Spending 48 Hours In Hamburg, Germany

I wasn’t planning on visiting Hamburg after I’d been to Berlin. It’s not that I think seeing one city means you know a country, but I’m working on 40 before 40. Doing the same country again isn’t that helpful with my goal! When I realised I could be spending 48 hours in Hamburg for £200, I booked pretty quickly.

The city was never really on my radar and I had low expectations compared to Berlin. Arriving just as the heavens opened didn’t do much to change my mind either.

Spending 48 hours in Hamburg: Day one

My first day in the city was a bit of a flop. I dropped my bag at the station, then spent too much on an open top bus tour. Thankfully, they’d put the roof on. Then, I trudged around in the rain trying – and failing – to find much street art.

In the end I went back to my Air B n B early, around 3pm. I was soaked through to the skin and feeling like I’d made a big mistake committing to an eight-day solo trip in February. (After visiting Hamburg, I planned on spending 48 hours in Copenhagen, then heading to Stockholm.)

A UBahn station in Hamburg, Germany, with a train pulling in to the platform

Spending 48 hours in Hamburg: Day two

Luckily, I felt more positive after a good night’s sleep, a shower, some Netflix and a lie in. I was determined to make up for my poor first day and cram in as much as I could. I wasn’t disappointed with how much I saw of the city.

Ulster Lake was my first stop of the day. I’d driven round some of it on the bus tour the day before and I spent a few minutes contemplating whilst watching the beautiful views. If the weather had been warmer, I would have definitely sat here with a book and a cup of tea.

A boat sits on Ulster Lake, Hamburg, overlooked by a row of white and grey hotels with pale green roofs

Europa Passage is a large shopping centre. I mostly went to it as I’d forgotten my triple USB plug and I wanted to go to Flying Tiger. There’s loads of shops in there and you could easily spend a few hours exploring the shops we just don’t have at home. Why are different shops so interesting!?

The Town Hall is always somewhere I visit in every city. It was high on my list when spending 48 hours in Hamburg. The building is usually spectacular and it’s central, generally a good place to people watch.

Hamburg Town Hall, a pale stone building with a large central tower and green roof

The Harbour was full of colour I’d noticed as I passed it on the bus tour. I took a walk down there to shoot some snaps. If you go early on a Sunday morning, you can visit the Fishmarket, though I wasn’t awake then.

Mastering the UBahn when visiting Hamburg

OK, so the UBahn isn’t high on most people’s must see lists. But I do like to travel by public transport as often as possible when I’m in a new city. It’s the best way to see everything as the locals do.

Me and the UBahn (and the SBahn) were not friends when I was in Berlin. You’ve never seen confused until you saw me trying to navigate my way around that city!

I wanted to conquer Hamburg’s UBahn to make amends. Did I? Well, I did a bit better…

Yellow UBahn Station interior at Jungfernsteig Station, Hamburg

I added St Michael’s Church to my list of things to do when spending 48 hours in Hamburg when I realised I could see aerial views across the city, as well as visiting the famous Krypt.

I spent an hour here taking photos and just admiring Hamburg’s beauty. However, it’s very cold up there in February, as it turns out!

An aerial view of Hamburg, Germany, from the top of St Michael's Church

Elbphilharmonie wasn’t somewhere I would have made a special trip to. However, as I was passing anyway, I couldn’t resist getting a closer look at this spectacular building.

You can go inside for a better look and to see when there’s a concert on. I just took some photos and moved on.

A view of the Elbphilharmonie, a glass fronted concert hall, surrounded by other buildings

More things to see when spending 48 hours in Hamburg

Hafencity is the area around the Elbphilharmonie and also contains the Speicherstadt area, a UNESCO world heritage site, also known as the Warehouse District. Hafencity has lots of canals and warehouses being loaded and unloaded above your head. It’s a cool place to wander around when visiting Hamburg.

Minatuer Wunderland wasn’t even on my list until I had time to kill whilst waiting to meet my photographer. It’s a large model railway and, actually, it’s pretty awesome. There’s all sorts of scenes from an airport to different parts of the world. As well as the trains running there’s lots of other things going on. I’d recommend spending an hour or two here, its fascinating.

St Pauli is Hamburg’s red light district and party area. People told me the area was full of neon lights and interesting things to shoot so I shot there with my photographer but I wasn’t personally impressed in terms of photos I wanted to take. I suspect it’s better if you’re out for a few drinks when visiting Hamburg.

The Elbe Tunnel I actually saw once on my first day. I managed to see it again, empty, during my photoshoot on the last night. It was great to get the Instagram shot and it’s worth seeing, especially if you need to cross the river – or get out of the rain!