Hamburg is famous and infamous for nightlife. You can go high-brow, as the city has excellent opera and dance companies and symphonies; middle brow in chic bars and homey rathskellers; or lowbrow on and around the Reeperbahn, in Hamburg’s notoriously sex-oriented St. Pauli district. Hamburg’s gay scene is almost as robust as that in Berlin, and centers in St Georg, just to the east of the Haupthbanhoff, where most of the district’s gay venues are along and around two main streets, Lange Reihe and Steindamm. Visitor information centers in the Wandelhalle of the Hauptbahnhof (tel. 040/30051300) and on the St. Pauli-Landungsbrücken are usually littered with fliers announcing goings-on around town and counters sell tickets to mainstream events. The Ticketmaster affiliate in Hamburg is Kartenhaus at Schanzenstrasse 5 (tel. 040 43 59 46; www.kartenhaus.de; Mon–Fri 10am–7pm, Sat 10am–2pm).

The Performing Arts

Theater -- The English Theatre of Hamburg, Lerchenfeld 14 (tel. 040/2277089; www.englishtheatre.de; U-Bahn: Mundsburg), is the only English-speaking theater in the northern Germany and actors present popular plays and the classics.

The Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Kirchenallee 39 (tel. 040/248713; www.schauspielhaus.de; U-Bahn: Hauptbahnhof), is one of the largest and most important theaters in the German-speaking world, performing both classics and modern plays—but you’ll need to understand German to appreciate fully the genius of these productions.

Bar Rooms With A View

You can enjoy the spectacle of Hamburg’s port while keeping warm and dry and slacking your thirst at 20Up, on the 20th floor of the Empire Riverside Hotel, Bernhard-Nocht-Strasse 97 (tel. 40/311190; www.empire-riverside.de). A similarly dramatic view is to be had from the 14th-floor Tower Bar of the Hafen Hotel, Seewartenstrasse 9 (tel. 040/311130; www.hotel-hafen-hamburg.de). The perspective of the maritime activity and sprawling city is eye-catching by day, and downright dazzling at night

 

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.