JMHamburg and others please help with Hamburg

[JMHamburg]

Thanks for the info. Your pics are very inspiring. Really appreciate your help. Karen

Karen, you're welcome!

 

Just reminded:

Would love to take a train out of Hamburg to a medieval type town.

and my reply:

In spring time (blossoms) or fall (harvest) you may make an excursion to 'Altes Land', the biggest fruit plantation area in northern Europe with square kilometers of apple and cherry trees. There are also lots of very old half timbered buildings. Just do a Google images search for 'Altes Land'. It's so beautiful, but only in spring or harvest time. You can get there by public local transport within 1 hour or so.

 

At the westernmost end of 'Altes Land', there is the city of Stade (tourism website in German language only), with a medieval type of city center. Stade can be considered as an alternative to Lubeck, Stade is smaller, but also an hanseatic town.

 

Btw:

- In the 'Global Liveability Ranking 2016' of 'The Economist', Hamburg leads the German cities at place 10, far ahead of Frankfurt (20) and Berlin (23) ...

- In the 'Sustainable Cities Index 2016' of 'Centre for Economics and Business Research', Hamburg ranks at place 3 of 100 for live quality, again leading the German cities ...

[kersh]

Hi all,

 

We are docking at Altona dock on News Years Eve.

 

Does anyone know where the shuttle bus drops off?

 

Hoping it is close to city centre malls.

 

The ship is staying until early New Year's Day morning. Will we be able to see the fireworks from the ship?

 

Thanks for any info.

 

Sue

[Steff79]

Hi Sue,

 

maybe this site will help you

 

https://www.cruisegate-hamburg.de/en/terminal/cruise-center-altona

 

can´t say something to the shuttle bus.

if you want to use the metro, you can walk to metro station S-Bahn Königsstraße or Landungsbrücken. i would walk to the landungsbrücken, it´s a tourist way or take the harbour ferry from dockland ( cruie center altona) to the landungsbrücken. ferry line 62 is a circle line in the harbour. if you zoom the map on the site you can see what i mean.

 

never been in hamburg at new year but i think you will see the fireworks.

[puschi1906]

Hi all,

 

We are docking at Altona dock on News Years Eve.

 

Does anyone know where the shuttle bus drops off?

 

Hoping it is close to city centre malls.

 

The ship is staying until early New Year's Day morning. Will we be able to see the fireworks from the ship?

 

Thanks for any info.

 

Sue

 

 

I would take the ferry to Landungsbrücken and from there the subway to downtown if you want to go shopping. Take the line U3 and get off at station "Rathaus" or "Mönckebergstrasse". It's only 3 stations. On New Years Eve most shops close at 2 p.m.

 

Yes you should be able to see some nice fireworks from the ship!

[JMHamburg]

Does anyone know where the shuttle bus drops off?

Right in front of the Terminal, there is the bus stop; b u t; there is a much more spectacular way to get to the city center: the harbor ferry line 62; the harbor ferry stop next to the Altona Cruise Terminal is called 'Dockland Fischereihafen', it is located west to the terminal, you cannot miss it. Ferries sail every 15, earlier in the morning and later in the evening every 30 minutes.

 

Hoping it is close to city centre malls.

The ferries sail to the main harbor ferry stop at 'Landungsbrucken'; the other direction is called 'Finkenwerder'. You can take metro line U3 from 'Landungsbrucken' to 'Rathaus' (town hall), and you are amidst the shopping district. Shops will be open until 2pm on december 31st. Please be aware of all the crazy people who ignite small explosives freely in the streets; this very desturbant activity will increase when shops close in the afternoon.

 

The ship is staying until early New Year's Day morning. Will we be able to see the fireworks from the ship?

If the ships nose is heading west, you may see it from the aft sundecks.

[kersh]

Thank you all for your help and advice. I am a bit worried about the small explosives being set off.

 

Sue

[puschi1906]

Thank you all for your help and advice. I am a bit worried about the small explosives being set off.

 

Sue

 

Nothing to worry about. Just kids with firecrackers, harmless. And but most likely not downtown in the shopping district. I work there every New Years Eve. Have fun in Hamburg!

[happy_travellers]

We have decided to stay 4 nights pre- cruise in Hamburg so looking to get out of town.

We are avid photographers. We want to take public transportation bus or train to get out and see more of Germany.

Any suggestions?

Thanks Karen

[copper004]

Hi JM! My name is John from New York. I am sailing on the NCL Jade from Hamburg in July 17'. I have never been to Hamburg, or Europe for that matter, before. We will be arriving in Hamburg 2 days before sailing. While searching for a pre-cruise hotel, we came across the "25hour Hotel" in Hafen City. The hotel is certainly unique and looks interesting with views of the harbor, but I have some questions. It is not in the center city area, how difficult would it be to get back and forth? My thought on avoiding center city is the G20 Conference taking place in Hamburg the week before our arrival. Not much seems to be in the area of the hotel, Google Earth actually shows construction sites around the hotel. Do you have any knowledge about this hotel and the area it is in?? Any advise for a first time visitor would be greatly appreciated. Thank you and Happy Holidays!!

