Really interesting party area of Hamburg considered the red light district. Felt pretty touristy and I never felt unsafe. However it's so crowded and although not too crazy, the people can get rowdy and there's a lot of interesting stuff to see. read more

Reeperbahn - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Hamburg, HH

As a lover and defender of most things Hamburg, I want to give the Reeperbahn a postmodern or self-sure ironic pass, because while I was a judgmental, moralistic teenager the first time I came here with my high-school classmates, their German exchange partners, and my German exchange partner, I would eventually learn a great deal about the history of the street, the St. Pauli quarter it's part of, and early-Beatles lore. So it's a red-light district? Who cares? If you're not paying, you're not part of the problem, and there's plenty of people-watching to be done nonetheless. This is mostly the attitude I had when I returned to Hamburg when I was a bit older, less innocent, and more idealistic about the world and how to solve its problems. Now, though, I think of it more like I did in high school--but not because I'm that judgmental jerk anymore. How you experience the Reeperbahn depends on why you're here. If you're a tourist coming by yourself or with other tourists, you should know that it's not a particularly dangerous place--OK, it might be a dangerous place if you go into any of the brothels, but the street itself is very safe, even when it's crowded on a weekend night. So you don't have to be afraid to come here. But why are you coming here? To see the scantily clad/partially nude/fully nude women in their windows? Like Amsterdam's red-light district, the Reeperbahn's sex workers sit, stand, and recline in large picture windows that are often surrounded by colorful lights. If you're coming with Germans who live in or around Hamburg, they'll have their opinions about it, and while the people who really despise it probably won't bring you here at all, it's probably best to experience it as part of a local's understanding of their city. From an American's perspective, it's shocking to see sex work so out in the open, along with cartoony signs and lights you've come to expect at the seediest liquor store you can find. But once you get used to it, which doesn't take long when you've walked along the street for a while, the entire thing is just sad. Most of the sex workers in the windows now are immigrants from Eastern Europe, and a large percentage of them are probably sex-trafficking victims. You'll occasionally see guys in their early twenties offering the girls money to take selfies with them, or people won't even interact with the women and will just use them as Instagram backgrounds, but you'll see very soon that the sex workers have no patience for pranksters. They are good at cussing men out in German, English, and possibly other languages; and the pimps or whoever the men are who work in the brothels will often come out and threaten to beat up groups of drunk men if they don't move along. There are other clubs, bars, and restaurants that have nothing to do with sex or sex work all over the Reeperbahn. If anything, it feels like a sex-and-urban-decay-themed tourist trap, like combining Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco with Hollywood Boulevard in L.A. and replacing the sea lions and clam chowder in bread bowls with prostitutes and greasy carnival food, respectively. It's definitely not a place for families or for any children, really, but then Germany has this very strange way of accepting that children are exposed to stuff they shouldn't be exposed to, not doing anything to stop it, and then expecting the same children not to be influenced by what they see. I don't mean that the Reeperbahn turns little boys into johns and little girls into sex workers, but the line between what's respectable and what's sleazy in German culture is both very bright and very thin. It's a difficult concept to explain, but I often felt that way in the Reeperbahn (and in St. Pauli in general) and in parts of Berlin. Yes, the Beatles did play lots of early shows here before they made it big, but even the Beatles-kitsch isn't very well done and definitely isn't worth a visit if that's the only reason you're coming here. Again, it feels like a safer, not necessarily cleaner Hollywood Boulevard. If you want to experience Hamburg nightlight without being reminded of desperation and sex trafficking, I would recommend the Sternschanze. It's not far away (it has its own S- and U-Bahn station, but the other station that services Sternschanze [Feldstraße] is actually in St. Pauli, but right on the border), has much better restaurants, and it also has quite a history as a center of all kinds of protests. Oh, and if you don't already feel icky about the Reeperbahn, you should know that in German the "Reeper" part of the word rhymes with "paper." read more

Absolutely love this place it's got everything that a guy would want on travel. Going to daytime by all kinds of trinkets going at night time let your freak flag fly. I wanna dedicate this post to my friend, Deac Heilig my Ranger buddy and the person I went with last to this place. He is no longer with us, as his war never ended. Love you brother I miss you. read more

Pretty much the place for the night life in Hamburg. It's probably eight or so block by 4 or so block wide radius. It translates to "Red Light" which implies it as a Red Light District. Much smaller than the one in Amsterdam, this one isn't too bad. There's a main strip where you can walk and drive down both sides of the street. Tons of bars, strip bars, restaurants, fast food, souvenir shops, cigarette shops, casinos, etc. I want to say there were a few hotels there but they didn't look too appealing. The restaurants included sit down ones and fast food. THere's a decent outdoor sausage grill place called Lucille's that is open all hours and is very good. There are also tons of bars and shops in the side streets off of the main strip. Of course there is the famed window section of this area as well. It's similar to Amsterdam but here they are all concentrated in a three block or so radius. This area is also forbidden to anyone but men. I'm not sure what happens when a female walks through here but there are signs stating females are not allowed. There are also ATM's every where here. Overall, I felt like everything was pretty cheap or decent priced, especially for a touristy area. read more

Reeperbahn - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Hamburg, HH

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Probably the highest concentration of ATMs of anywhere I've ever been. Colorful characters, interesting shops, and a little alleyway that I wasn't allowed to go through because I wasn't a man over the age of 18. After nightfall, the spot with the really good pizza attracts certain ladies. read more

