My relaxing 2-day, 3-night holiday adventure in Hamburg, Germany’s second-largest city, was just a taste.
A delicious and education taste!
The city is a major port in northern Germany, connected to the North Sea by the Elbe River. It’s crossed by hundreds of canals, and also contains large areas of parkland.
The Port of Hamburg is an important link for trade between Central and Eastern Europe, with more than 15,000 ships from over 100 countries passing through it each year.
If Hamburg is not on your travel list, add it. Honestly, I enjoyed Hamburg more than Berlin.
Curiously, the city reminded me of Amsterdam.🤯
Yes, this is because of the canals. When I posted a selfie, my friends thought I was in Amsterdam. They were surprised it was Hamburg. One friend said “I didn’t know there were canals in Hamburg. I just associated canals through the city with Venice and Amsterdam.”
Now they know and have added Hamburg to their travel destination lists.
Almost forgot. I made a major faux pas during my adventure. Made the mistake of asking for a hamburger in Hamburg. No joke!
It’s a Beef Burger, or so the angry waitress informed me. Oops!
GETTING THERE
Getting to Hamburg via train was quite simple. As always, I booked my ticket as early as possible to ensure I get a nice price — €30 first-class roundtrip ticket for 4.5 hours train ride. I love European train travel.
Overall, I had a pleasant stay at the Sir Nikolai Hotel.
The room price was more expensive than I normally want to pay, but the hotel’s location gave it a leg up over the competition.
The Sir Deluxe room (room 209) was smaller than I expected. However, if the lounger couch/sofa were removed it would be a bit better. The separate shower room & toilet were good.
The motion-sensor lights in the toilet room kept going off while I was in there, and the shower door didn’t close all the way, so the light stayed on a lot longer than usual.
The Goody Box with Guilty Pleasures is a nice touch, but would be better if it was included in the room rate. Also, why provide an ice bucket if there is no ice machine?
The mini-fridge didn’t keep things cold. The bed was quite comfortable and the TV did have YouTube and Netflix, but it was framed, so I couldn’t plug in my firestick. Also, none of the English channels worked. Actually, none of the non-German language channels worked.
The hotel’s location was its redeeming factory. It was close to main sights I wanted to see and also the pier.
Breakfast, although decent, was not worth €20 euros. The fresh mint tea was exceptionally tasty!
The hotel reception staff were nice and professional, but housekeeping were very persistent about getting into the room despite the Do Not Disturb sign.
A major negative was the hotel did not input the correct Marriott points I earned for the stay. I had to contact the Marriott Corporate office to get my point updated correctly.
Big question — would I stay here again? Possibly, but the Sir Nikolai Hotel would not be my first choice.
MINIATUR WUNDERLAND
Oh my gosh!
Miniatur Wunderland is amazing. Add this to your “must visit” list when in Hamburg. Truly a fascinating place.
The place sounds like it’s for children only, but it has something for everyone, no matter your age.
The interactive components were the best part.
Well, except for the Festival Concert, complete with authentic port-a-potty smells.
Watching the action at Knuffingen Airport makes me smile because it keeps exploring on my mind. The aircraft takeoff exhibit was ingenious. The exhibit even features an up-to-the-minute departures and arrivals board.
Every city is amazingly detailed. Las Vegas was a blast, with Area 51 and “The Strip” at night being the highlights.
The USA-Hamburg Tunnel is a kick. The first train connection between Hamburg and the USA is located five centimeters below the floor.
Visiting the miniature Venice gave me a nice glimpse for my real-life Venetian adventure.
However, Mount Vesuvius blowing its top again and destroying Pompeii was an intriguing recreation!
The Scandinavia Section is a wonderment. The North and Baltic Sea is recreated, filled with 30,000 liters of real water, and serves as the centerpoint of this theme world.
The Hamburg City exhibit was immaculately detailed and truly gives visitors a good overview of Hamburg. I love the city apartment buildings.
You can see the hard work that went into this museum. Looking forward to returning to see Rio de Janeiro and Monaco.
CHOCOVERSUM
Germany, and Europe for that matter, is a massive chocolate market. Germany ranks among the top chocolate producing countries in the world. The country is also one of the top ranked consumers of chocolate.
Thus a visit to the Hachez Chocolate Museum, better known as the CHOCOVERSUM, was a must.
My experience at Hamburg’s Chocolate Museum was — in a word— seductive. C’mon, it’s a museum of chocolate.
A very tasty highlight when visiting Hamburg. The entire 90-minute tour was filled with an intriguing history of chocolate, educational facts about the process and, most importantly, a lot of taste-testing.
The “Build Your Own Chocolate Bar” was my personal favorite. The tour was nice and very fun.
Highly recommend the Hachez Chocolate Museum when you visit Hamburg.
A trip to Hamburg’s Sunday Fish Market is a must, if you have time. Unfortunately, my short stay didn’t afford me a chance to explore this market,operating since 1703.
Nevertheless, I did indulge myself on the various Hamburg fish specialties at Daniel Wischer.
DANIEL WISCHER
The restaurant boast the claim that “everything is homemade.” Can’t say for certain this is entirely true, but I can’t fault the meal I enjoyed on my visit. The place’s atmosphere wasn’t to my liking, but the food was edible. Customer service was decent and the staff were helpful.
The Fish Soup was hearty, flavorful and filling. The “small” bowl made me glad I didn’t go with the “large” serving. The fish & chips was not too flavorful. The crust was more clumpy instead of crunchy, and the fish was very bland. The chips were decent and were nicely salted.
Next time, I’ll stick with the fish soup.
RISTORANTE VINCENZO
The food at Ristorante Vincenzo wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t good either. Eating here wasn’t my first choice, but a time crunch made it the best option. Customer service was okay and the atmosphere was nice.
Overall, my meal was okay. Nothing special, nothing terrible. The Tagliatelle Scampi had flavor, but was served lukewarm. The Bruschetta was too oily and made the bread soggy. However, the tomatoes and onion mixture was delectable.
I would eat here again and try a different entry.
CITY LIFE
Photographing “City Life” concluded my short Hamburg holiday.
Though my adventure was brief, I can truly say that Hamburg is one of the coolest cities on Earth. I am looking forward to another adventure in the city.
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