Hamburg

Hamburg, the second largest city of Germany, names itself a Gate to the World - usually this is only mentioned in an economic view, but otherwise this is exactly what hospitality networks are about... It's full of nice places to go out! St.Pauli is the quarter with all the nice bars, clubs, table dance and concerts!

Hospitality Networks
There is a big hospex community in Hamburg. Like elsewhere the most active Hosts/Surfers are usually members of more than one network. There are countless meetings and very different activities of the hospex crowd, to take part check the BW group Hamburg or CS group Hamburg.

General Advice for finding hosts: As the public transport in Hamburg is very well - also late at night (at least at weekends) - don't hesitate to contact people from the outer parts of the city. Especially in high season (summer, public holidays, weekends ...) people living in the city center get a lot of requests (make sure you've read How to write a Request).

BeWelcome
BeWelcome is still a small project, but there is already a big group of group potential hosts (login to see them all) in Hamburg - just give it a try, probably some of them are eager to use this alternative. Also the BW group Hamburg provides advice, company and suggestions for all kinds of activities, started bw meetings and more to come.

Couchsurfing
The CS group Hamburg is probably the most active hospex group in Hamburg. All kind of meetings, partys, exhibitions, concerts, hiking trips and other events are announced there on a regular basis. Furthermore it's a marketplace for all kind of needs, ideas and questions.

Hospitality Club
There is a yahoo group/mailinglist but it's not really active anymore.

Hosting Emergencies
Lost? You're host cancelled your stay on short notice? An unexpected change in travel plans? Before searching for a bridge (there are a lot of them though;), try the following options:


 * CS Emergency Couch Group
 * Friendly Santa Claus (CS profile to contact emergencies hosts)
 * List of hostels at Wikivoyage.

FAQ Frequently asked Questions
In the related groups some questions come up again and again, so it seems usefull to collect answers to this questions for easy access.


 * What shall I do / see in Hamburg: 100 things to do in Hamburg
 * Finding long term accomodation (list of nearly every everything)
 * Finding Cheap Eats
 * Finding Cultural Events

General Tips
Check Wikivoyage for more infos and more places to see.


 * General and "official" cityinfos can be found in English and several other languages at international.hamburg.de
 * A list of museums and exhibitions can be found at www.hamburg-tourism.de

Maps

 * Definetly the best existing map of hamburg from the OpenStreetMap project.
 * An official map of Hamburg in several languages.
 * Marcus Venzke created a nice inner city map with lots of infos, a CC-Licence and different downloadable formats.
 * More maps at worldmapfinder

Located in the city center you'll find Dr. Götze Land & Karte one of the biggest german shops for maps, guidebooks and so on. Not only for Hamburg off course, the have got or are able to order everything.

Public Transport
Hamburger Verkehrs Verbund (HVV) / (English page) provides all kind of useful information about connections, prices, apps and more on the webpage. In general they offer service mostly every 5-10 minutes during daytime (8:00-20:00) and 20-30 minutes in early morning/late night hours. Most U-/S-Bahn trains run on friday, saturday and day before public holidays every 30 minutes all night long. In addition there are special night busses (Nachtbus). The system is safe and reliable.

The ticket system is a bit tricky (but controls are also very common) ... First of all: usually you never leave the area "Großraum Hamburg", if you're not planning to leave the town, tickets for "Großraum Hamburg" will be ok. There regular, near (Nahbereich) & shorttrip (Kurzstrecke) options, but even locals can't say for sure, which one is right. In busses you can ask the driver, who also sells tickets; for U-/S-Bahn you need to use the ticket machines. To save money (and get rid of worrying) you should have a look for day passes (1 or 3 days), after 9.00 am they are cheaper than for early birds. Also tickets for small- or medium sized groups can save money.

(Day-)Tickets are valid for all kind of transportation (S-/U-Bahn/Bus) including the ferries on river Elbe - your Chance of cheap boat cruise! trash:Hamburg hitch:Hamburg nomad:Hamburg