Kai Hollmann
In Hamburg for nearly 50 years — Passionate host
Morning and noon
Before breakfast I go for a swift walk around the Alster: up past the Alsterperle and then along the ‘Schöne Aussicht’ towards Eppendorf (for the perfect view of the awakening city).
Breakfast:
— Café Gnosa Lange Reihe 93, 20099 Hamburg
Lunch on the Elbe at Henssler & Henssler for some fancy eats from the Far East.
— Henssler & Henssler Große Elbstrasse 160, 22767 Hamburg
Alternatively there’s:
— Le Plat du Jour Dornbusch 4 (Altstadt), 20095 Hamburg
After lunch, I stroll through Hamburg’s bustling inner city and enjoy the multicultural flair without actually buying anything — or just have a seat in one of the many Alster cafes and daydream.
Shopping tips
Eppendorfer Baum, Hegestrasse or the Schanze — lots of small unique shops that don’t just sell big labels.
En route in Hamburg
Bike rentals — available all over Hamburg and easy to rent and return at any of the growing number of docking stations around the city. Take a ride through the Schanze and Karolinen district, make your way down to the Elbe — watch the harbour activities and ship.
— Stadtrad Hamburg
Then pop over to the Portuguese district for some coffee and typical Nata-cakes.
— Café Sul Ditmar-Koel-Strasse 10, 20459 Hamburg
Visit the Michel Church (Hamburg’s secret landmark), tour the HafenCity, Hamburg’s newest and most interesting area, and then head back towards town.
Restaurants for dinnertime
— DaCaio
Barcastrasse 3, 22087 Hamburg
In The George Hotel, excellent Italian cuisine — not cheap, but authentically Italian and delicious.
— Rialto
Michaelisbrücke 3, 20459 Hamburg
Late nights
St. Pauli Theater or Schmidts Tivoli right next to it with its Angie’s Nightclub. For those who like to power through to the morning, there are the clubs and bars at Hamburger Berg, like Rosi’s Bar where they dance on the tables.
— Rosi’s Bar
Hamburger Berg 7, 20359 Hamburg
Bars
Small but sweet:
— Le Lion — Bar de Paris
Rathausstrasse 3, 20095 Hamburg
— ZWICK Pöseldorf
Mittelweg 121B, 20148 Hamburg
The living room of Hugo Egon Balder, Otto Waalkes and quite a few others of their generation — but it still gets crazy here.
— Bar Mangold
Beim Alten Gaswerk 3, 22761 Hamburg
At Gastwerk Hotel — great cocktails for fair prices and their live acts are terrific when they have them.