Hamburg

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Quick Facts

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Coordinates

• Latitude: 53.553407
• Longitude: 9.992196

On Travellerspoint

• 1 Hamburg Apartments
• 3 Hamburg Guesthouses
• 9 Hamburg Hostels
• 13 Hamburg Hotels

Contributors

• Utrecht (48%)
  from http://utrecht.travellerspoint.com
• Lilibellil (21%)
  from Teaching Profile

as well as Hien (14%), Lavafalls (9%), Herr Bert (7%), Sam I Am (2%)

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Introduction

Rathaus- Hamburg

© All Rights Reserved Martinka

The Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, or just Hamburg, is the second most populous city in Germany, with almost 1.8 million residents. The metropolitan area has about 4.3 million inhabitants. It is a city state, with Niedersachsen just south of it, and Schleswig-Holstein to the north. It is one of the largest port cities in all of Europe, and the largest city in the European Union that is not a capital.

Neighbourhoods

• St. Pauli or the "Kiez" of Reeperbahn fame grew out of a certain underside of the Hafen culture. Ships coming into port brought many lonely men who were happy to spend their allowances on the "pleasures" of this neighbourhood. Today the tradition continues, St. Pauli being one of the few areas of the city with legal prostitution. Not to scare you off, the neighbourhood also boasts a number of fantastic bars and clubs, with some excellent music venues a la the early days of the Beatles. On Sunday mornings (before about 8), head to the famous Fish Market on Landunsbrücken for an after party!
• 

  Headball or Gay Kiss?

  © All Rights Reserved Lilibellil

  Lange Reihe is the heart of Hamburg's gay scene, with themed boutiques, cafés and murals to prove it. Heterosexuals can also enjoy the neighbourhood known for wonderful Asian cuisine and markets.
• Jungfernsteig is the trendy area around the Innen Alster, the smaller of two lakes (really a dammed river). The Alsterpavilion is a fashionable place to enjoy an ice cream on sunny days – of which there are few in Hamburg, so enjoy them!
• Altona has a chic flair all its own, with shops & cafés to enjoy during the day and hip clubs for the nighttime. Altona is also the proud centre of Hamburg's lesbian scene.
• For an overpriced dinner in a floating restaurant or an even costlier (and suburban) place to live, head to Blankenese on the banks of the Elbe.
• Sternschanze or "The Schanze" is the beautiful home of Hamburg's artsy and alternative crowd as well as Portuguese pastries to die for. Come here any time of day for delicious food and scene.

Sights and Activities

• A Virtual City Tour features over 20 great sights throughout Hamburg.

Events and Festivals

• Port Festival (hafengeburtstag) happens every year on the second weekend of May in Hamburg. This festival features all different sorts of great events on the water, on land and in the air (parades of ships, a fair at the harbour promenade, fireworks over the harbour).

Weather

Hamburg has a temperate maritime climate. Summers last from June to August when average daytime temperatures are around 20 °C and nights around 12 °C. Winters are from December to February and are around 2-4 °C during the day and slightly below zero at night. Precipitation is evenly distributed througout the year, with spring being somewhat drier and summers slightly wetter. Total annual amount is about 750mm.

Getting There

By Plane

Hamburg Airport (HAM) is about 8 kilometres north of the city centre and mainly serves cities throughout Europe. Air Berlin has most flights, with destinations including Barcelona, Helsinki, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Palma de Mallorca, Rome, Venice and several German cities. Hamburg International and Condor have a decent amount of flights as well. Several dozens of other airlines serve places like Moscow, Toronto, Istanbul, Malta, Paris, Dublin, London, Prague, Dubai, Amsterdam, Tehran, Budapest, Oslo, Vienna, Warsaw, Copenhagen, Luxembourg, Zürich and Lisbon.

By Train

Deutsche Bahn (DB) has connections to other German cities. There are international trains as well, for example to Scandinavian cities.
There are several trains hourly to Lübeck (45 minutes), Kiel (1¼ hours), Hannover (1¼ hours) and Bremen (one hour). A direct service to Westerland on Sylt Island leaves every two hours (three hours).

There are direct IC connections to Berlin-Hauptbahnhof (1½ hours) and Cologne (four hours). Frankfurt is served hourly by the ICE train (3½ hours), as well as Munich (six to nine hours). There’s a direct service to Copenhagen several times a day, but the only direct train to Paris is the night train.

By Car

The autobahns of the A1 (Bremen–Lübeck) and A7 (Hannover–Kiel) connect Hamburg with other places in Germany and further beyond.

By Bus

Eurolines connects to several German cities, including Hamburg. The stop is at the Central Busstation (ZOB), Adenauerallee 74 (tel: 040-2804538). This is where you can also make reservations. You can also make reservations by internet.

By Boat

The Icelandic cargo ship Eimskip has two vessels, the Dettifoss and Goðafoss which travel the route Rotterdam-Hamburg-Göteborg-Århus-Fredrikstad-Tórshavn-Reykjavík. It takes 8 days in total and the return trip goes via eastern Iceland and Tórshavn only. The vessel can take a maximum of 3 passengers but only between mid-April and mid-October.

Getting Around

By Car

By Public Transport

By Foot

By Bike

Eat

• For the richest, most exquisite Indian-esque cuisine in a breathtakingly romantic setting, head to Baluchistan on Grindelallee, near the university. (Make sure it's the original one, on the corner of Grindelallee & Martin-Luther-King-Platz.) Try the creative cocktails, perfectly flaky paranthas, and don't miss their creamy curries with nuts & dried fruit! At lunchtime, Baluchistan offers great deals out of their corner café.
• Thai Cowboys in the Schanze is a great place for lunch, with filling, flavorful, cheap Thai standards in a nifty atmosphere.

Drink

Sleep

Work

Learn

• University of Hamburg

Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

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