[JMHamburg]

While searching for a pre-cruise hotel, we came across the "25hour Hotel" in Hafen City. The hotel is certainly unique and looks interesting with views of the harbor, but I have some questions. It is not in the center city area, how difficult would it be to get back and forth? ... Not much seems to be in the area of the hotel, Google Earth actually shows construction sites around the hotel. Do you have any knowledge about this hotel and the area it is in?

The area is still considered to be 'city center', a metro station is 'around the corner', so, the location is good, but there is a lot of construction indeed, a new giant shopping mall, office buildings, and the new cruise terminal. I don't know, how it will be with construction noise, but at least in the night after 22pm, I wouldn't expect anything really bad, since Germany has good noise protection laws, fortunately.

 

The point is, you can get to most sights by Walking if you choose a hotel within or at the half circle around the city center. If you look at the map at Tripadvisor for example, the half circle is limited by the park 'Planten un Blomen' in the west, the 'Kennedybrucke' in the north, the central station in the east, and the half circle also includes our new 'Hafen City' with famous 'Speicherstadt' (ware-/storehouse district; UNESCO heritage) in the south east, with some very new hotels, and the famous new 'Elbphilharmonie'. Comfortable walking time from one point to it's farthest within this half circle is less than 1 hour.

 

My thought on avoiding center city is the G20 Conference taking place in Hamburg the week before our arrival?

Yes, there shouldn't be any problems a week after the show. As a resident, I'm still thinking about leaving the town *lol*

[SightCRR]

Our HAL cruise docks in Kiel 07-1700 in May 2017. How do we get to Mini-Wonderland Kehrwieder 2-4/Block D, 20457 Hamburg from there? Thank you. sightcrr

[rophili]

Our HAL cruise docks in Kiel 07-1700 in May 2017. How do we get to Mini-Wonderland Kehrwieder 2-4/Block D, 20457 Hamburg from there? Thank you. sightcrr

 

I, along with my two grown grandsons, are also on the HAL cruise, docking in Kiel on May 7, 2017. I was thinking of taking a train to downtown Hamburg, but a previous post on this thread did not give a very favourable review of he reliability of the train service. Would it be possible to take an express bus service from our disembarkation port to downtown Hamburg? If so, how much would it cost and how long would the trip take?

[JMHamburg]

Best solution would possibly be a transfer to Hamburg organized and or offered by HAL, making it more safe to get back to ship before sailing time. 10 hours only in Kiel is less for a visit in Hamburg. There are Trains between Hamburg and Kiel about every ½hr. They take between 1 and 1½hrs each trip. You would arrive at Hamburg Central Station at around 9am, and after 5hrs, at around 2pm, I would recommend you to leave Hamburg by train for Kiel in order to get back to ship safely, really not later(!). For your return trip, be advised that fast trains (IC / EC / ICE) may have dragged delays through entire Germany when arriving in Hamburg, you better take regional trains (RE / RB) for your return trip to Kiel.

 

The weekend 5th to 7th May 2017 is Harbor Birthday weekend in Hamburg, the biggest port festival in the world and the biggest celebration in town. Hamburg will be crowded, and so trains will be too.

[rophili]

[quote: Best solution would possibly be a transfer to Hamburg organized and or offered by HAL, making it more safe to get back to ship before sailing time. 10 hours only in Kiel is less for a visit in Hamburg. Trains between Hamburg and Kiel about every ½hr. They take between 1 and 1½hrs each trip. You would arrive at Hamburg Central Station at around 9am, and after 5hrs, at around 2pm, I would recommend you to leave Hamburg by train for Kiel in order to get back to ship safely, really not later(!). For your return trip, be advised that fast trains (IC / EC / ICE) may have dragged delays through entire Germany when arriving in Hamburg, you better take regional trains (RE / RB) for your return trip to Kiel.

 

The weekend 5th to 7th May 2017 is Harbor Birthday weekend in Hamburg, the biggest port festival in the world and the biggest celebration in town. Hamburg will be crowded, and so trains will be too.

 

Thanks for this advice and for taking time to respond in detail to my query--Much appreciated. :)

[Steff79]

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

 

i can´t say something to the trains, but at this weekend the harbour area will be full with people. if you go do on the homepage a ticket reservation for a time slot you can catch. without reservation it is possible you can´t buy a ticket or have to wait some hours.

Edited December 30, 2016 by Steff79

[nadeki]

We are a party of seven and one does not walk well. We will go to the mini wunderland but I don't think the water ferry or any public transport is a good solution and need taxis. Are they readily available at the port. I have read conflicting info that we will be at Altona and the the new port that starts with an S.

 

We are open to renting a car if needed. Just struggling to find the info.

