Port guide: Hamburg, Germany

Fast-moving Hamburg is a great trading city with a spectacularly redeveloped waterfront and makes a refreshing change from Europe’s old towns.

Who goes there

A wide variety of cruise lines (including those that serve the German-speaking market) visit Hamburg on itineraries around the Baltic, along the Norwegian coast, or to other destinations in northern Europe. Costa Cruises, Cunard, MSC and Hapag-Lloyd are particularly regular visitors.

Hamburg and the Elbe River.Credit: DZT/Francesco Carovillano

Sail on in

Hamburg sits on the Elbe River, 40 kilometres inland from the sea. The sail-in isn’t beautiful, but it is endlessly fascinating. You get a flavour of the bustle of one of the world’s largest ports in passing shipping and the shore-side tangle of cranes, wharfs and warehouses. The city’s trading wealth is also on show on hillsides studded with ornate villas. Claim a perch in the observation lounge, and enjoy the passing sights.

Berth rites

Steinwerder terminal accommodates the biggest ships, while mid-sized ships dock at Altona on the river; its terminal has panoramic views of the harbour and city from its roof terrace. Both require shuttle transfers into the city. A third and much more conveniently located terminal will open at HafenCity in 2025.

Before and after

Some cruises start or finish in Hamburg, which is worth an extra night. 25hours Hotel Hamburg HafenCity is well located on the redeveloped waterfront and has a contemporary, maritime-themed decor and good restaurant. Its rooftop sauna has great harbour views.

Going ashore

Much of the old town was bombed in World War II but Deichstrasse and Peterstrasse have fine restored architecture. The vast, Renaissance-style town hall is stupendous. The Kunsthalle is one of Germany’s best art museums, especially for works from the German Romantics, French Impressionists and 20th-century artists such as Picasso and Warhol. Wallringpark incorporates botanical and Japanese gardens. If you have children, Carl Hagenbeck’s Tiergarten is one of Europe’s best zoos.

Don’t miss

Speicherstadt’s former warehouses line the canal.Credit: iStock

The harbour front, as if you could – 19th-century Speicherstadt has splendid, turreted red-brick warehouses along canals, now converted to fashion boutiques and cafes. Further on is Europe’s biggest urban redevelopment, HafenCity, with eye-catching buildings from some of the world’s top architects, not least the jagged Elbphilharmonie cultural centre, which looks like a melting iceberg.

Get active

Long waterfront promenades are easily walked, jogged or cycled, and you don’t have to look far to find red public bicycles from the StadtRAD rental system. The popular jogging circuit around city-centre Aussenalster lake takes you 7.6 kilometres. Although a little out of town, quirky Blankeneser Treppenvierte or Stairs Quarter is a leafy residential suburb with great views over the Elbe, crisscrossed by 58 footpaths with 4864 steps to give limbs and lungs a workout.

Best bites

Seafood features prominently on Hamburg menus: oysters, lobster, and fish such as turbot and sole. Eel soup is a local specialty. The city’s signature dish, Labskaus, is made from herring accompanied by potatoes, pickles, onion and cured meat. Many of Hamburg’s best restaurants are found in Altona district. Its Sunday fish market has been running since 1703. Fischereihafen is perhaps the best seafood restaurant: the specialty is grilled turbot with salmon mousse. Landhaus Scherrer features innovative northern-German cuisine such as roast goose and duck, fish dishes and stuffed oxtail.

Further afield

Those interested in seeing the working bowels of a major harbour can take one-hour boat tours along the Elbe River. Some cruises offer excursions to Berlin, but that involves a six-hour round trip by coach, so reconsider your options, especially as Hamburg itself is worth seeing. An alternative to Berlin is Lubeck only an hour’s drive away – an attractive, UNESCO-listed Hanseatic League old town set amid waterways.