Things to do in Hamburg

Hamburg grew rich on the river Elbe, and the harbour is still its heartbeat: container ships slide past the Landungsbrücken piers, barges thread the red-brick warehouse canals of the Speicherstadt, and the glass wave of the Elbphilharmonie rises over the new HafenCity quarter.

Away from the water you'll find the Alster lakes, elegant arcades and, after dark, the famous Reeperbahn in St. Pauli, where sailors once came ashore and a young band from Liverpool played its first long residencies. Bremerhaven, with its emigration museum, is an easy day out by train.