 

Thanks

[Sauer-kraut]

We are a party of seven and one does not walk well. We will go to the mini wunderland but I don't think the water ferry or any public transport is a good solution and need taxis. Are they readily available at the port. I have read conflicting info that we will be at Altona and the the new port that starts with an S.

 

We are open to renting a car if needed. Just struggling to find the info.

 

Thanks

 

I found this website and it might be helpful to you.

https://www.travel-to-hamburg.com/call-a-taxi/

 

To find which terminal you'll be berthing at use this website

http://www.hamburgcruisecenter.eu/en/estimated-ships

You will see a small drop down menu to enter the month you will be arriving in Hamburg, just scroll down the grid listing of ships until you see the one you are on.

 

First since you are a party of seven you should probably pre-order a taxi mini-van (Grossraumtaxi).

For fun I put in Steinwerder Hafen and Miniaturwunderland and the normal taxi tariff is about 30 Euros. However that is not considering the added tariff for using a mini-van taxi.

 

I also found this taxi link in English and they do pick ups at Steinwerder. https://www.taxi211211.de/en/services/cruise-center.htm

Edited January 8, 2017 by Sauer-kraut

[angeleyes27]

We will be on an NCL Jade cruise leaving out of Hamburg on July 4 and returning on the 16th. Will this show be on at this time? It may be good for us to rent a car as I prefer not to use public transport unless taxis are easy to use.

 

 

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[Regguy]

I'm thinking what I want to do just won't work, but I thought I'd give it a try to see if anyone has any ideas.

 

We will arrive by ship with baggage at the Altona pier around 8:00 and depart HAM at 15:40. I would like to store our bags and visit minatur wonderland if it is possible.

 

If we could take a taxi to minatur wonderland directly from the ship that would be good, but I expect that there will be no place near there to store our bags. So, I think the only option would be to depart the ship, walk to Altona station, store our bags there, and then take a taxi to minatur wonderland.

 

Then taxi back to Altona station, get our bags, and then take the S-1 to the airport. We need to be at the airport by 13:00. I am thinking this really won't be possible, unless we only want to spend 1 hour at minatur wonderland. But if anyone has an suggestions, I would be grateful.

[Sauer-kraut]

We will be on an NCL Jade cruise leaving out of Hamburg on July 4 and returning on the 16th. Will this show be on at this time? It may be good for us to rent a car as I prefer not to use public transport unless taxis are easy to use.]

 

What show are you talking about?

[angeleyes27]

I thought someone talked about a festival and how crowded things would be, but I am be confused with the dates. It might be May and we will be there in July.

We have a flight arriving at 2200 or 10pm in Hamburg so it would probably be closer to 2300. What is the easiest and safest way to get to the hotel? Are there taxis available at that time of night & are they very expensive? I am considering the Madison or the Westin which I think has an airport shuttle. If we stayed at the airport, we wanted to be at Miniatur Wunderland the next day when it opens and then need to go to the cruise port so I would be unsure of what to do with our luggage.

Renting a car is not out of the question. I know you also talked about medieval towns close to Hamburg.

Thank you.

[Sauer-kraut]

The G20 Summit will be taking place in Hamburg July 7-8 this year. I imagine that security in HH will be pretty heavy. I assume this is what people were talking about.

 

Can't help with the hotels, although Taxis should be plentiful at the airport even at that hour. As to cost I don't know.

[angeleyes27]

Do we have to prebook a taxi or are they readily available outside of baggage claim? Is there a phone number or recommendation for a taxi? Thank you

 

 

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[Steff79]

I'm thinking what I want to do just won't work, but I thought I'd give it a try to see if anyone has any ideas.

 

We will arrive by ship with baggage at the Altona pier around 8:00 and depart HAM at 15:40. I would like to store our bags and visit minatur wonderland if it is possible.

 

If we could take a taxi to minatur wonderland directly from the ship that would be good, but I expect that there will be no place near there to store our bags. So, I think the only option would be to depart the ship, walk to Altona station, store our bags there, and then take a taxi to minatur wonderland.

 

Then taxi back to Altona station, get our bags, and then take the S-1 to the airport. We need to be at the airport by 13:00. I am thinking this really won't be possible, unless we only want to spend 1 hour at minatur wonderland. But if anyone has an suggestions, I would be grateful.

 

have you many bags? if only one or two maybe you can ask the miniatur wunderland if you can store them there for the time of your visit. they have a cloakroom but more for jackets, i don´t know if they take bags.

ask them:

http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/other/email/contact/

and if yes, print the answer and take it with you, then you are safe.

 

if you know your time do a ticket reservation, there are days you have to wait some hours without

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

[Steff79]

Do we have to prebook a taxi or are they readily available outside of baggage claim? Is there a phone number or recommendation for a taxi? Thank you

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https://www.hamburg-airport.de/en/taxi.php

i never used one at the airport, but there is taxi stand in front of terminal 1 and 2. ( Airport area )

 

if you srcoll down there are links to the taxi companies at the airport if you want to do a reservation. i only used hansa taxi ones

https://www.taxi211211.de/