Welcome to Hamburg!

Oh hi! 

I’m Levke and a Swiftie from Germany. After seeing the post from Grace about Gelsenkirchen and seeing the comments underneath, I decided to tell you a little bit about my beautiful hometown. Here we go:

Some general facts about the city 

Hamburg, the second largest city in Germany, has 1.9 million people and is Europe's second largest port. It has the most bridges of any city globally and is Germany's greenest city with over a million residents.

Located at the estuary of the Elbe river, where it’s met by the rivers Alster and Bille, the city has always been a major trading center, from it’s medieval beginnings in the Hanseatic league until today, featuring its own stock exchange.

Therefore Hamburg has a (literary) rich history and it shows: Especially the old town at the heart of the city with the palace like townhall, many majestic counting houses like the Chile House and the beautiful Alster lake with the Jungfernstiegterraces invite for a lovely city stroll. Football (or soccer, as some of you may call it) is really important for a lot of Hamburger. We have two major teams, HSV and St. Pauli. Keep an eye out for their symbols: HSV has a black and white square on blue and St. Pauli Skull and Bones on brown. Until this year both of them were in the same national league. The City-Derby had the city in choke. While HSV, the older of the two, plays at Volkspark Stadium (like Taylor), St.Pauli has its stadium ion the district of - you guessed it - St. Pauli.

Where to go

St. Pauli isn’t just known for its football, its also the district of the Reeperbahn, a famous redlight district and the Kiez, where you can find a lot of bars and clubs. The high density of small music venues was also the soil for the Beatles’ rise to stardom.

If you’re more laid back and maybe a bit indie you might enjoy the Schanzenviertel. It’s where the second face of Hamburg is the most visible: a very alternative and mostly left winged district. You can find bars and places to eat as well as small indie shops with all sorts of things to buy. Although you can meet people of any age, this part of Hamburg is really popular for students due to the proximity to the University of Hamburg. 

You can’t talk about Hamburg without mentioning the port. The over 700 years old port is always quite busy, but definitely worth visiting if you have the time. It almost feels maritime, even though the ocean ist quite a few kilometers away. In the port you can see large container vessels, cruise ships as well as the yards of Blohm & Voss and the Airbus factory Finkenwerder. If you’re lucky, you might even see one of their Beluga cargo planes. If you want to see the port you could either book a guided cruise through the port or you use one of Hamburg’s ferries. The ferries are included in the public transport ticket. 

Elbphilharmonie and the Speicherstadt

Directly next to the port you have the Hafencity. This waterfront district features both modern architecture as well as the redbrick warehouse district called Speicherstadt. It is build directly into the water and therefore earned Hamburg the nickname Venice of the north. You can find lots of museums in the Hafencity and Speicherstadt, like the world famous Miniaturewonderland, the world’s largest model train exhibition, depicting a multitude of places like Switzerland, the USA and of course Hamburg itself.Also located in Hafencity is the Elbphilharmonie, Hamburgs concert hall right on the Elbe river. The observation platform is free of charge and offers great views of the port and old town.

Where’s the best place for a shopping spree?

Old town is also the best spot for some shopping: With Spitaler Straße and Mönckebergstraße Straße, the two most definitive shopping strips connect the central station with Jungfernstieg. Here you find all the common shops from h&m to lego. Next to the Alster lake you also find the Europapassage shopping mall with lots of shops and restaurants. Prefer something more luxurious? Neuer Wall is Hamburg’s most prestigious shopping street, with shops by Louis Vuitton, Hèrmes and Hamburg based Mont Blanc. On Jungfernstieg, you’ll find another Hamburg-based company: Skincare giant Nivea operates its flagship store at the historic Prienhaus. As mentioned, you will definitely find everything you’ve ever searched for and much more at the Schanze. Overall you can really do a shopping spree in Hamburg, at least if you have the time and enough room in your luggage. 

What will there be to eat? 

When it comes to food, Hamburg is really international. You can find nearly every cuisine at some place in the city. 

If you want to have several options and you want to have food fast, you can find a lot of restaurants in the Old town.

If you fancy something more traditional you should absolutely try a Franzbrötchen. It’s really difficult to describe, but its famous around the city after some guys tried to make some croissants and miserably failed. The product looks like a squashed croissant that is full of sirupy cinnamon taste. You can find it at every bakery in town and if you like cinnamon I’m sure you’ll love it. 

Hamburg is also quite known for ist Fischbrötchen, basically a breadroll filled with fish and sauce. It sounds bland but can actually be really tasty. You’ll find a lot of options at the port. 

