In Hamburg for 6 days, any suggestions?
 

I'm currently piecing together my trip to HAM this April for a convention on the 17th. It seems that I'll be open for 5 days and am looking for any new ideas on what to do during my stay. I've been thinking about taking a trip down to Bremen and maybe do some city hopping around the country but I haven't firmed anything up yet. Any fellow traveller care to share some ideas?

This thread is good starting point:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=656630

I know the Hamburg area fairly well - will put my thinking cap on overnight for more suggestions!

I'd consider a day trip to Lübeck - short train ride - and get some Marzipan over there :D

I remember, on the Fischmarkt there's a great Cocktail bar ...;)

St. Pauli (red light district) walking tours are great ^

and of course .. a harbor cruise

As Hamburg is the second largest town in Germany there are so many ways to spend a few days at leasure - it really depends on your interests:

That´s a good one. Lübeck has a very nice old town area, nice beaches (depends on weather) and of course the famous Marzipan.

Not only one. As you´re too early to enjoy the beachclubs, I recommend the Au Quai in "Große Elbstraße", the IndoChine in "Neumühlen" or the rooftop bar in the hotel "Hafen Hamburg" for a classic drink with unbeatable harbour views. In Große Elbstraße are also many good restaurants in different styles.

Many other things to do:

- hop on hop off city tour for first orientation
- harbor cruise
- alster lake cruise
- walk through "speicherstadt" (the old freeport) and new and stylish port city area
- walk through "Blankenese", Hamburgs little Italy when you have good weather.
- visit one of the many museums like "Hamburg History Museum", "Art Hall", "Spice Museum" and so on.
- from end of March (22nd) to middle of April there is "DOM" in Hamburg - big party and action park on "Heiligengeistfeld".
- there are many musicals in the city
- nice side trip destinations by train or car are Lüneburg (old town), Bremen (more or less like Hamburg - only smaller) and as mentioned above Lübeck.
- if you´re a firsttimer in Germany consider a day trip to the capital Berlin. Highspeed-Trains are running every hour - traveltime is 90 minutes.

For an overview and an event-calendar: main tourist information is in the central station.

If you´re not familiar with the surroundings, don´t enter the reeperbahn district by night alone. It´s not really dangerous but can be an expensive experiance - afterwards you will know the northgerman word "kobern" very well ;-) - better join an organized tour or ask the concierce at your hotel.

http://www.hamburg.de is availlable in english and gives you many more suggestions.

Ratzeburg
 

Somewhat off the beaten track... but one of my favourite places in the Hamburg area is a little town called Ratzeburg. Unfortunately it's not quite as easy to get to as Lübeck or Bremen as there are no direct trains (you need to change at Büchen - or detour via Lübeck or Lüneburg)

Couldn't find any information in English, but there are some pretty pictures at www.ratzeburg.de - click on "Stadt Region" (left-hand side of page) then "Ratzeburg Ansichten" (top right-hand corner) (The site uses frames, hence no direct URL for the pretty pictures)

Lübeck, of course. For another day trip to a pretty, romantic old town much different from Lübeck, let me recommend Celle: http://www.celle.de/index_2.phtml?La=2&start=1
Celle can be reached by IC train on the main route to Hannover in about 45 minutes.

Thanks all for the recommendations! Lübeck, Ratzeburg, and Celle do look like excellent ways to see what's nearby and I'll be looking more into the three. :D One thing I definitely try and to is the day trip to Berlin as, indeed, it is my first time in the country. Since it is just 90 minutes, I believe I'll be able to spend a day or two there. ^

Have a nice trip and a pleasant stay. Timetables, informations and prices for your rail-trip to Berlin:

http://www.bahn.de/p/view/internatio...l_guests.shtml

Sylt
 

If you are into nature and a bit of luxury I would suggest a visit to Sylt. Really nice island with very nice hotels, long beaches and good dining options.
here is the link to it www.sylt.de
In spring its stil a quiet place not so over crowded like in summer.

That might be true - if it would not be the week after eastern.

Traditional travelling time! And one of the high seasons of Sylt. ;)

You may not have enough time, but here is a two-day itinerary that I would highly recommend:

Day 1 - take an early train to Lübeck, spend the day sightseeing there, stay overnight

Day 2 - take a boat ride from Lübeck to Rothenhusen (River Wakenitz), then another boat across the lake from Rothenhusen to Ratzeburg. I don't know how the connections work out in April, but if you have a wait in Rothenhusen there is a nice lakeside restaurant there, and some scenic walks. Spend the rest of the day in Ratzeburg, take a late train back to Hamburg.

More information:

http://www.wakenitz-schiffahrt-quandt.de/
http://www.maiworm-schiffahrt.de/
http://www.schiffahrt-ratzeburg.de/

(The first two are in Geman only)

There are two "Wurstbuden" on the Mönckebergstrasse, try a "Currywurst" there, very good.

Also a must for tourists: Hafenrundfahrt, Speicherstadt and Minaturwunderwelten

Another possibility - a triangle trip as follows: ICE train from Hamburg to Berlin (about 99 minutes). One full day overview visit to the capital city. Then, ICE train from Berlin to Wolfsburg (about 65 minutes). Half-day visit to Autostadt, a wonderful visitor attraction adjoining the Volkswagen HQ/main factory, featuring the products of the VW Group (VW, Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley, SEAT, Skoda). Then return to Hamburg (ICE train, about 120 minutes).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autostadt

http://www.autostadt.de/portal/site/www/

I hope I don't offend anyone by saying this - but one of the most fun things my husband and I (American tourists) did in Hamburg was go to a sex show in the Reeperbahn. It was like a Broadway musical - except everyone was naked (although the men were wearing condoms). This isn't like Las Vegas. It's real sex - and group sex at that. The plot was very easy to understand even though we didn't speak German :).

There were women in the audience who approached men and left with them. My husband followed them once - trying to find the men's room - and discovered that there was a brothel attached to the club. Not our cup of tea. But the show itself was great fun.

If you have any interest in doing this - I have one BIG cautionary statement. Many of these places aren't very nice - or very honest. We asked the concierge in our hotel (Intercontinental) if he could recommend any which were ok - and he said (at the time) that there were only two. He sold tickets to both ;) . At the place we went to - there was a fixed price which included one drink - and no one pressured us to have another. We also asked the concierge to recommend a restaurant in the area. He said only one was ok. It was a family Italian restaurant. Food was ok - nothing great - but we had fun chatting with the staff in Italian.

Note that the night we went - a group of Japanese men staying at the hotel arrived back about when we did. Accompanied by the police. They had gone to a place *not* recommended by the concierge - had bought lots of drinks for women - and wound up with a multi-thousand dollar bill which they refused to pay. Then the club owner called the police.

Anyway - I think this is an interesting thing to do - but it should only be done with the advice of someone who is very knowledgeable about the area. Robyn

Yeah, Reeperbahn is a must, went there for the first time in Feb., on a cold Monday, almost nobody on the streets, except some whores (yes, they want to be called whores). There are many places that women aren't allowed to enter (like Herbertstrasse and a "Laufhaus", an advise to all ladys: DON'T EVEN TRY IT). I haven't been to a show or a stripbar, like the famous "Dollhouse", but it still was an impressive experience, all places do have one thing in common though: all are very expensive (expect at least 10€ for a beer). Anyway it is a part of Hamburg, and as a tourist you shouldn't miss it. But my friend from Hamburg recommended Thursday till Sunday.