Hamburg

:This article is about the city in Germany. For other articles named Hamburg, see Hamburg (disambiguation).

Tourism

Hamburg is best visited for a few days in spring or summer – and with a plan of things to do. For historical reasons Hamburg is not the typical sightseeing city, partly due to its old civic and trade tradition which didn't leave grand palaces (except the city hall, the home of senate and parliament), partly due to severe air raids during World War II which flattened complete districts (see section History above).

Related Topics:
Air raid - World War II

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A typical Hamburg visit includes a tour of the city hall and the grand church St. Michaelis (called the Michel), and visiting the old warehouse district (Speicherstadt) and the harbour promenade (Landungsbrücken). Sightseeing busses connect these points of interest. Of course, a visit in one of the world's largest harbours would definitely be incomplete without having taken one of the harbour and/or canal boat tours (Große Hafenrundfahrt, Fleetfahrt) which start from the Landungsbrücken. Many visitors take a walk in the evening around the area of Reeperbahn, considered Europe's second largest red light district and home of many theatres, bars and night clubs.

Related Topics:
St. Michaelis - Reeperbahn

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However, as already indicated, most people visit Hamburg because of a specific interest, notably one of the musicals, a sports event or an exhibition.

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Statistics

The described type of tourism leaves clear tracks in the statistics: In 2004, each visitor spent an average of two nights. The majority of visitors comes from Germany (80%), most foreigners are European, especially from the United Kingdom and Switzerland, and the largest group from outside Europe comes from the USA.

Related Topics:
2004 - United Kingdom - Switzerland - USA

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Medical tourism became an issue in 2004 because of the number of rich Arabic patients seeking medical treatment in one of Hamburg's hospitals; accordingly, the number of visitors from the Persian Gulf states grew by nearly 30% compared to 2003.

Related Topics:
2004 - Persian Gulf - 2003

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A lot more visitors also came from East Asia (Taiwan, China) and especially the Baltic states.

Related Topics:
Taiwan - China - Baltic states

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Regular events

For the interested visitor, some events held every year:

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• Sports (Note that a registration, usually months in advance, is needed for public races.)
• Hamburg Marathon http://www.marathon-hamburg.de/ - marathon, open to the public: April
• Tennis Masters Series: May
• Dragon boat race, open to the public (if you have a dragon boat..): August
• HEW Cyclassics http://www.hew-cyclassics.de/ - bike race, open to the public: August
• Holsten City Man Triathlon http://www.holstencityman.de/ - triathlon, open to the public: August
• Film festivals
• Filmfest Hamburg http://www.filmfesthamburg.de/: September
• Fantasy Filmfest http://www.fantasyfilmfest.com/: April
• Kurzfilmfestival - International Short Film Festival http://www.shortfilm.com/: June
• Lateinamerika-Filmtage - Latin-America Days http://www.cinelatino.de/: December
• Spanische Filmtage - Spanish Days http://www.cinelatino.de/: July
• Lesbian & Gay Film Festival Hamburg http://hamburg.gay-web.de/filmtage/: October
• Arts & Exhibitions
• International Fireworks Festival: August
• Kirschblütenfest - Grand fireworks and Japanese culture: May
• Lange Nacht der Museen - one ticket, 40 of Hamburg's museums open until midnight: May
• Theme nights (jungle, romantic, Asian) at Hagenbeck's zoo http://www.hagenbeck.de/: Saturdays in summer
• Music
• Fleetinselfest - Music and international artists open air http://www.bwp-events.de/eigene/fleetinsel_main.html: July
• G-Move - Techno parade: June
• Schlagermove - German 1970's music parade http://www.schlagermove.de/: July
• Fun / Street Festivals
• Alstervergnügen http://www.alstervergnuegen-hamburg.de/ - Alster fair: August
• Christopher Street Day (Gay Pride Parade) http://www.hamburg-pride.de/: June
• Hafengeburtstag http://www.hamburger-hafengeburtstag.de/- Hamburg's harbour birthday: May
• Motorradgottesdienst - Biker's divine service in Hamburg's largest church St. Michaelis: June