24 Hours in Hamburg, City Guide

Where to Stay, Eat and See

Hamburg is one of those cities that not only is beautiful and diverse, there is also so much to do. It’s not too big or too small, it’s the right size for a weekend getaway.

I’m still speechless about the amount of things we were able to experience in just over 24 hours. There’s still so much we want to see, we will go back for sure, but for now, this is my 24-hour city guide to Hamburg.

So we started at the central station, we arrived by train from Berlin, it took us around 3 hours, we carried small backpacks since it was only a one-day trip, we prefer backpacks to small luggage because that way you can hit the road and start exploring right away, we arrived a little bit early most of hotels check-ins are around 3:00 pm, our hotel was central but not close to the Central Station. So we decided to do a little bit of exploring before going to the hotel, we usually do that with city trips because most of the landmarks are near the central station, to see as much as possible and tick things off our list before the check-in.

Elbgold Innenstadt

We started with a coffee break at the Elbgold Innenstadt a very cosy minimalistic coffee shop. We ordered a franzbrötchen It’s a cinnamony pastry from Hamburg, super delicious, that was just our first of many and we also had a cinnamon bun.

Speicherstadt und Poggenmühlenbrücke

Afterwards, we walked to Speicherstadt und Poggenmühlenbrücke, Visiting the Speicherstadt is a must-do while in Hamburg. It’s the largest historic warehouse district in the world and has been a UNESCO World Heritage since 2015.

The weather was cloudy and rainy but we still had a great time, at some point, there was a strong rain shower for around 20 minutes, and we had an umbrella with us because friends had already told us about Hamburg’s unpredictable weather.

Kleine Haie grosse Fischer

We walked around a little, but the main reason to visit St Pauli is Kleine Haie grosse Fischer, Hamburg is known for fish because of the sea, so fish bread, and fish dishes it’s a must-try when in Hamburg, this shop was on my list for quite a while, the fish sandwich was so good, fresh and crispy, the portions were very big we shared a sandwich since we had dinner plans an hour later, I was super full that I barely could eat dinner.

Dim Sum Haus

For dinner we headed to we decided to visit Dim Sum Haus my partner saw this restaurant on a popular German TV show Kitchen Impossible, so we decided to try it because we both love Dim Sum, since we were in Hamburg and it was a great decision because the food was great although some options like the noodles were too oily for my taste.

Due Baristi espresso bar

The next day we had breakfast at the Due Baristi espresso bar 10 minutes walk from our hotel, we sat outside and had a traditional German breakfast, it felt like a nice neighbourhood cafe, with a friendly service and affordable prices.

Hamburger Kunsthalle

From there we went to the Hamburger Kunsthalle, where we paid 16€ each for general admission, It’s huge and quite impressive with so many exhibitions, it reminded me of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden.

 

Lu Souffle Pancake Then we walked to Lou Lu Souffle Pancake for around 15 minutes because I wanted to try Japanese souffle Pancake, it was an experience, not my style but the place was cute and the Yuzu lemonade was delicious.

Landungsbrucken and Elbphillamornie

We headed to Landungsbrucken and walked all over the pier, you will see the Elbphillamornie and the whole area around the pier, there were so many cafes, restaurants, and new building constructions, it was very hot that day one thing I noticed at least in this area there was not as much green as in Berlin, but a lot of concrete which made the heat even more suffocating, we were also walking around lunchtime which is also extremely hot, so plan your visit accordingly if you are sensitive to the heat and plan to visit during summer.

 We headed back to the central station and had our last franzbrötchen, Hamburg is a very beautiful city. extremely cosy. Using public transportation was fairly easy and everything was close, making it a very walkable city.

Final Reflections

For a city trip, 24 hours was enough. But I will also say 48 hours would be ideal because there is so much to see, I still want to go to a Konzertt at the Elbphilharmonie, and I would like to go to the Elbstrand and the Jenischpark and also check out the Portuguiesenviertel.

I would say together with Dresden is one of my favourite cities in Germany and I can’t wait to visit it again, I hope this 24-hour City Guide to Hamburg helped you plan your trip.

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