Cheap things to do in Hamburg
Street food, free parks, brewpubs and a UNESCO warehouse district for next to nothing.
This is Hamburg for people who'd rather spend money on a second beer than a white tablecloth. The three days move between the scruffy-cool Schanze, the dramatic red-brick harbour quarter and the city centre's underrated walks, with every meal either cheap and local or seriously good value. If your idea of a perfect evening is a cold draft at an outdoor table, you're in the right place.
Day 1: Schanze: parks, beer and Korean
The day earns its evening: two parks and a great-value lunch set you up for cheap Korean and a brewpub garden that is exactly the good local bar Hamburg promises.
- 9:30 AM
elbgold
Schanze roastery in the old slaughterhouse yard on Lagerstraße; a filter coffee at the long bar.
Map - 10:30 AM
Sternschanzenpark
Hilly park around the old water tower (now a hotel), with dog-walkers and a view over the Schanze rooftops.
Map - 12:30 PM
GASSENHAUR
Great-value Austrian, quality lunch at honest prices, one of the best-value spots in the neighbourhood.
Map - 2:15 PM
Planten un Blomen
47-hectare free park with a Japanese garden, stroll or sit, catch the summer water-light show if timing works.
Map - 7:30 PM
- 9:15 PM
Altes Mädchen and Ratsherrn
Schanze brewpub beer garden in the Lagerstraße complex, local draft beer, outdoor tables, exactly the good local bar this trip called.
Map
Day 2: Harbour quarter, crepes, model trains
A free stroll along an 18th-century merchant street gives way to the world's most obsessive model railway, buckwheat crepes for lunch, and sharing plates in a converted engine hall.
- 9:30 AM
Deichstraße
Hamburg's last row of 18th-century merchant houses; grab a coffee at Nord Coast at number 9 and walk the fleet side.
Map - 11:45 AM
Miniatur Wunderland
World's largest model railway with a working airport, day/night cycle and thousands of hidden details, budget 1.5 to 2 hrs and arrive early before queues build.
Map - 1:15 PM
Ti Breizh - Haus der Bretagne
Buckwheat galettes and a bowl of Breton cider in an old merchant house on Deichstraße.
Map - 7:30 PM
Chefs Warehouse Hamburg
Cape Town-born sharing-plate concept in a restored Maschinenzentralstation with strong vegetarian options, best value sit-down meal in the neighbourhood.
Map - 9:30 PM
Grüner Bunker St. Pauli rooftop
Walk the planted path up the WWII flak bunker to the roof garden for views to the Elbphilharmonie and St Michael's.
Map
Day 3: City centre, currywurst, tilted canteen
A low-cost applied-arts museum, the best currywurst in Neustadt, a free UNESCO warehouse walk and a harbour-workers canteen that has been serving Labskaus since before you were born.
- 9:30 AM
Cafe Gnosa
St Georg's old-school café on Lange Reihe, known for its towering homemade cakes and big breakfasts.
Map - 10:15 AM
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg
Art nouveau rooms, a Japanese tea house and a century of posters and fashion by the Hauptbahnhof; closed Mondays.
Map - 12:30 PM
Edelcurry
Neustadt's beloved cheap currywurst spot, exactly the kind of local street-food lunch this day calls for.
Map - 2:00 PM
Speicherstadt and Kontorhausviertel
Stroll the UNESCO red-brick Gothic Revival warehouse district, one of Hamburg's most striking free walks.
Map - 7:30 PM
Oberhafenkantine
The tilted former harbour-workers canteen, order the Labskaus or Rundstück Warm for a proper cheap Hamburg dinner.
Map - 9:30 PM
Elbschlosskeller
Round-the-clock dive on Hamburger Berg, the Kiez's last stop: cheap beer, a jukebox and a mixed late crowd.
Map
Where to stay
Motel One Hamburg-Fleetinsel
Motel One pricing with a central Fleetinsel address that puts all three days within easy reach on foot or by U-Bahn.
east Hotel
East Hotel sits closest to the Schanze and St. Pauli action of Day 1, and keeps Days 2 and 3 a short ride away.
Make Hamburg your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App StoreBefore you go
Book ahead
- Miniatur Wunderland: weeks ahead
- Millerntor-Stadion: weeks ahead
- Chocoversum: a few days ahead
- Dialoghaus Hamburg: a few days ahead
- Hamburger Golfclub Falkenstein: a few days ahead
- Gut Kaden Golf und Land Club: a few days ahead
Skip these
- Reeperbahn table dance touts, a cheap drink offer can become a huge card bill, ignore street promoters.
- Herbertstraße is not a sightseeing stop, walk the Kiez for music and bars instead.
- Paying over 25 EUR for a big ship harbour tour that duplicates Ferry 62 and cannot enter the canals.
- Hamburg Dungeon and generic attractions crowd out the real Speicherstadt on short trips, Chocoversum is better.
The full Hamburg travel guide: when to go, safety, getting around