Best Places to Visit in Hamburg With Kids in 5 Days: Your Itinerary

Getting to know something new is always a treat. And if it's also an introduction to a new city, it's a double treat. In this article, we want to tell you about a beautiful city that, at first glance, wouldn't seem very interesting to young travellers. But prepare carefully, and plenty of surprises are waiting for you on the streets of Hamburg!  Our children's itinerary will help you plan and have fun with the kids in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. So, plan and enjoy your family city walk!

It's not uncommon to start exploring old cities in their historic centre, and it's here that Hamburg's tours begin. The old buildings are the wrinkles on the face of the modern city, but you can't help but marvel at the majestic Town Hall or check the time with the massive clock on the bell tower of St Michael's Church.

Take a stroll down Jungfernstieg, as respectable families with unmarried daughters once did; feed the swans on the promenade (swans, incidentally, have been in the city since the 16th century but are graciously welcomed by visitors to Hamburg as well).

And then take a journey along the fleets, the city's inner-city canals, counting the bridges along the way. Incidentally, there are about 2,500 bridges in the city.

Going further away from the centre, you'll find yourself in the Blankenese district. It's the most affluent area in the city, but for tourists with children, it's attractive with its quiet parks and observation points above the Elbe.

Be prepared to be physically fit: the neighbourhood is on a steep bank, and there are often stairs instead of footpaths.

A cup of fragrant cocoa helps to rejuvenate after a long walk with the children in Hamburg. That's why it's an excellent time to visit the Chocoversum. Its rooms are reminiscent of a patch of equatorial forest in northern Europe. In the winter garden of the museum you can see fantastic cocoa trees where the fruit doesn't grow on the branches but on the trunk. A guide will show you the journey that cocoa beans make from when they are harvested to when they appear on your table.

The selection of chocolates at Chocoversum is incredible. Can't find anything you like? Experiment with the children in the museum workshop and create your version of this delicacy.

Did you know that Hamburg has its little world? It's called "Miniature Wonderland", the world's largest model railway.

The numbers speak for themselves: 930 trains consisting of 14,500 carriages run between the cities of Miniatur Wunderland! You can see a miniature replica of Hamburg, visit Germany's neighbours, travel to America and even visit a fairytale.

The miniature wonderland expands yearly and will soon include new countries and continents. Do you want to know who controls night and day in Miniatur Wunderland or how the tides rise and fall at sea in miniature Scandinavia? Take a tour of the technical side of the layout.

Do you want to take control of the situation without getting into the details? Press one of the buttons next to the layout, and a football match starts in the small stadium, or maybe a rock idol comes out to the fans.

The Port of Hamburg will impress you in size, even on the mock-up — it's worth getting up close and personal with a visit to the International Maritime Museum.

The nine-storey former harbour warehouse is packed to the brim with fascinating exhibits relating to shipping history. The deck levels are perfect for learning how to use a sextant, diving in a submarine, reading the cook's book, or having fun in the pirate's cabin.

The most fascinating part of the exhibition is the collection of 37,000 model ships, including two giant liners assembled from Lego pieces.

Sceptical boys think ships are a slow mode of transport. Well, let them try to keep a racing car on the track, which is speeding along at a high rate of speed. Not an actual race but a racing simulator in the Prototype car museum.

Let the track exist only on the monitor, but a steering wheel and gearbox — as in a real racing car. In addition to the simulator, the museum has a collection of vehicles, including a Michael Schumacher racing car. You also learn more about the history of transport development and see how the cars are assembled.

On the first day, you have already had a glimpse of the port from afar, but we recommend taking a whole day to see it because the port of Hamburg occupies one-tenth of the city's area and is the second largest port in Europe!

Even ocean liners from the North Sea called at the mouth of the Elbe, and watching these 300-meter-long vessels manoeuvre amongst the other ships is an unforgettable experience.

To taste the port's special logic and order, you must thread through the crowd of transport and passenger ships — a sightseeing boat is the best way. You'll see miles and miles of berths where ships from all over the world are docked.

Some ships are forever moored ashore in Hamburg and can be visited on a guided tour. In the museum harbour, you can see the famous sailing ship Rickmer Rickmers and the dry ships Cap San Diego.

The port's warehouses and warehouses are so vast that they make up the hotel town of Speicherstadt. One of the harbour buildings is home to the Spice Museum, where you can see the aromatic spices brought to Europe by sea.

On the first weekend in May, the city celebrates the birthday of the harbour with a regatta and a spectacular sea festival. On those days, even the ships can't help but have fun as they dance the ballet on the Elbe.

A visit to the zoo has several advantages. It includes a long walk in the fresh air, away from the motorways, an informative tour, the thrill of watching the amusing animals, and the pleasant bonus of a carousel and café.

Hamburg Zoo has all these advantages. Carl Hagenbeck, who opened the zoological garden in 1907, ensured the animals had a natural habitat. So that even today, the small feathered and furry "exhibits" can do without cages, do not feel themselves in captivity, and therefore behave as if they live in their forest.

How exciting to watch raptors from a safe distance or to see animals not found in our area! How lovely to hand-feed trusting rabbits, guinea pigs, goats and sheep in a petting zoo.

Fantastic fish and reptiles are collected in a tropical aquarium, and its most giant inhabitants — sharks and crocodiles — also participate in a fascinating show (grab something extra with teeth-mouth, of course, they will not be allowed). Be prepared for the unexpected: dinosaurs may be grazing in the bushes and lawns.

Hagenbeck Zoo has a playground and several cafés to refresh yourself after the tour. But why not make food a destination in its own right? After all, Hamburg makes delicate sweets that no child can resist.

These include Franzbrötchen, puff pastry rolls sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, crisp, fresh-tasting Kemm's biscuits, and the red and white strawberry-flavoured Hanzeat glazed biscuits, The delicious Käsekuchen and Butterkuchen cakes, the marzipan cake with nut paste, the Nusstorte, and Rote Grütze, which is a berry mousse with whipped cream... Just reading these names makes your mouth water.

You can visit the Planten un Blomen park if you like leisurely walking tours. Its northern part is a botanical garden with plants from all over the world.

The garden is divided into several thematic sections, so you can admire the beauty of the flowering plants and increase your knowledge.

The southern part of the park is reserved for outdoor activities. There are spacious children's playgrounds, a rollerdrome, miniature golf courses, trampolines and lawns for lounging on the grass on a sunny day.

Another great park for a carefree family holiday in Hamburg is Stadtpark. There is a swimming pool in the middle of the green area, part for swimming and another for boating.

The park offers playgrounds for children, barbecue areas, and a popular venue for concerts. In the mi ddle of the Stadtpark, there's a planetarium with a modern projection system.

It makes it possible to admire the starry sky in broad daylight and travel to other planets for a while. There are animated programmes for children about the mysteries of space.

If it's a bad day, treat the kids to a visit to the KL!ck Children's Museum. The only thing you shouldn't do at the museum is get bored.

That won't happen; your children will indeed find something to do. They can play with a Lego constructor or set up a cave like a primitive; master financial instruments or, much more understandably, dental instruments; understand the principles of work of antique irons and guess how to use a washing board.

We are sure that all the excursions in Hamburg will leave only pleasant memories. The city will seem a unique and even fascinating place to relax with children, and you will never want to return here with the whole family.