Hamburg Germany

bastettler · #1 (**permalink**) April 1st, 2007, 10:34 PM

I'm looking at a cruise in Sept. and one of the ports is Hamburg, Germany for two days (arrive:9am on Saturday Depart: Sunday at Midnight). Would it be easy to get into town and explore without taking a cruise excursion? What type of things are there to see and would it be worth taking a train ride over to Berlin? I'm really looking for things to do in Hamburg and wondering if there are breweries to see right in town? Thanks for any input.

Rev22:17 · #2 (**permalink**) April 2nd, 2007, 08:40 AM

bastettler,

Quote:

Originally Posted by You

I'm looking at a cruise in Sept. and one of the ports is Hamburg, Germany for two days (arrive:9am on Saturday Depart: Sunday at Midnight). Would it be easy to get into town and explore without taking a cruise excursion? What type of things are there to see and would it be worth taking a train ride over to Berlin? I'm really looking for things to do in Hamburg and wondering if there are breweries to see right in town? Thanks for any input.

You certainly can explore the Hanseatic Free State of Hamburg on your own, as the cruise ships dock right downtown. Nonetheless, the cruise lines do offer a very worthwhile tour of the city so I recommend doing the ship's tour on the first day to get your bearings.

I have not investigated breweries in the city-state, but you probably will find several without trying very hard. In fact, there's a beer named for the city's infamous "red light" district -- Saint Pauli Girl -- though I'm not sure where it's brewed.

Berlin is about three hours from Hamburg, so it's very ambitious to go there on a day trip. When I called there aboard MV Royal Princess (the original, christened by HRH Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1984), the tour to Berlin left the ship very early (I'm thinking around 6:30 AM) and did not return until 9:30 PM. Also, the reaction of the people who took that tour was a very interesting blend of intrigue and disappointment. Apparently Berlin was so devastated by bombing during World War II that they ended up levelling most of the city and rebuilding it from scratch. They designed the new city with wide boulevards and the most modern infrastructure of any city in Europe, but most of the architecture is bland reinforced concrete of the postwar era.

Norm.

bastettler · #3 (**permalink**) April 7th, 2007, 07:36 PM

Thank you so much Norm! I sure appreciate your information and advice. I think we will take an excursion from the ship and then the next day just do things on our own.
Thanks Again!
Brit

topher · #4 (**permalink**) June 6th, 2007, 09:27 PM

We stopped in Hamburg last August on our cruise. From the ship you will see blackened spires from St. Nicholas Church. This is a short walk from the ship and well worth seeing. From there it is a short walk to St. Michael's Church and then a short walk into the center of town. Alster Lake is right there and you can take a boat ride around and see even more of the city. I also recommend an excursion to Lubeck - a very nice little town. Hope this helps.

gaileeh · #5 (**permalink**) July 22nd, 2007, 07:13 PM

If you have not been to Hamburg or are not familliar with the area it is probably better to take a ships excursion. Especially if you don't speak the language.

thinfool1 · #6 (**permalink**) July 22nd, 2007, 09:41 PM

We were there in June 04. Great city....we took the train for a day trip to Lubeck....absolutely a must.

I wouldn't worry about a language problem. None of us spoke German but many locals spoke English.

An older gentleman in Lubeck stopped to chat with us, both to tell us about his charming old city and to impress us with his English.