Honestly, when S first told me about Miniatur Wunderland and how it was the largest model railway…read morecollection in the world - it wasn't a place that I felt super enthusiastic about visiting during our time in Germany. Another couple joined us for the Hamburg portion of our trip and they really wanted to go, so I agreed. I'm a believer now! This place is fun for all ages. As someone who prides myself in my skillset re: "attention to detail", this place has me beat and I'm totally impressed. Come early to beat the crowds. It does get pretty crowded in there. You definitely need at least 3-4 hours here, and can probably spend the entire day too if you want. They have lockers for your stuff, and a place to grab a bite to eat on-site. Reservations are a must! We were pretty late in booking our tickets so ended up spending an extra 10 euros to buy the "virtual reality" experience in order to get an any time entry ticket. The 10 min VR experience was pretty meh, so only choose this option as a last resort.

Hadn't planned to visit when I first saw this museum but we ended up going. Had a 9:30 pm entry…read moretime reservation on a Friday night. It was crowded but we were able to see all the exhibits without waiting much at all. It's impressive overall and the attention to detail was memorable. Exhibits are divided by region such as Scandanavia and Europe. Of course I liked the Las Vegas exhibit and the airport was also impressive. It's about $25 US to get in. Nice gift shop and we grabbed some food, schnitzel and fries. They gave us a beer with the meal we didn't order so that was amazing! Restaurant seats are plane seats which was neat!

Informative and fun museum for all chocolate lovers!…read more Being a chocolate lover, coming across a museum dedicated to chocolates in Europe appeared a no-brainer to me. Located in Hamburg near the canal and within a shirt walk to The Miniature Wunderland, this interactive chocolate museum offers great education and hands-on tasting experience. To join a tour, it is recommended that you make a reservation online. Most tours are in German, and there is only one English-speaking tour per day. Therefore, making an advance reservation is critical if you like a guaranteed spot. Before we began, we left our belongings at the locker our front as we were told we would be making our own chocolates. The tour started off with a dipping a plain cookie at a chocolate fountain. Afterward, we were led onto special exhibits to view cocoa plants, cocoa pods, and various aspects of cocoa trades. This was the first time I received good definitions of multiple fair trade labels on chocolate packaging. We were then shown multiple machinery that were used to process cocoa. All the guests were invited to try the cocoa end products after each stage. In addition, each guest was given the opportunity to make their own chocolate. Guests could choose between white, milk, and dark chocolates and pick multiple toppings on their own candy bar. The candy bar was briefly chilled and packaged for each guest to take home. Overall, we had a very fun and yummy experience at the chocolate museum. It was very informative to see how chocolate started from the cocoa plants and the process it took to become our candy bars. After this trip, I greatly appreciate all the hard work and innovation behind every chocolate bar. Must see museum for all chocolate lovers!

Chocoversum is an interesting museum about the history of chocolate, complete with samples at the…read morefar side. You will learn quite a bit about the how of chocolate production, and see some chocolate producing equipment. You will also produce your own chocolate bar from a mold and generate toppings! And obligatory selfie area.

The BallinStadt Auswanderermuseum is located close to Veddel S-Bahn Station at the old location…read morewhere the emigrants stayed before the left for their new lives. The museum explains the lives of the emigrants in Hamburg and shows where they emigrated to. It is also possible to search for ancestors but I was a bit disappointed that there was not a good explanation how to search.

Unfortunately it's only in German. It feels a little uncoordinated when walking through the museum…read more There's just a lot of text/information everywhere. It was cool to see and I got a little information brochure in English, still I think such a museum, especially in such an international city like Hamburg, should offer it in both languages, German and English.

Great museum about the history of sailing and ocean shipping. Exhibits from ancient times until now.read more

This is one of the largest and most well maintained museums I've ever been to. Absolutely an…read moreessential part of your trip to Hamburg if you're even remotely interested in anything maritime related. This includes vikings, trade routes, slave trade, explorers, war ships, cargo shipping, harbour building, pirates, marine animals, fishing, treasures, ship wrecks and much more! The exhibitions stretch over nine stories with additional smaller exhibitions on various sub-floors in between. We didn't have enough time to visit every single room, but everything I saw was super well presented, interesting and dynamic. There are tours at various times in various areas as well as presentations throughout the different floors. We happened to walk in on a presentation of a container ship simulator that let you slowly, painstakingly experience what it's like to drive a large container ship along a canal leading to the harbour. It's slow. It's arduous. I thought it was incredibly boring (the simulator, not the presentation) but apparently people spend hours at home playing with these simulators. And enjoy it. For some reason. I loved the miniature ship exhibition. Thousands of miniature ships spanning several centuries of ship building and design. The piracy exhibit was also quite interesting, while the rooms on the slave trade (including a piece of an actual slave ship showing shakles and chains) and plague ships were quite harrowing though still really well presented. All the history of human activity on the seven seas seems to be brought together in this amazing building. The cafe downstairs is also reasonably priced for a museum cafe and very beautifully designed. We really enjoyed our trip to this museum.

