Cruise the harbour in Hamburg.
David Whitley shares his tips for exploring this northern German port city.
STAY
Budget
The Jugendherberge Auf dem Stintfang (5 Alfred-Wegener-Weg, 313 488, www.jugendherberge.de, dorm beds from €22.90) tends to attract school groups but the harbour views are some of the best in town. Backpackers St Pauli (98 Bernstorffstrasse, 2351 7043, www.backpackers-stpauli.de, dorm beds from €19.50) is close to the action and very sociable but also clean and with quirky maritime design features. Superbude, 152 Spaldingstrasse, 380 8780, www.superbude.de, with dorm beds from €16 and en suite doubles from €59) is the budget star, however, and has bags of personality, arty touches everywhere, Nintendo Wiis, a private cinema and free wireless internet.
Mid-range
The location may be slightly inconvenient but it's hard to beat the NH Hamburg Horn (90 Rennbahnstrasse, 655 970, www.nh-hoteles.com, doubles from €73) in terms of four-star bang for your buck. Hotel Hafen (9 Seewartenstrasse, 311 130, www.hotel-hafen-hamburg.de), however, has a top location at the junction of the city and St Pauli to go with its endearing maritime theme. Rooms start at €90. For something a little different, try staying overnight in one of the original cabins of the enormous museum ship, Cap San Diego (Uberseebrucke, 364 209, www.capsandiego.de, doubles from €95). Even though it's a novelty option, the rooms and facilities are surprisingly decent.
Luxe
East (31 Simon-von-Utrecht-Strasse, 309 930, www.east-hamburg.de) is an impressive design hotel, with beds that merge into writing desks just one of the touches that will have style aficionados purring in return for their €150-plus. For old-school elegance and personalised service in a plush townhouse, the eight-room Hotel Abtei (14 Abteistrasse, 442 905, www.abtei-hotel.de) offers dignified refinement priced from €170. Top value at the top end comes from Hanse Clipper Haus (1 Ditmar-Koel-Strasse, 3769 6400, www.clipper-boardinghouses.de). These well-located apartment suites come with an in-house sauna and are available for €132 a night, less if staying for a week or more.
Lash out
The Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten (9 Neuer Jungfernstieg, 3494 3151, www.hvj.de) is a grand old lakeside dame; its recent refurbishment has kept the vibe while adding modern touches such as iPod docking stations. The rooms are spacious and the attention to detail is superb. Lake views are available from €215. Hotel Louis C Jacob (401 Elbchaussee, 822 550, www.hotel-jacob.de, suites from €268) also practises dignity with a contemporary twist. The river views and spa in this old merchant's house are part of the appeal. For a designer option, try SIDE (49 Drehbahn, 309 990, www.side-hamburg.de, suites from €292.50).
SHOP + PLAY
To market
The waterside St Pauli Fish Market is as much about entertainment as it is about selling fish. It's often regarded as the end point of an all-Saturday-night session, ending at 9.30am on a Sunday. The banter with the market criers and the bric-a-brac stalls elevate it above a regular fish market. The St Pauli night-time markets in Spielbudenplatz on a Wednesday evening are slightly less raucous and have a nice mix of art, knick-knacks and multicultural food stalls. From late November to mid-December, the Christmas Market (www.hamburger-weihnachtsmarkt.com) sprawls all over the city centre, radiating out from Rathausplatz.
Go shop
Spitalerstrasse and Moenckebergstrasse host many of the big high-street names, while the area around Gaensemarkt — particularly ABC-Strasse — attracts higher-end designer labels and the big spenders. For something a little more interesting, Marktstrasse to the west of the city centre is an eclectic hive of small independent fashion stores, skater-chic outlets and Tibetan fabric shops, among others. For a proper Hamburg shopping experience, however, browse among the multitude of oriental carpet warehouses in Speicherstadt, particularly along Am Sandtorkai. The city is a holding pen for some of the most incredible rugs you'll find, running the gamut from the Middle East to China.
Live music
The Kaiserkeller (36 Grosse Farheit, 3177 7811, www.grossefreiheit36.de) is one of the places where the Beatles played marathon stints on a nightly basis. The Molotow Club (5 Spielbudenplatz, 430 1110, www.molotowclub.com) is darker and rockier but the Killers and the White Stripes are among the bands to have played there. For jazz combos rather than guitar bands, head to the delightful Cotton Club (10 Alter Steinweg, 343 878, www.cotton-club.de). The music from this old-time cellar bar spills out into the sleepy surrounding streets.
Nightclubs
Golden Pudel Club (27 St Pauli Fischmarkt, 3197 9930, www.pudel.com) looks like a shack but it's a Hamburg institution, pumping out everything from electro to reggae until the early hours. Hafenklang (84 Grosse Elbstrasse, 388 744, www.hafenklang.com) gets credibility points — it's run by a group of big names in the Hamburg music industry and throws hot-ticket special club nights. The Komet Musik Bar (11 Erichstrasse, 2786 8686, www.komet-st-pauli.de) is a place where only serious vinyl-lovers man the decks.
SEE + DO
Hamburg icons
The Speicherstadt is the world's largest warehouse complex and the canal-side giant red-brick buildings are fantastic to explore. The area is riddled with intriguing attractions, ranging from a spice museum (Spicy's Gewurzmuseum, 32 Am Sandtorkai, 367 989, www.spicys.de) to the world's biggest model railway (Miniatur Wunderland, 4 Kehrwieder, 300 6800, www.miniatur-wunderland.de). Speicherstadt backs on to the audacious HafenCity. The latter is currently the biggest urban construction project in Europe. It will eventually house 40,000 people and an architecturally striking philharmonic hall. Then, of course, there's the Reeperbahn. This red-lit strip of almost cartoonish seediness is synonymous with the city and has become a zoo-like tourist attraction in its own right.
