Headed to Hamburg Germany, where else should we go?

January 31, 2017, 10:27 PM

Jimbo Jones

Definitely Prague! Was there for the fist time with my kids this past Summer and we should ahve stayed longer!

quote:
Originally posted by Skull Leader:
I agree Poland's Krakow is a wonderful city, but If you can get to Prague. Prague is AMAZING.

Berlin though is my favorite European city and it's only a 2 hour train ride from Hamburg. So much to do and see. Excellent public transportation. Berlin is just so easy to visit and see.

February 01, 2017, 08:04 AM

lugerguards

quote:
Originally posted by Jimbo Jones:
Definitely Prague! Was there for the fist time with my kids this past Summer and we should ahve stayed longer!

quote:
Originally posted by Skull Leader:
I agree Poland's Krakow is a wonderful city, but If you can get to Prague. Prague is AMAZING.

Berlin though is my favorite European city and it's only a 2 hour train ride from Hamburg. So much to do and see. Excellent public transportation. Berlin is just so easy to visit and see.

If we are in Hamburg is there a recommended way to travel to Prague?

February 01, 2017, 10:03 AM

Skull Leader

If I'm reading the Bahn.com site correctly, there is a train from Hamburg to Prague via Berlin. Looks like there are no connections so once you're on the train you're good til you get to Prague. It take 6.5 hours. That is from Hauptbahnhof to Hauptbahnhof, main train station to main train station.

Or you could fly direct from Hamburg to Prague. It's an hour flight.

I'd probably fly unless you want to experience the train system.

February 01, 2017, 07:47 PM

lugerguards

quote:
Originally posted by Skull Leader:
If I'm reading the Bahn.com site correctly, there is a train from Hamburg to Prague via Berlin. Looks like there are no connections so once you're on the train you're good til you get to Prague. It take 6.5 hours. That is from Hauptbahnhof to Hauptbahnhof, main train station to main train station.

Or you could fly direct from Hamburg to Prague. It's an hour flight.

I'd probably fly unless you want to experience the train system.

Thanks for the info, I think we are leaning towards getting a euro pass and a couple of days after the marathon we can hit Berlin, then Prague and possibly one other spot. I have been researching the train option along with the euro pass. For my wife and I it sounds pretty fun. I know a couple/few days in Prague probably won't be enough but you have to draw the line somewhere.

Shawn

February 04, 2017, 09:25 AM

Skull Leader

I think I would just book my tickets through the bahn.com site if you have hard dates of travel. I'm not sure how much the europass costs, but I bought 2 1st class tickets one way from Berlin to Hamburg and they only cost us 58 euros total.

February 21, 2017, 10:00 AM

lugerguards

Airline tickets have been bought. Flying into Hamburg and out of Frankfurt with a short stop both ways in Iceland(1.5 hours). hoping to find out the host family info next week the plan the second leg of the trip.

February 21, 2017, 10:12 AM

bendable

I just watched a show about pisa , italy ,
that looks like a hoot, if you like really old stuff, anyway

February 21, 2017, 01:52 PM

ravens1775

quote:
Originally posted by lugerguards:
Thanks for the info, I think we are leaning towards getting a euro pass.

Back in 2005 I picked up a 2 week EuroRail pass and hit as many places as possible. We started in Munich, worked our way up through Belgium, Netherlands, and back into Germany (Hamburg) before heading North into Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Prague was a must-see, so we flew from Oslo to Prague and then a train from Prague to Munich.

We had a few places we wanted to go, but we largely just winged it. Have fun!

February 21, 2017, 02:35 PM

PASig

When you get to Germany, there is one thing you ABSOLUTELY must eat there at least once; a Doner Kebab!

Similar to the Greek Gyro or Middle Eastern Shawarma, this is a Turkish specialty that is one of the very best things you'll eat in Germany, trust me! The shops are all over the place too, in my small town I was stationed in via the Army there were 3-4 of them.

