Hamburg landmark, the Elbphilharmonie, with the Westin hotel, where we stayed, on top of it

I can’t say that Hamburg was ever on my must-see list, or, in all honesty, quite remember why my lovely man and I decided to head there for our annual post-Christmas break (we do like to get away over New Year if we can). But I having spent three hugely enjoyable, albeit bitterly cold, days there, I can enthusiastically recommend it as as good a city break destination as you’ll find anywhere in mainland Europe.

Easy to navigate and eminently walkable, with an efficient metro system, which is helpful because it’s also sizeable, Hamburg offers delights to lovers of history, culture, architecture, food and fun alike, so there are plenty of itinerary options to fill your stay with and please all ages. Determined to see and do as much as we could, whilst still allowing ourselves some much needed post-festivity down time, we managed to tick off a satisfying selection of almost all of those during our time in the city.

We learnt more about Hamburg’s World War Two experience when the city was all but raised to the ground by a huge Allied bombing campaign, wandered round some of the beautiful old buildings which survived and admired the dazzling creativity of some of its newer ones, experienced a sublime concert by the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra, took a boat tour around the enormous port area, ate delicious meals and spent more hours than we planned in one of the most astonishing attractions either of us has ever seen.

If you’re thinking of following in our footsteps and exploring this buzzy, maritime city, these are the things we did and the places we ate that we’d both heartily recommend. (Some of my pics that follow have Christmassy elements in them on account of the time of year. I’ve done my best to mitigate the grey conditions outside as much as possible!)

The Rathaus

Glorious outside, spectacular inside, the baroque Rathaus, or City Hall, the home of the local government, dominates the Altstadt district, the heart of old Hamburg. Its multi-columned entrance with an impressive marble staircase is the meeting point for the hour long tours which take in just some of the 647 rooms, including the breath-taking 50m long ballroom hung with huge paintings showing Hamburg’s 1200 years of history.

The multi-columned entrance hall of the Rathaus

Be sure to go out into the courtyard and look up from the ornate fountain in its centre at the fabulously ornate gables, spires and statues on the rooftops above.

Details of opening hours and tour times HERE

St Peter’s Church

Nearby the Rathaus is Hamburg’s oldest parish church, another of the buildings which managed to escape the destruction of the world wars. It’s worth going inside, not least for the unusual way visitors can add their memorial candles to those that have gone before.

Opening times and information HERE

Chilehaus

The Altstadt area is also home to one of Hamburg’s most striking buildings, the Unesco-recognised Chilehaus. An imposing dark brick structure housing ground floor shops topped with apartments it’s built in the shape of an ocean liner, with elegantly curved sides meeting in a sharply pointed bow and staggered balconies like decks.

Cafe Paris

When you’ve worked up an appetite from strolling round the Altstadt area, head here for lunch. It’s just around the corner from the Rathaus. This elegant brasserie, housed in a beautifully tiled former butcher’s hall, serves delicious French fare that’s worth queuing for (you can book in advance if you prefer not to take your chances. Details HERE).

St Nikolai Memorial and museum

At once soaring and sobering, this half ruin is one of Hamburg’s most distinctive sites. The remains of what was the world’s tallest building from 1874 to 1876, the church was all but destroyed in the devastating Allied bombing campaign which rained down on the city over three brutally destructive days and nights in 1943, in retaliation for the German destruction of Coventry and Warsaw. The site now serves as a memorial to the victims of the Second World War and a powerful reminder of the ravages of war.

A glass lift inside the skeleton tower takes visitors up to a 76 metre high viewing platform inside the spire which gives great views of the city centre and a helpful context to the displays inside the excellent museum housed in the former cellars, which explores in clear-sighted detail the circumstances leading up to the campaign and the devastating effects of the raids on the city and its citizens, 34,000 of whom died.

Inside the excellent museum at the St Nikolai Memorial

More information, opening hours and ticket prices HERE

St Michaelis Kirche Tower

Another lofty vantage point that’s worth seeking out is the Church of St Michael, northern German’s largest Protestant baroque church, where the 83 metre viewing platform - which you can reach by lift or stairs if you’re feeling energetic - rewards you with terrific views across the city’s myriad canals, waterways and across to the harbour. We went up it (by lift I should add) in the evening (hence the pic) when the night-lit city looked especially spectacular.

City and harbour boat tours

Hamburg is a port city with a network of canals and waterways criss-crossing it, so it’s worth taking one of the many boat tours on offer and seeing the sights from the vantage point of the water. We escaped the freezing rain and thoroughly enjoyed an hour-long tour of the port and seeing a number of the enormous container ships anchored alongside the huge unloading cranes.

Take your pick of routes and time lengths from a selection HERE. We didn’t book in advance but at busy times it’s certainly worth doing.

The Elbpharmonie

Another thing we didn’t book in advance and very much wished we had, was a performance at the spectacular Elbphaliharmonie, not least for the chance to see inside arguably the best concert hall in the world, certainly the most advanced acoustically. The former warehouse topped with a soaring edifice of more than 1000 curved glass panels and a roof designed to look likes waves, it has become one of Hamburg’s most recognised and admired buildings, both outside and in.

From the street level an 82m long curved escalator - said to be the largest in Europe - undulates up to a plaza and viewing platform that wraps round the whole building. Even if you can’t get into a performance, it’s worth doing that.

Find out full info, performance schedule and tickets HERE

We did manage to bag two returned tickets to see/hear the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra and chorus give a sensational performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in the beautiful old Laeiszhalle

The Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra and chorus taking their bows in the Laeiszhalle

For all that we greatly enjoyed all of the above, the entirely unexpected stand out experience of our three days in Hamburg was somewhere we thought we’d spend a perfectly pleasant hour and ended up being spell bound by for nearly four times longer than that (and could certainly have stayed longer).

Miniatur Wunderland

Rio de Janerio recreated in miniature at Minatur Wonderland

What started as a smallish miniature railway exhibition 20 years has grown into the largest and most remarkable miniature world in the world, and Germany’s most popular tourist attraction featuring more than 1600 trains travelling through astonishingly detailed recreations of countries, cities and landscapes including Switzerland and Venice

Part of the model of Switzerland in Miniatur Wunderland

There’s Monaco complete with grand prix cars racing through it’s perfectly recreated streets

and the carnival in Rio, which you can see in full animated swing in the These Are the Heydays newsletter on Substack.

The carnival in Rio watched by thousands of miniature spectators at Miniatur Wunderland

For all their exquisitely realised detail and vast range, the absolute highlight of what was already a highlight experience for me was the truly jaw-dropping recreation of a fully working airport, complete with planes actually taking off and landing. It was utterly astonishing.

Honestly if you do nothing else on a trip to Hamburg, do NOT miss seeing this!

Opening hours and ticket prices HERE (another thing it’s worth booking in advance)

We also went to a couple of great restaurants where we ate delicious local dishes in delightfully authentically German surroundings - Krameramtsstuben down a pretty alley way and Das Dorf, which claims to serve ‘the best schnitzel in town’ and having sampled it we wouldn’t disagree.

Other great European city break destinations

Vienna

Lisbon

Budapest