Hamburg

The view of the city is complemented by the green bell towers and domes of palaces and churches, but only a handful of buildings survived the great fire of 1842 and the bombing during World War II. Although Hamburg is primarily an economic powerhouse, in the birthplace of the composer Johannes Brahms, you will also be able to enjoy architectural sights and, above all, a multitude of cultural pleasures. The Church of St. Jacob with an altar from the 15th century or the Baroque Church of St. Michael in the old part of the city compete for attention with the neo-Renaissance town hall, which with 647 rooms is one of the largest and most interesting German town houses. The port, with more than 64 kilometers of canals (on which you can take tourist boats) and 2,500 bridges, is a completely independent part of the city. Only the port of Rotterdam is bigger than the port of Hamburg, and observing the precisely organized German traffic in it is a real feast for the eyes, especially for people who are more at home in the technical field. At night, the center of the strict Protestant part of northern Germany turns into a temple of fun and pleasure in the Reeperbahn section, which tourists experience when visiting musicals, cabarets, transvestite shows and "houses of love". One of the obligatory stops in the Reeperbahn is a tribute to the immortal Beatles at the Indra club, where they performed on the European continent for the first time on August 18, 1960 as an unknown Liverpool group. On Sundays, night owls meet insomniacs at the famous fish market, which is open from 5:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. in summer and from 7:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. in winter. Hamburg's most traditional market has been operating since 1703, and here you will not only find fish and seafood, but also fruit, vegetables, flowers, textiles, carpets, sweets and... indulge yourself in the loud calls of the vendors. If you are interested in the dark side of Hamburg, then you should go to its heart, to the catacombs, or the Hamburg prisons, where the two thousand year history of the city of the bloodiest periods is shown.

FOR UNDER THE TEETH
As befits Germany's second largest city, there is no shortage of restaurants. On a sunny Sunday, you can close your eyes at the Fischereihafen restaurant, located in a former warehouse of the fishing port, and find yourself in any of the seaside Mediterranean towns with excellent fresh fish specialties. In addition to seafood specialties, you will also enjoy a wonderful view of the harbor in the Rive restaurant, which is located in an unusual glass and steel building and offers a menu that clearly shows the mixture of Mediterranean and local flavors. Restaurants in former workshops or warehouses are also very popular in Hamburg. In the former shoe store, you can try potato soup with truffles, venison or potato cake in the Nil restaurant and convince yourself that German wines are truly excellent. On the former ship or today's restaurant Das Feuerschiff, which lit the way to the port and is today anchored near the port, you can watch the traffic on the Elbe River and wash down the fish soup with a mug of German beer. Spice lovers should also visit one of the best German museums dedicated to food and cuisine, the Spice Museum.

FOR SPENDERS
In Germany's fashion capital, an army of imaginative restaurants, shops and hotels is fighting the "old guard". In the Schanzenviertel, former theater and film costume designer Regine Steenbock dresses fashion-conscious German women in her Sium boutique. Tobias Jopp and Stefan Harm are the new prodigies of German fashion, and their brand FKK is already conquering international fashion connoisseurs. If you are more attracted to large shopping centers, then a world of shops, markets and numerous events await you under the glass roof of the Queree in Hamburg-Wandsbek, while in the Mercado center, in addition to fashion stores in the basement floor, technology enthusiasts can see new achievements and acquisitions. If you are moved by the sight of the latest Chanel fashion catalog or have a strong desire for new clothes, but the financial situation does not allow you to splurge, visit one of the many second-hand shops. The small shop, run by Barbara Mass, offers a wide range of clothes, from unknown brand names to Dolce & Gabanna clothes for only seventy euros.

WHAT'S HAPPENING
Hamburg's tourist office in the city of music offers interesting packages for lovers of Spanish culture. Dirty Dancing Young is a package that includes a romantic Spanish dinner, after which the driver takes guests to the Dirty Dancing show, where the soles of every guest itch to the mamba rhythms. A package including two nights in a four-star hotel costs two hundred and five euros per person, and reservations are possible until the end of the year. With the exhibition Caspar David Friedrich – The Invention of Romanticism, which will be open from 7 October to 28 January next year, the Kunsthalle in Hamburg offers a deep insight into the works of Caspar David Frierich thirty years after the last major retrospective of the artist in Germany. In total, the exhibition will include more than 70 oil paintings and more than 100 drawings, sepia (a painting technique that uses chalk) and watercolors from around 50 museums and private collections. Between October 25 and 29, Hamburg residents and visitors will be delighted by the Holiday on Ice skating magazine in the Color Line Arena.

NIGHT LIFE
In addition to the notorious Reeperbahn area already mentioned above, the following addresses are just a small part of the nightlife that will convince you that Hamburg is becoming the new capital of entertainment: the China lounge opens its doors at 11 pm and closes them in the late morning hours, the modernist club Neo is particularly attractive young people from the media world, and in River Kasematten, a pre-war jazz club, a colorful polyglot group of young and beautiful people from all over the world gathers to the sounds of chill-out music. On the other side of town is the Golden Cut disco, which on Fridays and Saturdays is more of a catwalk than a dance floor, but especially men don't complain when they see Claudia Shiffer's body.

LIVING
According to many, one of Europe's snobbiest hotels is Hamburg's Vier Jahreszeiten. Open for more than a century, it is truly an epitome of elegance with antique furniture and rooms overlooking the Binnenalster lake. Three Edwardian villas, called Garden hotels, invite everyone who wants to live in peace in the Poseldorf area. A few tram stops separate the city center from the Ottensen area, where you can stay at the Hotel Gastwerk – a former gasworks that has been renovated into a New Wave art piece inspired by industrial design. One of the most famous and popular and not too expensive hotels is called 25 Hours Hotel. Apartments in converted warehouses, which are increasingly popular around the world, inspired the designers of this hotel, which also offers special benefits for young people.

HOW TO GET THERE
You can fly to Hamburg via Frankfurt or Munich on one of the many low-cost airlines. With the Globtour travel agency, you can visit Hamburg for less than 50,000 tolars. The price includes a return ticket, one night's stay and all additional payments.