Reeperbahn, or the ropeway - something that I learned from Hamburg museum that this is where the people from the old times made hemp rope to use for sailing / ship purposes. They needed a looooong track to stretch the rope and to wind them and that's how Reeperbahn got its name. I bet these ropemakers would get a heart attack if they stepped into a time machine and came out now where their ropeway street are full of sex shops and girls live show instead of the old time of quiet rope making, ha ha! As for me, I found this place to be meh. Since I live in Denmark, there's no shock value to me anymore, this place is just like Istedgade, just bigger and longer (no pun intended here). If you have to pick up "something", then this is the place for you, sex videos, toys, whatever or even weird grunge-clothing or the more normal St. Pauli gears (shirts, sweaters). Reeperbahn has also numerous souvenir shops, be it general Hamburg souvenirs or the more specific from St. Pauli area. You know what I mean *wiggling eyebrows* Did I mention that this place has lots of strip bars along the ropeway? Yes, they do. Two things interesting about red-light district is that they seem to host good Chinese restaurants, just like Magasasa in Istedgade and Man Wah in Reeperbahn, probably the only reason I would come back to this area again in the future. ...and oh, the Christmas market at St Pauli (or Santa Pauli, as they called their xmas market) is something special ;) read more

Ah, the good old Reeperbahn! Yes, this is the red light district, but it's also the bar/pub/concert district! Perfect for a night out on the town. Whether you're looking for a concert or club, a bar or a pub, this place has everything. Discover some unique and interesting bars off the main pathways in side streets or stick to the major ones on the main road or on the Grosse Freiheit. It's up to you. Of course you can also pop into any of the numerous sex shops or strip clubs if you feel like it. This area is definitely the hotspot of night life in Hamburg. Bar hopping is your best bet! Most bars and clubs are open until the wee hours of the morning, which means on a Saturday night you can stay out all night and end your club tour with a trip to the Fishmarket close by where you'll get a fantastic breakfast. There will be sex workers walking around and quite overtly approaching male patrons just walking around the streets, that's just part of the experience. It's quite a safe place to walk around though as there are crowds everywhere and many establishments have bouncers and security out front to make sure there's not too much trouble. I'd recommend staying away from the main train stations late at night unless you're travelling in large groups though as there will be a lot of drunk people hanging around there. The best way to discover this amazing district is to just travel there in the evening and spend all night walking from one bar or club to the next. There is so much to see and do, you won't be disappointed! read more

You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious. -Obi Wan Kenobi Old Ben may have been talking about Mos Eisley, but I reckon he would have thought the same about the Reeperbahn. To be fair, there's not many blasters, and I've not seen much violence, but there's just as many aliens, alcohol and there quite a lot more prostitutes! Seriously though, I much prefer the bars on the side streets just off the Reeperbahn, especially Hamburger Berg. read more

Very entertaining couple of strips. Lots of bars and entertainment. Similar to Amsterdam's Red Light District. Only con is that many sketchy individuals hang around the area and prey on vulnerable tourist. Just be on high alert with your valuables as the streets in this area tend to over crowd at night. read more

You are either going to love it or hate it but if you are visiting Hamburg - you have to visit. Everything from swanky women for hire to great eats. You MUST visit the food truck area which has everything. My colleagues loved it and happy they went ( bucket list type of thing) read more

I was really underwhelmed by my recent visit to the Reeperbahn. I'm all for a bit of seediness and fun, but in the late afternoon the place seemed more grubby than cheekily filthy. The little area dedicated to the Beatles is a bit depressing - a mini roundabout decorated with life sized wire cutouts of each of the Fab Four that you can stand and have your photo taken behind - but was cheered up a bit by the invasion of an excitable gaggle of tourists following a drag queen tour guide. The relaxed laws on prostitution mean that visiting men can get quite forcefully hassled by the working girls, to the point where the boys in my group were happy to have women hanging out with them because it meant they didn't have to be constantly fighting off prostitutes (that's how they put it to me anyway), and when I walked along the street on my own late at night I didn't have any trouble so that might prove the point. I felt perfectly safe walking around but I'm a hardened London gal so remember to keep your wits about you as with anywhere you travel. When darkness falls and the sex shops are lit up with flashing lights the Reeperbahn looks a lot better, but once the novelty of Ooh look, a sex toy shop! has worn off I'm not sure what else there is to do. I suppose it's worth a look but if you're not in to picking up prostitutes, drinking in super seedy clubs or browsing through porn you might want to spend the rest of your night elsewhere. read more

Id like to add a couple more things to all the reviews. More like warnings. if you are a girl, DO NOT go to the reeperbahn with moon boots or a waist bag and whatever u do, do not choose the Burger king as a meeting point with your friends. when you get to the reeperbahn you'll notice why otherwise lots of fun! enjoy read more

Home to the red-light district. So, expect what you'd find in a red-light district. Some good restaurants/bars, lots of seedy hotels (ours had linoleum floors and a bikers' convention) but a good slice of life. read more

Depends on what you're interested in. For bars and clubs it's a great night out. If you're a first-timer on the Kiez it can be a bit of an eye-opener with it's many sex shops and live shows and if you're not used to being approached by prostitutes it can be a bit unnerving. read more

just spent 4 days in the reeperbahn hamburg!....seediest place i have been but great fun and loads to do from a boat tour of the harbour passing the queen mary 2 to walking round the red light district! stay up all night saturday and then go to the fish marketloads of stall people beer and food plus live music brilliant! read more

Really cool!! I hope in a few years, the Reeperbahn, will be a nice and safe place. read more