Hamburg in one day
A walk to visit Hamburg, an itinerary for a full day. There are obviously many other landmarks to see!
We recommend buying a day ticket ("Tageskarte") allowing you to move throughout the day with the tube (S-Bahn, U-Bahn), bus and some boats city. From two people, a group day ticket ("Gruppen-Tageskarte") is already worth it. The rates and conditions are regularly changing!
We start our tour early in the morning around 9am if possible in order to avoid the crowds at least at the beginning of the route and make the most of the day.
Our route starts at the town hall ("Rathaus") of Hamburg. This is a monumental building in the city center, between the Lake "Binnen-Alster" and the port. In front of it, there is a great place just as impressive.
From there we walk to the "Michel". This is a church whose interior is bright and very beautiful. There are a few fabulous organs in there, a very large one and three smaller sized ones (organ concerts are held regularly in the church). Go up in the tower, either by the stairs or by the elevator (€ 5 in 2015). The tower has a height of about 80m. It offers great views of Hamburg and allows one to gain some kind of orientation in the city.
After climbing back down, head towards the Elbe (turn left out of the church and down the street to the banks) and you will arrive at "Landungsbrücken".
Boats of various sizes go for a tour of the harbour ("große Hafenrundfahrt"), which takes about an hour (18 € in 2015). During this tour, discover among others huge ships carrying containers and the facilities in place for loading and unloading them (imagine 13 000 containers on a single boat !!), the fish market ("Fischmarkt") where freshly caught fishes are sold at auction between 4am and 6am, the Elbphilharmonie which is a luxury building with design windows worth a fortune each and whose end of construction is planned for 2017, the Speicher where coffee beans and all kinds of food where formerly stored and where now among other objects carpets are held and a passage in one of the harbour locks.
Once you are back to "Landungsbrücken, walk along the Elbe towards the west or towards the fish market and Altona.
From there, you can at any time join a tube station and take the tube to "Blankenese". At Blankenese head towards the Elbe crossing the "Treppenviertel" (follow the signs). Blankenese is a former fishing village, rich in history because at different periods of time in the past it used to belong to Austria, Denmark and Preusse. Blankenese is distinguished by small winding narrow streets with lot of charm, beautiful houses built on the hill and a path in the sandy soil along the water. With its white houses and small flower gardens, this place brings our minds to Mediterranean villages!
We then return to the tube station Blankenese and take the tube to the city center (towards Hauptbahnhof). Get out at "Teufelsbrücke", head to the Elbe and cross the park.
Once near the water, you will be able to spot the Teufeslbrücke Pier, from where you can take boats towards the city center (change boat in Finkenwerder). Your day ticket is valid for these boats too.
If you still have time and some energy, you can walk around the Binnen-Alster. It does not take much time. To get there, take a tube from Landungsbrücken. The fountain in the middle of the lake and the lights reflecting in the water at night will bring your thoughts to a very special atmosphere.