Hamburg in 2 days

Morning

• Speicherstadt Warehouse District1h

  Start on foot in the Speicherstadt, the UNESCO-listed run of brick warehouses on oak piles, walking the canal bridges to the Wasserschloss and the Poggenmuhlenbrucke for the classic view. Check the tide before you set out, as the canals sit empty at low water.

  TipThis is the largest warehouse complex in the world built on timber piles, put up from the 1880s and UNESCO-listed together with the Kontorhausviertel since 2015. It costs nothing and is best seen twice: once by day for the canals and the loading hatches, and once after dark when the facades are floodlit, which is when the Poggenmuhlenbrucke bridge gives the classic view of the Wasserschloss building. Time a walk here for high tide if you can, as the canals sit empty and muddy at low water.

• Miniatur Wunderland3h

  Take your pre-booked slot at Miniatur Wunderland in the middle of the warehouse district, where the world's largest model railway covers two floors with a working miniature airport. Allow three hours and do not expect to get in without a ticket.

  TipThe largest model railway in the world fills two Speicherstadt warehouse floors with miniature versions of Hamburg, the Alps, Scandinavia and a working airport, and it is far better than it sounds. Booking is essential rather than advisable: entry is by timed slot at around 22 EUR for adults, and walk-up waits of two hours or more are normal in the school holidays. Allow at least three hours, and pick an early slot or a late one after 6pm, when it opens long on most evenings and the crowds thin out.

Afternoon

• 1h

  Eat lunch in HafenCity along the Magellan or Marco Polo terraces, or grab a fish sandwich from one of the kiosks by the water if you would rather keep moving. Prices in this quarter run above the city average, so a street back is cheaper.

• Elbphilharmonie Plaza1h

  Ride the long curved escalator up to the Elbphilharmonie plaza on your timed ticket and walk the full circuit at 37 metres for the harbour, the Elbe and the roofs of the Speicherstadt. The free same-day slots at the counter go quickly, so an advance booking is safer.

  TipThe Plaza is the open public deck at 37 metres where the glass concert hall meets the old brick warehouse below, and it wraps right around the building for views over the harbour, the Speicherstadt and the Elbe. Entry is free but capped by timed slot: book online well ahead for a few euros in booking fee, or turn up at the ticket counter on the day and take a free slot if any are left, which is unlikely at sunset in summer. The long curved escalator up to it is part of the experience, so do not skip it for the lift.

• Landungsbrucken and Harbour Ferry 621h30

  Walk west to the Landungsbrucken piers and board harbour ferry 62 from pier 3 on your day ticket, sitting outside on the upper deck as it runs down the Elbe past the Fischmarkt and Dockland. Ride to Ovelgonne or all the way to Finkenwerder and back.

  TipThe HADAG harbour ferries are ordinary public transport, so line 62 from Landungsbrucken pier 3 down the Elbe to Finkenwerder costs no more than a normal HVV ticket and does the job of a paid harbour cruise for a fraction of the price. It runs roughly every 15 minutes and takes about 30 minutes end to end, passing the Fischmarkt, the Dockland building and the museum harbour at Ovelgonne. Sit outside on the upper deck, get off at Ovelgonne for the Elbe beach, and skip the commentary boats entirely.

Evening

• The Reeperbahn and St Pauli2h30

  Head up into St Pauli for dinner and then the Reeperbahn, which only comes alive after 10pm, taking in the Grosse Freiheit side street where the Beatles played their first residencies in 1960. Keep your phone away near the working streets.

  TipThe Reeperbahn is a 900-metre strip of clubs, bars, theatres and sex shops that only really starts working after 10pm, with the smaller Grosse Freiheit side street where the Beatles played their first residencies in 1960. Herbertstrasse, the walled-off lane, is closed to women and under-18s and photography is not tolerated anywhere near the working streets, so keep the phone in your pocket. In the second half of September the Reeperbahn Festival fills every venue here for four nights.

• Speicherstadt Warehouse District45 min

  If you would rather have a quiet night, walk the Speicherstadt again after dark instead, when the warehouse facades are floodlit and the canals reflect them. It takes half an hour and costs nothing.