Culture
Hamburg is Germany's home of musical theatre. The most interesting venue is the Theatre im Hafen (6 Norderelbstrasse, *1805 4444, www.stage-entertainment.de), which is reached by boat. To take a trip upmarket, Aussie Simone Young conducts the Philharmoniker Hamburg orchestra at Laeiszhalle (1 Johannes-Brahms-Platz, 3576 6666, www.elbphilharmonie.de). In terms of museums, the Deutsches Zollmuseum (German Customs Museum, 16 Alter Wandrahm, 3008 7611, www.zoll.de, €2) is an unexpected treat. If you ever want to differentiate a fake from the real thing or smuggle drugs in golf balls, here's where to learn your lessons.
Footwork
The three-kilometre amble from the ferry hub at Landungsbrucken to the parkland lookout at Altonaer Balkon takes in some great riverside views and some interesting sites, such as the St Pauli Fishmarket plus the bright paint and slogans of the former squatter's street of Hafenstrasse. Another obvious route is the 7.6-kilometre circuit around the Aussenalster "lake" (it's really the result of river damming). The truly hardy of shoe can link the two via the green belt that includes the Grosse Wallanlagen park and the primped gardens of Planten un Blomen.
Follow the leader
For a solid overview, Viator (www.viator.com) sells a €30 essential Hamburg combo ticket, which gets you a hop-on, hop-off bus tour around the city's highlights, plus cruises on the harbour and the Alster Lake. Alas, Hamburg has a real dearth of English-language walking tours but if your German's up to it, there are some odd topics to be tackled around the Reeperbahn. These range from the history of prostitution (*180 512 5225, www.hurentour.de, €28.50) to a drag queen-guided exploration of the St Pauli area (*172 465 8506, www.olivia-jones.de, €36).
EAT + DRINK
Cafe culture
Coffee lovers will drool themselves into a frenzy at the Speicherstadt Kaffeerosterei (5 Kehrwieder, 3181 6161, www.speicherstadt-kaffee.de). Here, staff empty hessian sacks of beans from Guatemala, Sumatra, India and more into smaller packets — and some of the fresh-off-the-boat good stuff is served in the cafe alongside naughty cakes. Cafe Paris (4 Rathausstrasse, 3252 7777, www.cafeparis.net) is a splendid art deco option in the city centre, while Don't Tell Mama (41 Paul-Roosen-Strasse, 3864 3702) offers a cutesy escape from the St Pauli bedlam. There are leopard-print couches to sit on, and old cookbooks to read as you tuck into the world-beating cheesecake slices.
Snack attack
Markthalle (Am Sandtorkai 23) in Speicherstadt has been essentially turned into a posh food court — around-the-world flavours complement the obligatory bakery. Otherwise, the Mo-Grill stall outside the Monckebergstrasse U-Bahn station is hugely popular, which is unsurprising given its bewildering array of sausage options. These include a wurst that's 100 per cent bison. If you fancy fishy rather than meaty, go around the corner to Daniel Wischer (12 Spitalerstrasse, 3252 5815, www.danielwischer.de).
Top of the town
Kuchenwerkstatt (1 Hans-Henny-Jahnn-Weg, 2292 7588, www.kuechenwerkstatt-hamburg.de) is the latest addition to Hamburg's surprisingly large Michelin-star club. The setting — it's in a former ferry house — may be old but the emphasis is on creative, contemporary dishes and degustation dinners cost between €45 and €126 depending on the number of courses. Also boasting a Michelin star is Le Canard Nouveau (139 Elbchausee, 8812 9531, www.lecanard-hamburg.de, mains from €35) where chef Ali Gungormus presents inventive Mediterranean dishes with flair. Tafelhaus (17 Neumuhlen, 892 760, www.tafelhaus.de) has arguably the best rep, concentrating largely on fish dishes and charging from €61 for three courses.
By the glass
Brauhaus Joh. Albrecht (7 Adolphsbrucke, 367 740, www.brauhaus-joh-albrecht.de) brews its own beer — the copper vats are proudly on show behind the bar — and it has some excellent canal-side views. As with much of the city centre, however, it can be a little lacking in atmosphere at night. The Reeperbahn is the place to go wild but the nearby Tower Bar at the Hotel Hafen is a classier, cocktail-oriented option with a cute nautical look and unbeatable harbour views. For something truly absurd, take a look at the marvellous Central Park (277 Max-Brauer-Allee, 433 684, www.centralpark-hamburg.net). It's a beach bar complete with sand and deckchairs, surrounded by parking lots and nowhere near the water.
Hot tip
Hamburg's city centre, apart from a couple of pockets, has the atmosphere of a graveyard at night, while the area around the Reeperbahn swings too far the other way with all-out enforced fun. If you're the type that likes to hang out and get a proper feel for the city rather than see sights, it pays to venture away from the obvious. Schanzenviertel to the north-west of the city centre has a student, grungy vibe, while St Georg to the north-east is more multicultural and Ottensen, further west on the Elbe River, is relaxed but lively enough to have a distinct scene.
Getting there
Emirates flies from Sydney to Hamburg via Dubai, priced from $2112. 1300 303 777, www.emirates.com. Alternatively, fly to Frankfurt with Qantas (www.qantas.com) or Singapore Airlines (www.singaporeair.com), then take the train (www.bahn.de) north.
Visa and currency
Australians don't need a visa to enter Germany for stays of less than 90 days. The currency is the euro; €1 = $1.42.
Calling Hamburg
The country code is +49 and the Hamburg city code is 40. To call any of the numbers listed from Sydney, put in 0011 49 40 first. If marked with an asterisk, drop the 40 — it's not a Hamburg number.
Further information
David Whitley was a guest of the Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten.
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