HAMBURG


SEE & DO ST MICHAEL’S CHURCH: The church’s


baroque interior looks like a wedding cake designer has been let loose on a cavern, with the giant organ and outlandish, goblet-like pulpit especially swaggering. But it’s the spire you’ve come for: 452 steps (or 52 plus the liſt for cheats) up to a 272ſt-high viewing platform with 360-degree city views. st-michaelis.de HARBOUR CRUISE: The best way to get an overview of Hamburg is on the water, with Barkassen-Meyer Harbour Tours one of several companies offering pootles round Europe’s third biggest port. The one-hour trip (turn up at 11.30am for the English- language version) takes in the looming red-brick warehouses of the Speicherstadt district and some seriously daunting container ships. barkassen-meyer.de DISCOVERY DOCK: For a surprisingly entertaining insight into how the port works, this new attraction employs virtual reality to get you operating cranes and searching containers for illegally smuggled goods. discovery-dock.de MINIATUR WUNDERLAND: Speicherstadt is home to numerous museums, including this, the world’s biggest model railway. Spread over two floors, the scale and detail — including sprawling mini models of cities a fully functioning airport — is extraordinary and heart-warming. miniatur-wunderland.com


INTERNATIONAL MARITIME MUSEUM: For a more serious, old-school museum experience, this massive beast is all about ships and shipping. There are a healthy number of model shops, and the story of navies is nicely told, while the sections devoted to the history of shipbuilding, navigation and voyages of discovery are also worth checking out. imm-hamburg.de ELBPHILHARMONIE HAMBURG: The construction of this dazzling concert hall was much delayed, but well worth the wait. A red-brick base is crowned with a bubbled, curving, waving masterclass of glasswork. It’s a justified new icon, the acoustics are world-leading and the long, wiggly worm-like escalator up to the viewing deck is fabulously odd. elbphilharmonie.de ST PAULI: There’s no denying the Reeperbahn is seedily stacked with strip clubs, but head a couple of blocks back from here, and the cartoon sleaze dissipates, replaced by feistily cool neighbourhood bars. Don’t miss the abstract statues at Beatles-Platz, including one of Stuart Sutcliffe walking away — it’s an oddly touching tribute to the Fab Four. ST NIKOLAI MEMORIAL: The Church of St Nicholas’s spire is the tallest in Hamburg, but most of the rest of the building was destroyed by Second World War bombs. It now stands as a memorial, with the crypt hosting a sobering exhibition about the carnage. mahnmal-st-nikolai.de


ABOVE: St Pauli Landungsbrücken buildings, the entrance to the Elbe Tunnel and the River Elbe OPPOSITE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Al fresco drinks at Hamburg Del Mar; beer fermenting tanks at Überquell Brewery; the Büsum crab bread starter at Die Bank PREVIOUS PAGES: Harbour area, with the Elbphilharmonie in the background


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