Hamburg Stag Do

• Country: Germany
• Language: German
• Currency: Euros
• Cost of a pint: €3–4
• Airport: Hamburg Airport
• Flight duration: 2.5 hours

What Are the Best Places to Eat in Hamburg?

Germany is a country that loves its food, and that’s no surprise- the food is legendary. Hamburg is a big city when it comes to food and is the reason behind a lot of Germany’s great dishes. The city sits on the banks of the River Elbe which means throughout its long history, it’s been a busy port for importing exotic ingredients from all over the globe. For this reason, it’s been nicknamed ‘The Gateway to the World’. Hamburg came up with the tasty hamburg steak, the early version of a hamburger, a foodie treat loved all over the world. Hamburg has many internationally recognised restaurants which had won just as many Michelin Star awards which is a huge accomplishment.

When in Hamburg you have to try their local cuisine. Fischbrötchen is a fish roll snack in which its appeal lies in its simplicity. The sandwich is typically made with pickled herring or soused herring, some onion, pickles and remoulade sauce. A traditional dessert in Hamburg is Rote Grütze which is red summer berries and is served with milk, vanilla sauce or ice cream. As for drinks, you can get your fix of boozy fun while also exploring the city with experiences like the sporty beer bike!

Now like anywhere, there’s good and bad places to eat in Hamburg. There’s always going to be a kebab shop down a dingy alleyway wherever you go so we’re here to tell you where to eat instead. Lets start with breakfast, and that would have to be at Pauline in St Pauli. Here, you can enjoy the best morning food in the city with croissants, waffles and many other delicious offerings available. For later on, we suggest popping by [M]eatery which focuses purely on meat.

Burgers, sausages, rib-eye steak, the lot. Plus, if you’re visiting during the summer, this place often hosts barbeques on the rooftop. How nice. If you want something more high-end dining, then book a table in Estancia Steaks, probably the best steakhouse in Europe which serves beautiful food from all over Europe with some Argentine cuisine also thrown in.

Reeperbahn

This area is the red light district we previously mentioned. Located in the St Pauli area of the city, there’s the main street full of clubs and bars with side streets and squares leading off towards hidden gems. Its simply an area you can’t afford to miss. It’s chock-a-block with bars and clubs all lit-up at night with neon huge signs which give off awesome party vibes. Now if you want to pop into one of the many cheeky strip clubs then you’ll need to go to Herbertstraße, an area just off the Reeperbahn street.

There’s plenty of gentlemen’s establishments to choose from, the largest and most popular being Dollhouse which costs just 12 euros to enter. At the bar, you can grab beers from about 4-5 euros.

If you’re wanting a non-strip club experience then there’s definitely no need to worry, Hamburg has so many conventional bars to visit. Try Baalsaal, a low-lit nightclub filled with cool light displays and techno music, pretty much the ideal place to party. Other nightclub choices are Tunnel Club, playing early noughties electro with an underground room and Heiremann Bar & Club, an all-rounder venue with a nice atmosphere and a DJ who knows that their doing. Reeperbahn also has a festival in September which has live music acts and even more flashy lights, even more excuse to get drunk and have a great time whilst out on the street itself. There’s even Irish pubs like Thomas Read if you want something feeling a little closer to home.

Sternschanze

A completely different atmosphere lies on and around the busy Sternschanze with its alternative vibe and completely diverse clubs found along Schanzensrtraße and its surrounding side streets. Funky cocktail bars and lively music venues fill this area and surrounding areas and it’s also a great place to go for food night or day. There’s a good mixture of sophisticated bars, laid back bars, eccentric bars but less of the party-hard clubs you’d find in and around Reeperbahn. That doesn’t mean you won’t find any though, there’s some underground places to party like Waagenbau which plays music all night long from 10pm to 9am or 24 hours on a Sunday. It’s located right under the railway bridge which adds a splash of character to the place. 100% visit if you’re wanting to pull an all-nighter.

If you want a more chilled out venue then head on over to GoldFischGlas, a contemporary and spacious bar which has loads of beers, spirits and cocktails for sale. If you think you can handle your drink then Absinthbar is a cool place to hang out. The clue is in the name, this place sells over 100 types of the infamous green menace Absinthe.

What Are the Reasons to Visit Hamburg?

Party Bunker

Although the two main nightlife areas have been mentioned, this place is the most famous nightclub and is definitely that way because it’s as unique as you can get. Uebel und Gefährlich is a World War II fortress turned nightclub. Need we say more?

St Pauli

This area we’ve mentioned many times before, it’s the ultimate section of a city you could ask for. Filled with street art, colour, diversity, impressive buildings, the red light district and plenty of trendy places to eat, it’s got it all. Even the Beatles played here in the swinging 60s.

Alternative Vibe

Hamburg is renowned for its ability to shine in a different light and you’ll find plenty of quirky and bohemian spaces across the city. There’s so much street art to see, locks securely fastened to bridges and independent stores to visit.

Transport

It’s very easy to get from A to B in Hamburg with several public transport options to choose from. Whatever you do choose, you can count on it being reliable and gets you to where you want to be. Whether its by foot, bicycle, metro, boat or bus, it’s a stress-free experience anyhow.

The Food

Many of Germany’s greatest food originated from Hamburg and this place even inspired the modern-day burger. There are hundreds of eateries where you can enjoy fish dishes unique to the city, German classics or fancy French cuisine.

Water Activities

Hamburg has the most bridges than any other city in the world. It has hundreds of rivers which makes it ideal for water sports and boat cruises. You can take part in things like wakeboarding and canoeing to name a few.

Reeperbahn Festival

One of the largest music events in the world with 400 music acts around the Reeperbahn strip. Indie, funk, rock, pop, hip hop, jazz, electro, folk and soul are all genres which are played throughout the festival, even Ed Sheeran played here right before he was huge.

The Vibe

As well as the alternative vibes grabbing hold of the city, the party vibe is huge and that’s why its one of the best party cities in existence. There’s a youthful

How to Get Around Hamburg?

Trains run from Hamburg airport every 10 minutes and run up until just past midnight. It doesn’t take long to get from the airport to the city centre.

Since its Germany, you can expect regular, prompt and reliable service when using the train. The rail system is divided into U-Bahn (underground) and S-Bahn (overground) with plenty of easy to understand signage and maps so even English fellows can understand where to go. It’s all colour coded as German’s seem to understand efficiency better than anyone. Rail is a great way to connect to anywhere in the city and using a Hamburg Card can make it cheaper. You can get a one-day card for 9 euros and a three-day version for 25 euros which is good for the service you get.

Luckily, since there’s so many bridges and walkways, it’s easy to get around by foot despite all the water. Talking of water, there’s six ferry routes if you fancy cutting out a long walk route which might be ideal if you want to save time on a short trip. There’s also the eco-friendly option of “stadtrad” which are red coloured bikes you can hire for flexible amounts of time. The first half-hour is free so this can be an affordable choice.