Handpicked experience · Hamburg
Hamburg, Germany
A warehouse city standing on oak logs, a building shaped like a ship's bow, and a new quarter built on hills instead of behind dikes.
Learn how Hamburg's busy port industry helped put the city on the map in this cruise tour
Get to know the history of Hamburg while also visiting some of its attractions including the Elbphilharmonie
Be in awe of the city's structures over water like the Speicherstadt, the world's largest warehouse district
You're sure to have a new appreciation for Hamburg after joining this one-of-a-kind exploration of the city
Two hours on the water with panoramic views of the waterfront
The historic Speicherstadt warehouse district, seen from the canals
HafenCity's modern architecture from the boat
A finish alongside the Chilehaus in the Kontorhaus district
Commentary on Hamburg's coffee, tea and oriental carpet trade
Two hours on the water through the working port of Hamburg, past the brick warehouse city, the new quarter built on artificial hills, and the office block shaped like the bow of a ship. Commentary runs throughout, and the route is the one that shows you what the city was built on.
You board at the pier and the boat runs out through the harbour basins, close enough to the container terminals and dry docks to see the scale of them, then turns into the canals behind the warehouse district. The commentary covers the port's history and the trade that made it — coffee, tea, spices and carpets. The cruise finishes near the Kontorhaus quarter and the Chilehaus. Two hours, seated, with deck access.
The Speicherstadt is the largest warehouse complex in the world built on timber piles, raised between 1883 and 1927 on thousands of oak logs driven into soft river marsh. The wood survives because it sits permanently below the water table and never meets air. Above it, red brick, iron shutters and Gothic gables — an industrial district dressed as a cathedral quarter, and now protected by UNESCO along with the office district beside it.
Every warehouse front carries hoists and projecting beams instead of loading bays, because goods were never carried through a building here — they were lifted straight from a barge in the canal to the floor that needed them. The whole district was outside the customs boundary, so tea, coffee and cocoa could sit in storage untaxed until sold. Hamburg still handles more oriental carpets than anywhere else on earth, and most of them pass through these lofts.
The Chilehaus was finished in 1924 out of some four and a half million dark bricks, and where two streets converge its corner narrows to a point that rises like the bow of a ship coming at you. It was paid for by a merchant who made his fortune in Chilean saltpetre, which is where the name comes from. Stand at the eastern corner and the illusion is complete.
HafenCity, the new district rising from old dock land, is not protected by dikes. Instead every street and building sits on an artificial mound eight or nine metres up, so that a storm surge simply flows through the lower levels and drains away while life continues above it. From the water you can see the stepped plinths this creates. The concert hall at its tip is a glass wave set on a 1960s cocoa warehouse, with the old brick left exactly as it was.
Hamburg is nowhere near the sea, yet the Elbe here rises and falls more than three metres twice a day. The port has always worked to that rhythm, and you will see it on the pontoons, the ladders and the water lines on every pile.
Wind on open water is colder than the streets, so bring a layer even in summer. Getting to the pier is your own arrangement. Cancellation is free up to a day ahead.
Open it to pick a date and work out the price.
What the fare covers, and what to budget for separately.
The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
The harbour basins, close to the container terminals and dry docks, then the canals behind the warehouse district, finishing near the Kontorhaus quarter and the Chilehaus. Commentary runs throughout.
Because the ground is river marsh. Thousands of oak logs were driven in between 1883 and 1927, and they survive because they sit permanently below the water table where no air reaches them.
They are hoists. Goods were never carried through these buildings — they were lifted straight from a barge in the canal to whichever floor needed them, which is why there are no loading bays.
An office building of 1924 in some four and a half million dark bricks, whose corner narrows to a point like a ship's bow. It was built by a merchant enriched by Chilean saltpetre, hence the name.
It has no dikes. Every street and building stands on an artificial mound eight or nine metres high, so a storm surge runs through the lower levels and drains away while everything above stays dry.
Yes. The Elbe rises and falls more than three metres twice a day here, a hundred kilometres from the sea, and the port has always worked to that rhythm.
There is seating and access to the deck. Wind over open water is markedly colder than in the streets, so a layer is worth carrying even in summer.