Hamburg is an amazing city for a weekend break

A city trip to Hamburg

When you get off the train on the east side of the Hauptbahnhof, you will find that the streets in this area are populated by men of all sorts of backgrounds, just hanging there. As a woman, I would rather not walk alone between the train station and the Berliner Tor, especially burdened by luggage. Luckily, I am accompanied by my own men, a.k.a. as my family.

Right, we skip this part of town and quickly head to the old centre, for some serious sightseeing and shopping. Hamburg has, after all, the most millionaires in Germany, and that is noticeable. The city centre essentially serves as a playground for the super-rich with luxurious design shops and haute couture boutiques.

Altstadt

The old town is concentrated at the Rathausmarkt. Here you will find the old town hall. Which is nowadays the seat of the parliament of the German state of Hamburg. The cosy market square is bustling with stalls and street performers.

The Town Hall and the Parlament

The medieval town hall houses an excellent restaurant called the Parlament. In fact, we find the place so charming, we decide to dine there twice, something we rarely do. The food tastes good, is affordable, and the staff is friendly.

With our bellies filled, it is time to explore the rest of the old town.

Chilihaus Hamburg

We see another remarkable building in the Altstadt, the Chilihaus, which was built in the interbellum by a wealthy businessman who gathered his fortune in Chile, hence the name. The building is on the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. The Chilihaus has ten floors and covers an area of 30,400 square meters. It is considered one of the finest examples of expressionist architecture of the 20th century. The building houses multiple shops, restaurants and offices.

Sankt Pauli

For those who can’t afford the luxury shops in the old town, there is always Sankt Pauli, a district of Hamburg that is mainly known for its 930-meter long, slightly shady Reeperbahn.

Reeperbahn

This street is synonymous with the red light district of Hamburg. However, outside the “gentlemen’s clubs”, there is plenty of other entertainment to be found in the form of bars, cinemas and amusement arcades.

Jewish cemetery

A bit down the road of the Reeperbahn is the 400-year-old Jewish cemetery. The final resting place of what was once the largest Jewish community in Germany. The cemetery can only be visited with a guided tour on Sundays.

Hamburg Harbour

From the Jüdischer Friedhof in the Königstraße, it is a 600-meter walk to the waterfront. The port of Hamburg is in Europe, only second in size to the Rotterdam harbour in the Netherlands.

Fish auction hall

One of the most outstanding buildings in this neighbourhood is the fish auction, the Fischauktionshalle. Every Sunday morning (early!), you can attend an auction. The rest of the week, the building serves as an event location.