February 21, 2017, 03:54 PM

lugerguards

quote:
Originally posted by PASig:
When you get to Germany, there is one thing you ABSOLUTELY must eat there at least once; a Doner Kebab!

On the list.....

Similar to the Greek Gyro or Middle Eastern Shawarma, this is a Turkish specialty that is one of the very best things you'll eat in Germany, trust me! The shops are all over the place too, in my small town I was stationed in via the Army there were 3-4 of them.

April 20, 2017, 04:23 AM

lugerguards

So we are here. We have hit downtown Hamburg and the Elbe river so far. A bunch of cool places and a history lesson too. Pics when I get back in the Pic section.
Shawn

April 20, 2017, 05:26 AM

downtownv

Do not pee on the walls of buildings there!

April 20, 2017, 05:28 AM

fvyellowbird

If you're a Beatles fan, I believe there's a museum in Hamburg that deals with their early days. And if you have time while in Frankfurt, do the Frankfurt On Foot tour, only about 10-15 dollars and very well done. And definitely get a doner! There's so many small cities to see, Prague is supposedly great, never made it there while I lived in Germany though. Have fun!

April 20, 2017, 06:03 AM

lugerguards

quote:
Originally posted by downtownv:
Do not pee on the walls of buildings there!
[FLASH_VIDEO]<iframe frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/z3ow9nUWgTQ" width="420"></iframe>[/FLASH_VIDEO]

I am hoping to visit this area tonight, I will make sure to drain the tank before leaving lol.

April 20, 2017, 08:11 AM

PASig

quote:
Originally posted by downtownv:
Do not pee on the walls of buildings there!

My German is really rusty but did that woman at the end basically say "If you piss on St Pauli, we will piss right back on you"?

April 20, 2017, 09:11 AM

Skull Leader

Enjoy your trip! Looking forward to your pictures and report.

April 20, 2017, 09:32 AM

TXJIM

I am flying into Amsterdam first weekend of May. Renting a car and driving to Hamburg, then down to Cologne and then back to Amsterdam. It's a business trip with clients in tow but I am looking forward to the freedom of having our own car, making side trips as desired and staying off public transit.

April 20, 2017, 10:44 AM

Hound Dog

quote:
Originally posted by SevenPlusOne:
There's also a U-boat in Laboe.

Laboe is just North of Kiel (very short bus ride). U-997; they only Type VII U-boat on display. It is magnificent.

Also, Bremerhaven has a maritime museum with, among other things, a Type XXI U-boat. She was raised and modernized in the 1950s, so she doesn't look much like she did in WWII, but she's the only Type XXI on display anywhere.

Sinsheim and Speyer have OUTSTANDING 'Technical Museums.' Basically, anything that has gears or wheels is on display. Sinsheim has, IIRC, a Concord AND a TU-144 (Concordski), while Speyer has a Soviet Buran shuttle. I haven't been there since 1994, and they were amazing back then. I would die from joy if I got to go back now. . .

I didn't see Rothenburg anywhere in the thread so far. It's the only really 'intact' walled city in Europe (?). Basically, it was a poor city for hundreds of years, which prevented them from 'modernizing.' Now, it's a picture-book village. Really worth the trip.

Munich is pretty nice, too. The Deutches Museum (sp?) is like their version of the Smithsonian. LOTS of rare military artifacts there (including a Do-335 aircraft that I would LOVE to see in person).

Berlin is nice, but I haven't been there since the 90s. I used to prefer the Eastern side. The west side was a 'showcase' for democracy, so they had lots of (ugly!) modern art and architecture. The East side was, of course, commie, so their architecture was a lot older, along the Soviet style, and much more interesting to me.

quote:
When you get to Germany, there is one thing you ABSOLUTELY must eat there at least once; a Doner Kebab!

+ INFINITY

I LOVE DONERs. The best one I ever had was in Laboe; but that was 23 years ago so I don't know if the place would even be there. . . I lived off those things when I would go train-hopping around Europe.