Germany · Self-guided walk
Hamburg in one walk 8 sights, 40 minutes
A self-guided walking tour of the Hamburg Old Town: 8 sights on one 2.5 km loop, about 40 minutes on foot, back where you started.
No two days to spare? Here is the short version: the big sights in one loop. I would take longer. I always take longer.
At a glance
The walk in numbers.
- Distance
- 2.5 km, a loop
- Time
- about 40 minutes of walking at 4 km/h, plus however long you stop
- Sights
- 8
- Start and finish
- Kirchenruine St. Nikolai
- Steps
- on Katharinenkirchhof, Kirchenruine St. Nikolai
- Cost
- free: no guide, no booking, no tip
The route
Map of the Hamburg walk: 8 stops, one loop.
The gold line is the walk. The numbers are the stops, in the order you reach them. The pale lines are every other street in the Old Town.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
The stops
8 sights in Hamburg, in walking order.
Each stop says how far the next one is and which streets take you there.
1. Kirchenruine St. Nikolai
the start
A tower 147 metres high, and hardly any church left around it. A glass lift takes you up in 40 seconds to a platform at 76 metres, and the whole level lies spread out below like a menu. Why the rest never came back, I will tell you when you are standing under it.
Next: Hauptkirche St. Katharinen, 350 m, about 5 min, along Grimm, Katharinenkirchhof.
2. Hauptkirche St. Katharinen
about 5 minutes of walking from the start
During the restoration of 2010 and 2011, workers came upon a medieval double doorway that appeared in no building plan and no church record. A door that kept quiet for centuries. Amateur, by my standards, but talented. Before you go in, look up at the top of the tower and ask yourself what it is made of.
Next: Chilehaus, 610 m, about 9 min, along Katharinenkirchhof.
3. Chilehaus
about 14 minutes of walking from the start
The icon of the Kontorhaus district. Walk all the way round it, then stand at the narrow end and tip your head back. I know what it reminds me of. For once, it is not lunch.
Next: Evangelisch-lutherische Hauptkirche St. Jacobi, 310 m, about 5 min, along Burchardplatz.
4. Evangelisch-lutherische Hauptkirche St. Jacobi
about 19 minutes of walking from the start
In 1769 this tower got the first lightning rod in Germany. I have only ever been struck by hunger. Inside, one of the instruments has a sense of humour. I am not telling you which.
Next: Hammaburg-Platz, 320 m, about 5 min, along Jakobikirchhof, Speersort, Domstraße.
Lunch break
Marshall Street Schopenstehl, Schopenstehl 30, about 120 m off the route, open Mon–Fri 08:00–16:00, Sat–Sun 09:00–16:00.
An Australian-style café that roasts its own coffee, and a real hidden gem of the centre, says a Hamburg city magazine. More on what to eat in Hamburg.
5. Hammaburg-Platz
about 24 minutes of walking from the start
A small green square in the shadow of St. Petri, and the spot where the city started: a settlement of about 200 people. Two bites, if you take them slowly. Look at what stands around you before you cross it. None of it is there by accident.
Next: Hauptkirche St. Petri, 80 m, about 1 min.
6. Hauptkirche St. Petri
about 25 minutes of walking from the start
The market church, on one of the two highest points of the archbishop's town. 544 steps climb the spire to a lookout 123 metres above the streets. I would rather eat them than climb them. Somewhere on the way up is something you would not expect in a church tower.
Next: Rathaus, 320 m, about 5 min, along Rathausstraße, Rathausmarkt.
7. Rathaus
about 30 minutes of walking from the start · inside open Mon–Thu 10:00–15:15, Fri–Sun 10:00–13:15
Hamburg's town hall opened in 1897 and stands on more than four thousand oak piles, roughly where the old ridge runs to a point and ends. I counted them once. I had the time. Before you leave, walk through to the back. You will see why.
Next: Laeiszhof, 450 m, about 7 min, along Rathausmarkt, Kleine Johannisstraße, Brodschrangen, Neß, Trostbrücke.
8. Laeiszhof
about 37 minutes of walking from the start
An office building at the Trostbrücke, Hamburg's oldest bridge. Walk round to the side that faces the water and look up at the roof. Somebody sits up there all day and never asks for lunch. I could not do it.
Back to the start: Kirchenruine St. Nikolai, 60 m, about 1 min.
Every stop counts from the street; the hours are for going inside. Opening hours from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors. Check before you go.
After the walk
The rest of Hamburg.
This loop is 8 sights. The Old Town is 103 streets, and I have opinions about all of them. Every street of the Hamburg Old Town, with what to eat and where.
Cobble Gobble is a walking game for iPhone: every street is a line of dots you collect by walking it, and the phone stays in your pocket. Your first city is free.