Quite a unique history and a church stood through times. I'm amazed with it even I'm not a church…read moregoer, it's not big compared to others but quite big and impressive with the inside structure and decor. They do have a maze underneath where thy buried important people there. The top is quite breadth taking of 360 view of the city. You can just spend hrs to enjoys and take in the views. Quite stunning.

Having not being familiar with white interiors, I was fascinated by this lovely church. What a…read moregorgeous interior.

We did the one hour English guided tour of the Hamburg Townhall. You buy the tickets the day off…read moreinside the building and it costs 8 Euros per person. There are guided tours in German and English language. Note that the English guided tours are not as often as the German guided tours. Our guide was knowledgeable and entertaining. He made the guided tour enjoyable. It was nice learning the history and seeing various rooms of the Hamburg Townhall. Overall, I recommend visiting this landmark and doing the guided tour.

The seat of the "Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg", this building is on the Rathausmarkt square…read more Constructed between 1186 and 1897, this is also the seat of one of the 16 state parliaments of Germany. Government still operates from here. I did not have time for a proper tour of the building, but the next time I am in Hamburg, I absolutely will do so. The lobby is open to the public and you can get to a few other places if the parliament is not actually in session. [Review 12060 overall, 1843 of 2019.]

Really interesting party area of Hamburg considered the red light district. Felt pretty touristy…read moreand 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.

As a lover and defender of most things Hamburg, I want to give the Reeperbahn a postmodern or…read moreself-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."

On my self guided tour of Hamburg, I stopped along at what appeared to be the tallest steeple in…read morethe town. St. Nicholas's church is more of a memorial than an actual building. Again, another great piece of history. It caught fire in 1943 and what you see today are the remains of what was once a place of worship for the people of Hamburg. The remains of the building are still beautiful and you can imagine what it must have looked like. There are pieces of artwork dedicated to the times as well which really spoke to me. It is pretty much the complete opposite of St. Michaels. But definately worth a stop and marvel at what happened there 70 years ago.

Great view of the city and the museum is well worth the 5 euro (4 with student ID). Learned a lot…read moreabout WWII and how it affected Hamburg.

Old Elbe Tunnel or St. Pauli Elbe Tunnel opened in 1911, is a pedestrian and vehicle tunnel in…read moreHamburg. The 426 m long tunnel was a technical sensation; 24 m beneath the surface, two 6 m diameter tubes connect central Hamburg with the docks and shipyards on the south side of the river Elbe. This was a big improvement for tens of thousands of workers in one of the busiest harbours in the world. It was heavily damaged during the war and was in a big state of disrepair and the city launched a huge project to restore it to its former glory. It's a sight not to be missed. Walk down the stairs or take the elevator down and walk along the tunnel and when you get out of the other end follow the signs to the viewing area for amazing views of the city. I would definitely recommend this as a must do activity in Hamburg. The entrance is located in a big round building along the harbour and easy to find.

Long underground tunnel that takes you from the waterfront to the other side of the river. It is…read morefree for pedestrians and cyclists (2 euros for vehicles). You can access the tunnel from a dome structure at the ground level. A set of stairs or gigantic elevator takes you underground. It took us about 20 minutes to walk the length of the tunnel. When you come back up, turn the corner and you will be greeted with a beautiful view of the Hamburg waterfront. If you are worried about restrooms, there are actually portable toilets on the other side. It's incredible to think that the tunnel was built in 1911! And it's still in use today!

Great place for an evening stroll or a nice day in the sun. Flowers are abundant in spring and…read moresummer with well maintained grounds with plenty of places to sit. A huge playground for the kiddies is a must do if you have a little one along for the ride. Date night has an interesting opportunity with evening fountain and light shows during the summer. This city hideaway feels like its miles from everything while being minutes from most.

The light show is really beautiful. I wasn't going to go, but changed my mind at the last minute. I…read morequickly taxied over from my hotel and got out and ran to the park. I was able to make it there by 10:15 (it starts at 10:00) and the show lasted until 10:30. I sat on the side of the lake opposite the large tower on a cement block. It put me the closest to the fountains of anyone, but this also meant I got pretty wet. If you don't mind getting wet, I would also recommend going for that seat.