Hamburg on a cruise: what to see and do
Cruising Journal, the international portal for cruise ship reviews, takes you to Hamburg! What to do in Hamburg to make the most of your time during a cruise stopover in the Cruising Journal tips.
Hamburg offers plenty of little cultural delights to be explored and experienced. Take a tour around the harbour or a stroll through an art gallery and take in the magnificent sight of the city from above as you explore this city.
Hamburg is a magnificent city that owes its name to Hammaburg, the castle that was built on the banks of river Elbe to defend the area from Slavic incursions. A city with a rich history, reflected in its buildings and landscapes, Hamburg has many cultural adventures to offer and is the perfect city to visit while on a cruise.
How to get to Hamburg
MSC Cruises includes Hamburg in most of its Northern Europe itineraries; it will be easy to find the one that suits you best. A bit more variety is offered by Costa Cruises, with itineraries that span from Northern to Western Europe.
If you want to focus on the Scandinavian peninsula in your cruise, another option is the Hurtigruten, a Norwegian ferry line that also includes Hamburg in its stopovers.
Kunst Time
The Hamburger Kunsthalle is an art museum and exhibition centre. It offers permanent pieces available to the public all year round – such as Da Vinci sketches and paintings by Manet – as well as temporary exhibitions displayed for a limited time, covering both classic art pieces and modern art.
Another exhibition centre that is certainly worth a visit is the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg, dedicated to design and fine and applied arts. The museum boasts with over 500,000 international pieces in its permanent collection, spanning from ancient to modern art, particularly from Europe and East Asia.
St. Michael’s
St. Michael’s is one of the most important baroque churches in northern Germany and, as such, is a worthy stop in your tour of the city. There is no entry fee, but the church accepts offers on a voluntary basis. On the inside, you can admire the architectural details and the church’s majestic organ. There are also options to visit the crypt, which includes the history of the Church’s building process, and the steeple, which grants an impressive view of the city from above.
Boat Tour of the Harbour
With Maritime Circle Line, you can explore Hamburg’s harbour and its museums, galleries and places of interest aboard one of their vessels. The tour is a hop-on hop-off, circular itinerary, so you may start anywhere you like and use it as you please during the day to visit various locations without worrying about timetables.
Concert Hall
Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg’s concert hall, is an architectural masterpiece that expertly blends the traditional red brick structure at the base with the modern steel and glass curves of the floors above it.
The Plaza, the floor that connects the brick structure with the upper glass floors, is accessible with an escalator directly from the ground floor and offers a bird’s-eye view of the city and the harbour below, free of charge.
Another attraction to keep in mind in Hamburg is Miniatur Wunderland, with its tiny cities and interesting workshops. You can also take a stroll under the river Elbe through the Alter Elbtunnel and grab a bite at Frau Moeller’s, a bar that serves traditional German dishes, or at the Opitz – traditional but a bit more sophisticated.