Hamburg: how to get there and around
Airports, stations, ports, where the hotels are and what the numbers say, from public data rather than a brochure.
Hamburg is a city of 2 million people in Germany, 9 m (30 ft) above sea level. The nearest large airport is Hamburg Helmut Schmidt Airport (HAM), 9 km (6 mi) from the centre. It has a dozen or more railway stations on record, including Hamburg Hauptbahnhof. Our booking partner lists 978 places to stay.
Key facts
Daylight in Hamburg runs from about 7 h 32 min a day in late December to 17 h 8 min in late June (computed for 53.55° latitude), which matters more than the forecast when a day is built around one flight or one crossing.
Getting there
Hamburg is served by 4 airports with scheduled flights within 100 km. The closest large one is Hamburg Helmut Schmidt Airport (HAM), 9 km (6 mi) from the centre, whose 12,028-ft runway is long enough for long-haul wide-body aircraft. The alternatives are Bremen Airport (BRE, 98 km), Lübeck Blankensee Airport (LBC, 56 km), Sea-Airport Cuxhaven/Nordholz / Nordholz Naval Airbase (FCN, 91 km).
Flights to Hamburg: every airport, routes and times
By rail: stations on record include Hamburg Hauptbahnhof, Hamburg-Altona station, Hamburg Dammtor station, Barmbek station, Holstenstrasse station, Königstrasse station. Trains to Hamburg
Buses to Hamburg · Driving and car hire
Where to stay
Our booking partner lists 978 places to stay in Hamburg. Of the 608 with a star rating, the largest group is 3-star (358), and 23 are five-star. Across 483 properties with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 8 out of 10. Guests have left 1,231,345 reviews in total.
Hotels in Hamburg: the full picture, and book
Our booking partner lists 38 hostels in Hamburg, out of 978 places to stay of every kind — 3.9% of everywhere it lists in the city, an above-average share: hostels here compete with each other rather than filling a gap. Across 20 hostels with at least 50 reviews, the average guest score is 7.4 out of 10, 0.6 below the 8.0 its hotels average. Guests have left 34,433 reviews across them.
Hostels in Hamburg: the full picture, and book
What people come for
| Sight | Visitors a year | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Erotic Art Museum | 2,000,000 | — |
| Museum am Rothenbaum | 180,000 | — |
| Museum für Hamburgische Geschichte | 61,790 | 1909 |
| Museum of Communication Hamburg | 50,000 | 2003 |
| Hamburger Genossenschaftsmuseum | 2,000 | — |
The busiest is Erotic Art Museum at 2,000,000 visitors. At that volume, anything with a gate is worth a timed ticket or an early start.
UNESCO World Heritage in the city: Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District with Chilehaus.
Tours, tickets and day trips from Hamburg
Nearby cities, and how to get between them
- Berlin, 255 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Copenhagen, 289 km (Denmark) — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Köln, 357 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Amsterdam, 366 km (The Netherlands) — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Frankfurt am Main, 392 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Düsseldorf, 338 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Essen, 308 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental
- Dortmund, 284 km — flights · trains · buses · car rental · tours
- Dresden, 377 km — flights · trains · buses
- Bremen, 95 km — trains · buses · car rental · tours
Twin towns and sister cities: Saint Petersburg, Marseille, Shanghai, Dresden, Osaka, León, Prague, Chicago, Dar es Salaam, Varna, Auckland, Valdivia, Kaliningrad, São Paulo.
Common questions
Which airport serves Hamburg?
Hamburg Helmut Schmidt Airport (HAM), 9 km (6 mi) from the centre, plus 3 other airports with scheduled flights within 100 km.
How big is Hamburg?
About 2 million people live in Hamburg, across 755 km² (GeoNames and Wikidata).
What time zone is Hamburg in?
Europe/Berlin, currently UTC+2.
What currency is used in Hamburg?
The Euro (EUR). Traffic drives on the right.
Are there hostels in Hamburg?
38 of them, bookable on this site. Hostels in Hamburg.
How many hotels are there in Hamburg?
Our booking partner lists 978 places to stay in Hamburg, bookable on this site.
Which cities are near Hamburg?
Berlin (255 km), Copenhagen (289 km), Köln (357 km), Amsterdam (366 km), Frankfurt am Main (392 km).
Where these facts come from
- GeoNames (CC BY 4.0): population, elevation, time zone, postal codes
- Wikidata (CC0): area, sister cities, visitor numbers, heritage listings, stations and ports
- OurAirports (public domain): airports, runways
- Natural Earth (public domain): map outlines
Data compiled 14 September 2026. Hotel and hostel figures are from our booking partner’s catalogue on that date. Journey times on this page are estimates from distance, not timetables; check the operator before you rely on one.