You can’t experience a city, you have to immerse yourself in it. On a walk in Hamburg, strolling and strolling, you have the time and leisure to enjoy even the smallest details that you would miss on a leisurely bike ride. Moreover, walking is the safest and healthiest form of transportation, which should be varied and sometimes educational. Hamburg offers countless sights and attractions that you should have seen or experienced. But every now and then you just want to relax and observe and take in a city and its inhabitants on a walk. We have put together our five most beautiful and interesting places for a walk in the Hanseatic city.
We present special leisure activities here because we offer them ourselves. With its escape room theater, OPOLUM is the most modern escape room in Hamburg. We haven’t just strung together tricky puzzles and wrapped them up in an exciting story. We have made our escape rooms in the Speicherstadt as realistic as possible and taken the game to a whole new level. By using actors who actively intervene in our stories, you completely forget that it’s just a game. Our size is also unique, as we are the largest escape room in Hamburg.
How healthy is a walk?
A walk has many positive effects on our well-being. In addition to increasing the body’s oxygen intake, our musculoskeletal system benefits in particular. The saying “sitting is the new smoking” is certainly justified. As we spend far too much time sitting indoors, we should compensate for this by taking regular walks in the fresh air. Not only does this prevent cardiovascular disease, but exercise under a cloudy sky also lifts our mood and our bodies produce more vitamin D, for example. Even our eyes, for example, regenerate from tiring screen work when we simply look at a green meadow almost as well as when we sleep.
How often should you go for a walk?
The claim that you should take at least 10,000 steps a day to live longer can be traced back to a Japanese advertisement from the last century. In 1964, the Yamasa company advertised the first portable pedometer with this fantasy figure and the WHO one day adopted this claim completely unchecked. In any case, it is true that regular walking is very healthy and that three weekly walks of around 30 minutes are likely to have a significant positive effect on our health.
Exploring Hamburg on foot – the 5 most beautiful city walks
Walk in Hamburg #1: Once around the Alster
We start, of course, with the absolute classic – the 7.4-kilometre walk around the Alster in the heart of Hamburg. When we start our circular route at Café Cliff in Alsterpark, we see a milestone every 500 meters. At kilometer 7.4, another stone shows us that we have already completed half the route around the Outer Alster. If this marker gives you the feeling that you could walk much longer, why not extend your route to include the adjacent Inner Alster? This increases the walking distance to a total of 11 kilometers. If you want to complete one or both of these circuits as a jogger, you should pay attention to your outfit, because here it’s all about “see and be seen”.
Walk in Hamburg #2: Love of nature for everyone in the “Planten un Blomen” park
As you can easily guess, “Planten un Blomen” means Plants and flowers and comes from Low German. This 47-hectare park was created around 200 years ago following the demolition of the former fortifications and is now located in the center of the Hanseatic city. With its very varied design, the area invites you to take a relaxing stroll along themed gardens, streams and small lakes. Particularly popular in summer are the free theater performances and open-air concerts as well as the unique colorful water light concerts on the large park lake, which take place every evening from May to September. In addition to relaxation, the cafés, restaurants and ice cream parlors also cater for your physical well-being.
Walk in Hamburg #3: Along the Eilbek Canal by the water
To get to the Eilbek Canal, it is best to take the S-Bahn to Friedrichsberg station, which is located directly on the canal. The path leads along the Wandse to the Versöhnungskirche, past creatively designed houseboats and beautiful villas, to the Kuhmühlteich and possibly further on to the aforementioned Außenalster. This route is also ideal for walking after dusk because it is well lit and always flat. It is popular with dog owners and families alike, as there are a number of lovingly designed children’s playgrounds as well as exercise areas for four-legged friends. The loop from Friedrichsberg to the Kuhmühlteich pond and back again is around 6 kilometers and takes around 1.5 hours at a relaxed walking pace.
Walk in Hamburg #4: Strolling through Ohlsdorf cemetery
With a size of 389 hectares, the huge cemetery in the Ohlsdorf district is the largest “park cemetery” in the world. In terms of area alone, it is the fourth largest cemetery in the world. Here, too, you will find a variety of watercourses and ponds alongside beautiful old trees and architecturally interesting gravesites. Inaugurated in 1877, this cemetery is popular with tourists all year round, but is particularly beautiful from the end of April to the beginning of June, when the rhododendrons are in bloom.
Walk in Hamburg #5: Puzzle walk through the warehouse district
A walk through Hamburg’s famous Speicherstadt is particularly varied and an experience for all the senses. This brick-built district was built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and served as a warehouse and transshipment point. Today, the Speicherstadt is a magnet for young and old alike, as it is home to countless stores and start-ups as well as a varied gastronomy and art scene. Here you have the unique opportunity to go on a puzzle walk that is as exciting as it is informative and educational. This is designed in the form of an outdoor escape game in which you have to solve an exciting case and which takes you to the most interesting places in this fascinating part of the city.
The entire city is a sidewalk – just take a stroll!
Despite its size, Hamburg is very easy to explore on foot, as there are hardly any inclines and the port city has many beautiful footpaths through parks and along its countless bodies of water. If you are unlucky enough to have bad weather, Hamburg also has countless indoor attractions to offer!
