Hamburg, in northern Germany, is the country’s second-largest city and its great maritime gateway, a city of harbors, canals, and more bridges than Venice and Amsterdam combined. The historic Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is laced with canals and red-brick warehouses, and houses the wildly popular Miniatur Wunderland model railway.
Rising from the harbor, the striking Elbphilharmonie concert hall offers a free public viewing plaza. Locals boat and stroll around the central Alster lakes, browse the early-morning Sunday fish market, and revel in the nightlife of the Reeperbahn.
The best time to visit is May through September, when temperatures are mildest and the harbor is at its liveliest; late November and December bring atmospheric Christmas markets around the city hall.