  TipThis is the largest warehouse complex in the world built on timber piles, put up from the 1880s and UNESCO-listed together with the Kontorhausviertel since 2015. It costs nothing and is best seen twice: once by day for the canals and the loading hatches, and once after dark when the facades are floodlit, which is when the Poggenmuhlenbrucke bridge gives the classic view of the Wasserschloss building. Time a walk here for high tide if you can, as the canals sit empty and muddy at low water.

Morning

• Hamburg Rathaus1h30

  Begin at the Rathaus, walking into the free arcaded courtyard and then joining an English guided tour of the state rooms, usually at 11.15am and lasting 45 minutes. Check at the desk first, as tours are dropped when the parliament sits.

  TipThe 1897 town hall has 647 rooms, more than Buckingham Palace, and its arcaded inner courtyard and ground-floor hall are free to walk into during opening hours. To see the state rooms you need the guided tour, which lasts about 45 minutes and costs around 5 EUR, with English departures typically at 11.15am, 1.15pm and 3.15pm on tour days; book online or check at the desk in the entrance hall, as tours are cancelled without notice when the parliament is sitting.

• Chilehaus and the Kontorhausviertel45 min

  Walk ten minutes east into the Kontorhausviertel for the Chilehaus, Fritz Hoger's 1924 brick expressionist office block with a corner shaped like a ship's prow. Stand at the corner of Pumpen and Niedernstrasse for the view and step into the courtyards, which are open on weekdays.

  TipThe Chilehaus, finished in 1924 by Fritz Hoger, is the signature building of Hamburg's brick expressionism, with a sharp eastern corner shaped like a ship's prow and about 4.8 million bricks in its walls. It is an office block, so you cannot tour it, but the courtyards and passages are open on weekdays and cost nothing; go to the corner of Pumpen and Niedernstrasse for the prow view. The surrounding Kontorhausviertel, including the Sprinkenhof next door, shares the UNESCO listing with the Speicherstadt.

Afternoon

• 1h

  Lunch around the Rathausmarkt or in the covered arcades that run north from it toward the Alster, which shelter a run of cafes and are a useful wet-weather route through the centre.

• St Michaelis Church and Tower1h15

  Walk southwest to St Michaelis and take the lift up the 132-metre tower for the best central panorama, covering the harbour, the Elbe and the Alster in one turn. The combined tower and crypt ticket runs about 10 EUR.

  TipThe Michel is the city's landmark baroque church, and its 132-metre copper tower carries the best all-round view in central Hamburg, taking in the harbour, the Elbe and the Alster in one turn. The church itself is generally open daily from 10am to 6pm, and you pay around 10 EUR for a combined ticket to the tower and the crypt; there is a lift after the first 52 steps, so you do not have to take all 452 stairs. A trumpeter plays from the balcony at 10am daily and again at noon on Sundays.

• The Alster Lakes and Jungfernstieg2h

  Finish on the Jungfernstieg promenade above the Binnenalster, then either walk part of the Outer Alster shore path or take the 50-minute Alster boat round trip from the jetty. The full lake circuit is 7.5 kilometres if you have the legs.

  TipThe Alster was dammed in the 13th century and now forms two lakes: the small Binnenalster ringed by the Jungfernstieg promenade, and the much larger Outer Alster behind it. The full circuit of the Outer Alster on the waterside paths is about 7.5 kilometres and takes roughly two hours on foot, all of it free and flat. If you would rather sit down, the Alster boats leave from the Jungfernstieg jetty for a round trip of about 50 minutes, and they run to a reduced timetable in winter.

Evening

• Planten un Blomen1h15

  From May to September walk over to Planten un Blomen for the free water and light concert on the lake, at 10pm from May to August and 9pm in September. Get there twenty minutes early for a seat on the terraces.

  TipThis free park on the line of the old city ramparts holds the largest Japanese garden in Europe designed by a Japanese architect, a tropical greenhouse and a lake with a fountain rig in it. The reason to come after dark is the Wasserlichtkonzerte, free water and light shows set to music on the lake, staged nightly at 10pm from 1 May to 31 August and at 9pm through September. Arrive twenty minutes early for a bench on the terraced seating, or stand on the far bank where it is quieter.

• 2h

  Out of that season, eat instead in the Sternschanze, five minutes by S-Bahn, where the restaurant density and the prices are both far better than in the centre.