Help with Hamburg port

Our ship is in port from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. I was planning to do the ship's tour to Luebeck in the morning, which is 8:30 to 2:30. After that, I'd like to go see the Miniature Train Wonderland in Harmburg. Are taxis easy to get to and from the ship to do this? How long would it take to get there? Thank you.

Assuming this is a ship's excursion by bus, it will take about 1 hour to drive from the port area in Hamburg to Luebeck.

If you are bit adventuresome, you could do this on your own so that you can spend more time in Luebeck and/or do what you want to do there. Just take a taxi to the train station in Hamburg and then take the train to Luebeck. It's easy to do and probably cheaper than the excursion. The ICE train takes 36 minutes and the RE trains take 45 - 50 minutes. Upon your return to the Hamburg train station, you could walk (or take a taxi) to Miniatur Wunderland as it's only about a mile away. Miniatur Wunderland has some very late hours in the summer--as late as 11:00 pm.

Deustche Bahn website: http://www.deutschebahn.com/en/start/

Miniatur Wunderland: http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/

If you are keen on visiting the Miniature Wonderland - which really is wonderful to see and not just for the kids! - I suggest reserving your tickets on their website because quite often tickets are sold out for the day or you'll have to wait in a long queue to obtain tickets as access is restricted to give visitors the time and opportunity to see everything comfortably. We reserved our tickets( no need to pre-pay) - we were given a time slot - and could wait for access quite comfortably until our "number" was called.

And by the way: it's much cheaper to go to Lubeck by train - really easy - Hamburg's public transport system is easy to navigate . Don't forget though there are two ports in Hamburg where your ship might dock!

I'm not seeing anywhere on the website to reserve a time and not pay for tickets in advance. It says when they mail you the tickets, you can then access the reservation system with the ticket code printed on the ticket. Have they changed the website since your visit, or am I missing it somewhere?

I will look into doing the train DIY to Luebeck.

http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/visit/ticket/

and then to the ticket reservation. choose your date and your time slot. they will send you an eMail and you have to confirm the Mail. You can buy the tickets at the wunderland with you reservation number (print the mail) at your time slot and can go in without waiting.

Thank you so much for that link to the ticket reservations. I don't know why I couldn't find it myself.

As an alternative to the Luebeck/Miniature Wonderland idea, my son has just suggested he'd be interested in seeing Berlin. The cruise line is not offering an excursion, but I see the train is an option in 1.75 hrs. Are the trains generally pretty reliable and on time? We'd probably arrive to Berlin around 10 and leave by 4 or 5:00 and just hit the highlights possibly on hop-on hop-off bus if we decide on that option. I see there's a stop for the bus at the Berlin main train station.

I would not go to Berlin from Hamburg. Trains are on schedule often, but not always. There is some construction going on on our railway network right now and I am not sure if you would be affected.

Plus, Hamburg and Lübeck are great places you would miss out by sitting in the train.

For Lübeck I would (as others have said) recommend you do it on your own. Here is some information on Lübeck on your own:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2464864

As your port time is long enough there will be enough time to do Lübeck and the Miniatur Wonderland in Hamburg.

Btw, how old is your son? Lübeck has a great museum on theatre puppets he might enjoy. And Hansemuseum has all the information in English and a special tour for kids (in English).

I would not go to Berlin from Hamburg. Trains are on schedule often, but not always. There is some construction going on on our railway network right now and I am not sure if you would be affected.

Plus, Hamburg and Lübeck are great places you would miss out by sitting in the train.

 

For Lübeck I would (as others have said) recommend you do it on your own. Here is some information on Lübeck on your own:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2464864

 

As your port time is long enough there will be enough time to do Lübeck and the Miniatur Wonderland in Hamburg.

 

Btw, how old is your son? Lübeck has a great museum on theatre puppets he might enjoy. And Hansemuseum has all the information in English and a special tour for kids (in English).

Thanks for all the helpful information. I had read about railway construction, and it was making me re-think the plan. My son is a teenager, so the puppets would probably be out. He really has an interest in WWII history, which is why Berlin interested him. Anything in particular you would recommend as far as WWII history in Hamburg or Luebeck?

For WWII:

Lübeck was bombed 75 yrs ago by the Brits (in return for Germany bombing Coventry). As you walk downtown you will find medival houses and modern (sometimes ugly) replacements for the houses which burned down.

If he is really interested in that history you should visit both Marienkirche (St. Mary´s church) and the cathedral. Both were heavily hit and reconstruction of all 7 church towers downtown was not finished until the 1980s. There is an exhibition at Marienkirche right now with large photos of the city after the bombing and you can still see the bell which fell down and was broken. The church is now a member of the Nail Cross association. This is a very interesting part of history post-war. Thankfully, Coventry cathedral (which was burned by German bombs) shared this cross made of medieval nails with churches bombed in the war all over Europe. Marienkirche is one of them, along with one in Berlin and others. A history of reconsiliation.

Then there is St. Petri (St. Peter´s church). Also destroyed and the last to be re-opened. The community of that church had been absorbed by the other downtown churches by then. So that church today is a church without a community. You can find exhibitions and concerts and politics talks there and the tower has a great viewing platform from where you have a great view all over the city.

Another interesting part of WWII history is connected with the Jewish bank manager Eric Warburg from Hamburg. During the war he was a soldier with the US Army. He asked his cousin Carl Jacob Burkhardt (who was a manager with the Red Cross) to use Lübeck as a storage for Red Cross supplies, and so he did. This is why Lübeck was not bombed again (the plan was to fully destroy it). To honor both men, a school was named after Carl Jacob Burckhardt and a bridge was named after Eric Warburg.

Btw, Marienkirche charges 2 € per adult if you want to visit for sight seeing. They don´t charge if you come to pray or attend a service. The 2 € go into their maintenance fund. Marienkirche is the biggest medieval church in northern Germany and maintenance is expensive.

I found other churches in other countries charging even more for tourist visits so I think 2 € is an OK mandatory donation for that purpose. All the other churches in Lübeck are free (donations welcome but not mandatory).