At every corner you can find hamburger. Some even say that the famous dish has it’s origin in Hamburg. Back in the days it was called „Rundstück warm“ but the name „hamburger“ is way more convenient. 

And what about the drinks?

Here in Germany the rules about alcohol are quite different to the US. 

You can drink beer and wine from the age of 16 and the harder stuff when you turn 18. It’s also not a problem to drink publicly, just not on public transport. Hamburg has a few own breweries like Ratsherrn and Astra, so you can find a lot of different beers. But if you prefer a Cocktail or a mocktail you will also find plenty of options. Also, public water fountains are not really common here, but you can safely drink the tabwater, since restaurants usually don’t offer free water. In Germany you will pay something between 8 and 25 cents if you buy bottled drinks. That’s the so called Pfand and if you bring the empty bottles or cans back to a supermarket, you’ll get the money back. 

Hamburg and it’s weather

Hamburg is known for it’s weather and, sadly, not for the good reasons. 

Sometimes, the weather changes really fast and it’s really common to have rain during the summer months. Also, temperatures feel a little different here. Today we had around 32 degrees celsius (around 90 degrees Fahrenheit) and it felt way warmer than 40 degrees in southern France. The heat is quite humid most of the time. Also ACs are not really popular around here. So if it’s hot outside, it’s mostly hot inside as well. 

What can I do in Hamburg (besides going to the eras tour of course) 

When it comes to attractions, there is plenty to do. 

You could visit the Miniaturwunderland, where you can find the largest model train exhibition. It is actually quite fun to look at!

If you like it scary, we have the Hamburg Dungeon. 

You can also take a ride on a boat. There are guided tours at the harbour and also at the Alster. If you want to take a boat but don’t want to pay extra, you can also visit the harbour ferries. They are included in the price of the regular tickets for the underground. 

If you want to overlook the city, visit the Elbphilharmonie, where you can go on the observation deck for free. Otherwise you can visit the „Michel“ a church with amazing views. 

A German crash course: 

Moin -> Hello. Its a lokal phrase, you can use Hi or Hallo as well if you prefer. 

Tschüss -> Goodbye

Danke -> Thank you 

Bitte. -> Please or you’re welcome 

Entschuldigung -> I’m sorry 

Sprechen Sie Englisch? -> Do you speak English? 

Mit Karte bitte -> I’d like to pay by card please. 

Ich hätte gerne… -> I’d like to have … 

Some important information: 

The concerts take place during summer holiday. The city will most likely be filled with tourists. If you are interested in specific activities, try to book in advance.

You should always have a little cash with you. Sadly, there are still quite a few places where you can’t pay with your card. 

Tipping isn’t mandatory in Germany, but tipping around 10% is still considered polite. 

Getting from A to B

Travelling around is easiest with the public transport. You can get tickets online (there are quite a few apps by the transport company HVV) or at the station. The prices vary between 7 € to 8,20 € for one person per day. If you travel in a group there is also a group card for up to 5 persons that costs around 13€. Important to know: Every U- and S-Bahn line stops at the Hauptbahnhof at some point, so you always have one place to go when you get lost.

Getting from A to E (ras Tour) 

Now, the most important part. What’s the easiest way to the Volksparkstadion? 

There are two main options. They both start by taking the S3 or the S5 in the direction of Stellingen. At Stellingen, there is a shuttle bus that takes you directly to the arena. If you don’t want to take the bus you can get off at the station after Stellingen. It is called „Eidelstedt“. From there you can simply walk towards the arena. The walk is something around 15 - 20 minutes and quite manageable, especially when the busses are overcrowded. 

Some information about the Volksparkstadion: 

I haven’t found anything eras tour specific yet, I will update this part when there are news. 

Normally you are allowed to take a bag with you, when it is smaller than DIN A 4 (29,7 x 21 x 15 cm) You can’t take drinks or foods inside the arena. I haven’t found anything about powerbanks but the last few times I’ve been at the Arena for concerts, it wasn’t a problem to take them inside with you. (All these informations are from the website of the Volksparkstadion)

Swiftie Activities for when the concert isn’t enough: 

(I will also update this part when I find something new)

There will be a after show party on both nights of the eras tour. They’re at the Kent Club in Hamburg and the tickets cost 22€. You can buy them online. 

I hope that this guide is useful for some of you. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me here on Facebook or on Instagram (@Levke.Stone) Enjoy your stay in this lovely city and have a enchanting concert night!