Note: Some businesses may be temporarily closed due to recent global health and safety issues. To help you find the best places to visit in this important German port city, be sure to refer to our list of the top attractions and things to do in Hamburg. Many of the most interesting things to do in Hamburg are in this port area. Massive brick warehouses, built a couple of centuries after the Hansa's power faded, form a canyon along the canal's sides.Ī second footbridge leads into the hottest new neighborhood, Hafencity, where old and new mix in a striking blend of 19th-century, neo-Hansa brick, with contemporary steel-and-glass apartments, their balconies jutting out over attractive cafés, eye-to-eye with vintage sailing vessels. Its distinct architecture is found throughout Baltic Germany.ĭeichstrasse takes you straight onto a bridge over one of the city's many canals. The Hanseatic League was a medieval association of independent port cities and merchants along the Baltic and north Atlantic from the 11th to the 18th centuries, and even into the 19th century. Built long before the 19th-century warehouses and 21st-century harborside complexes, the street offers a glimpse into the city's Hansa past. The only part of old Hamburg to survive centuries of fires and wars, the narrow, curving Deichstrasse gives a sense of the city's past.
In addition to being a major transportation hub, Hamburg has become one of Europe's most important cultural and commercial centers, as well as a major tourist destination. The city is best known for its famous harbor area, the Port of Hamburg. Its location makes it an important link between the sea and Germany's network of inland waterways and numerous islands. Hamburg, the largest city in Germany after the capital of Berlin, lies at the head of the long funnel-shaped estuary of the River Elbe. We may earn a commission from affiliate links ( )