Hamburg in 3 days

Morning

• Speicherstadt Warehouse District1h

  Walk the Speicherstadt canals first thing, before the coach groups, following the bridges to the Wasserschloss and the Poggenmuhlenbrucke for the postcard angle. High tide fills the canals and makes the whole district photograph better.

  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

  Use your pre-booked slot at Miniatur Wunderland, two warehouse floors of model railway covering Hamburg, the Alps, Scandinavia and a working miniature airport. Three hours is the realistic minimum and walk-up entry is not a plan.

  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

• 1h30

  Lunch along the HafenCity waterfront terraces or from a harbour kiosk, then walk the Magellan and Marco Polo promenades to see how the new quarter was dropped into the old dock basins.

• Elbphilharmonie Plaza1h

  Take the curved escalator up to the Elbphilharmonie plaza on your timed slot and walk the full loop at 37 metres, where the glass hall meets the old brick warehouse below. If your ticket is for later, come back for sunset instead.

  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.

• International Maritime Museum2h

  If the weather turns, cross to the International Maritime Museum in Kaispeicher B, the oldest warehouse in the Speicherstadt, and work down from the ninth floor rather than up. Entry is about 15 EUR and it rarely needs booking.

  TipNine floors of ship models, navigation instruments and naval history fill Kaispeicher B, the oldest surviving warehouse in the Speicherstadt, dating from 1878. Work down from the top rather than up, because the collection is enormous and most people run out of energy by deck four; entry is around 15 EUR and it is one of the few big Hamburg sights that rarely needs pre-booking. It is a solid rainy-day option and sits five minutes from Miniatur Wunderland.

Evening

• Speicherstadt Warehouse District1h30

  Eat in HafenCity or walk back into the centre, then return through the Speicherstadt after dark when the brick facades are floodlit and the canals hold the reflections. This is the free version of the view everyone photographs.

  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

  Start at the Rathaus, where the arcaded courtyard is free and the 45-minute English tour of the state rooms usually runs at 11.15am, 1.15pm and 3.15pm for about 5 EUR. Confirm at the desk, as sitting days cancel tours.

  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 east into the Kontorhausviertel for the Chilehaus and the Sprinkenhof, the brick expressionist office blocks that share the UNESCO listing with the Speicherstadt. The ship's-prow corner is best seen from Pumpen and Niedernstrasse.

  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

• Hamburger Kunsthalle2h30

  Head to the Hamburger Kunsthalle between the station and the Alster for Friedrich's Wanderer above the Sea of Fog and the modern wing. It closes on Mondays, opens until 9pm on Thursdays and is usually free from 6pm on the first Thursday of the month.

  TipThe city's main art museum runs from medieval altarpieces through Caspar David Friedrich's Wanderer above the Sea of Fog to a modern wing of post-war and contemporary work, spread across two linked buildings between the station and the Alster. It opens Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 6pm, stays open until 9pm on Thursdays and closes on Mondays; admission is around 18 EUR, but entry is usually free on the first Thursday of the month from 6pm.

• The Alster Lakes and Jungfernstieg2h

  Come out onto the Jungfernstieg promenade and either walk a stretch of the Outer Alster shore path, 7.5 kilometres for the full loop, or take the 50-minute Alster boat round trip from the jetty.

  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

• St Michaelis Church and Tower1h15

  Go up the Michel tower late in the afternoon for the harbour and the Alster in one panorama, remembering the church normally closes at 6pm. The lift saves you 400 of the 452 steps.

  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.

• Planten un Blomen1h30

  In the warmer half of the year, finish in Planten un Blomen for the free water and light concert on the lake, at 10pm from May to August and 9pm in September. Otherwise eat in the Sternschanze, a few minutes away on the S-Bahn.

  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.

Morning

• Altona Fischmarkt2h

  If it is a Sunday, set an alarm for the Altona Fischmarkt, which opens at 5am from April to October and 7am from November to March and is packed away by 9.30am. Go for the market criers and the band in the old auction hall.

  TipThe Sunday fish market on the Elbe in Altona has run since 1703 and is the one fixed appointment in the Hamburg week: it opens at 5am from 1 April to 31 October and at 7am from 1 November to 31 March, and every stall is packed away by 9.30am sharp. Go for the shouting market criers and the live band in the old brick auction hall rather than for the fish itself, and note the crowd is half early risers and half people who have not been to bed since the Reeperbahn.

• Alter Elbtunnel1h

  Walk east to Landungsbrucken and take the 1911 Old Elbe Tunnel, free and open around the clock, 426 metres and 24 metres down under the river. Come up on the Steinwerder side for the best head-on view of the skyline.

  TipOpened in 1911, the Old Elbe Tunnel drops 24 metres below the river in tiled shafts and runs 426 metres across to Steinwerder, and it is still free and open around the clock for anyone on foot or on a bike. Walk through and come up on the south bank for the single best head-on view of the Hamburg skyline, with the Elbphilharmonie, the church towers and the cranes lined up together. The entrance is in the domed building at Landungsbrucken, and there are lifts as well as stairs.

Afternoon

• Landungsbrucken and Harbour Ferry 621h30

  Back on the north bank, board ferry 62 at pier 3 on your HVV ticket and ride down the Elbe, getting off at Ovelgonne for the museum harbour and the small Elbe beach. It runs about every 15 minutes.

  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.

• 2h

  Walk up into Ottensen for a late lunch, where the streets around the Spritzenplatz and the Ottenser Hauptstrasse hold the best value eating in the city, then browse the independent shops and the market hall.

Evening

• The Reeperbahn and St Pauli3h

  Come back east for the Reeperbahn, which does not really start until 10pm, including the Grosse Freiheit where the Beatles played in 1960. Herbertstrasse is closed to women and under-18s, and photography near the working streets is not tolerated.

  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.

• 30 min

  If tomorrow is an early flight, remember the S1 from the Hauptbahnhof reaches the airport in about 25 minutes on a normal AB ticket, and that heading out the train splits at Ohlsdorf, so ride in the front carriages.