the water, and upwards to the top of Süllberg Hill. This is the hilliest part of Hamburg — it’s 170 steps up to the top of the hill, via elegant terraces overlooking the river, some with beer gardens. At the top the view goes all the way to the container ships in the harbour, and there are some very, very nice restaurants up here. This was the former neighbourhood of Karl Lagerfeld, and offers enough glamour for him, with high-end shopping, as well as plenty of peace. Added bonuses are the riverside beach, and Hamburg’s oldest park.
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