I have been to Hamburg so many times that I thought I knew the city…read more Apparently, I can't be further away from being wrong. This museum - that is located on beautiful park with idyllic lake teaches you all about Hamburg and its history. It's located not far from U-bahn stop St. Pauli, so it can't get any easier than that, not to mention it's not far should you be interested to check out all the "interesting" entertainment on the infamous Reeperbahn. Again, dragged by my history and museum geek boyfriend, I came here by force (if not by free will) although I wasn't literally kicking and screaming. If it were up to me, I'd rather spend my time at Monckebergstrasse, but oh well - I guess a little history won't hurt. This museum has very interesting models of pretty much everything in Hamburg. At least you won't be bored by history by looking at interesting teeny weeny intricate models. It taught you what Hamburg really was back then when some Christian missionaries (and bishops) chose to settle here and named the town Hammaburg. It's almost like reading it on wikipedia, but with a lot of cute models. See? not boring. The layout of the museum was cool too and they had a room full of model ships just like in Copenhagen's Orlogsmuseet, and the most cool about this museum is that on the top floor, they have a working railway model of Hamburg in the scale of 1:32. That was amazing to watch. They did have people operating the trains and all. I felt like I went back to my childhood again. On the basement floor they had small exhibition of what Hamburg was like under Nazi reign, along with recreation of shops, places under World War II. Very interesting. All in all, a very interesting place to visit, especially if you're interested about history. ...and oh, did you know that Reeperbahn literally means the rope way? It's where back in the yore they made ropes for the ships. See? More knowledge of history here! I'm getting like 1% smarter than before... :P

The museum itself is a nice museum with a lot of interesting things, but after seeing the miniature…read morewonderland and the maritime museum, I had more than enough miniature buildings and boats. Only was able to stay 15 minutes before I couldn't take anymore of it.

Quite a stunning museum of the golden years and modern years. With everything you can imagine,…read moregrand buildings, grand entrance (quite a steps to walk up), grands staircase. Reasonable admission fee to get in and a must to put everything away. Several levels of arts displaced. A must visit when you're in Hamburg for sure. I got lost into the history through the art displaces, just fascinating and very intriguing. Everything is down in grand scale for sure.

Traveling to the Hamburger Kunsthalle to see Caspar David Friedrich's "Wanderer above the Sea of…read moreFog" is absolutely worth the trip. The painting feels even more powerful in person, with the misty landscape and solitary figure drawing you into a quiet, reflective mood. The museum itself is calm, well organized, and easy to navigate, which makes the visit pleasant even if you are not an art expert. Staff and gallery attendants are very helpful and approachable, happy to point you toward the Friedrich room or answer questions, so you feel welcomed and cared for throughout your visit.

Great space; pieces are great including the two Lagerfeld dresses when you enter the museum. I…read morefound an elevator but I don't think it was listed on the map. Restaurant wasn't too bad and the price was great. The museum store is pretty much what you'd find in any other museum.

This review is for the Tattoo Exhibit only…read more Went to the museum today excited to see what would be portrayed about Tattoo history etc. Basically, it was a lot of photographs of modern day tattoo wearers talking about their tattoos. A few old machines in a display box, a ton of tattoo books on a table, and displayed pigments. The exhibit seemed super touristy in a sense that it was very basic, and maybe curated by someone fascinated by the culture, and not actually a part of it. I'd give it less stars if it weren't for the historic Skin Samples on display. That saved the exhibit. Everything else you can see in the same fashion on the internet. Pictures of pictures etc.

I visited on a Sunday. You have 3 levels with different themes/periods and you start on the top…read morefloor. Got here around 1 pm and not very many visitors. I really liked the simple descriptions of the car/items that gave you some good/quick insights. They had a vintage Porsche drive simulator which was pretty cool. This was quite popular and would imagine a queue during busy days. Although small, they have a good selection of mint or near mint condition vintage cars and concepts. Really liked the 996 display showing 1/2 interior and 1/2 exterior. Although they do have VW and Audi concepts, the majority of the display is Porsche. There is a cafe with gift shop that has an good selection of books and model cars & some clothing. Only 10 Euros entry fee with a friendly and helpful staff. Plan on 1.5 to 2 hours. A must for any Porsche lover and enthusiast!

Do you like cars? Of course you like cars! You HAVE to see this place!…read more The gorgeous, show-room style exhibition place is fantastic and features cards from a multitude of decades, including video installations, toy/marketing products on show and a porsche simulator! Yes, you get to sit in a Porsche and drive it around the Nueremburgring. How fantastic is that! Definitely a must for every car lover and even those with just a mild interest, it's just so beautiful and well presented. Do not miss the second, temporary exhibit downstairs! It's in a separate space, so it's easy to miss. As it's a changing exhibit, I can't say what they'll be showing off when you get to go, but it's always intersting and really well done. So be sure to check it out.

Oh, this place is so great! It's a spice museum! You can…read morefind plenty of information about spices, their origins, their usage and how there were and are imported. The space is actually in the Speicherstadt, the largest warehouse district in the world, located right in the port of Hamburg. The museum itself is in a warehouse that used to belong to a spice trader, so it's the perfect location for a museum dedicated to educating and advising people on the origin and usage of spices. There are over 500 years of spicy history in this museum! You can touch and even taste over 50 different spices throughout the museum. It's an amazing visit for anyone who is interested in food preparation, history and spices. Also, the entry ticket is a bag of black pepper, so you're getting something out of this visit in any case! You can also buy spices and spice mixtures after your visit. I've been back many times and absolutely love it.

This museum was very fun. It smells very nice inside, although the spices out on display to smell…read morehave pretty much lost most of their smell / blended together with other spices. There were four samples that you could try (roasted chickpeas, sugared chickpeas, and two other sweet things). It was pretty cool walking around and seeing all the different spices.