The old Elbe Tunnel and a great view of Hamburg

Today I have another nice activity that you can do in Hamburg when you're at the port. Calling it an insider tip would certainly be too much, but nevertheless it's one thing I don't think many tourists do or know about. Maybe I'm wrong, but every time I go there I see only few tourists.

A walk under the Elbe River

The St. Pauli Elbtunnel (Elbe Tunnel), which you will find at the Landungsbrücken, was replaced in 1975 by the new Elbtunnel. However, it can still be used by pedestrians and cyclists to get to the other side of the Elbe. It's about 24 meters underground and almost 430 meters long.

Alone the tunnel building, the way down and the old elevator are very impressive. Once at the bottom, you can walk the old tunnel tube, which has a very narrow street and 2 footpaths. It's hard to imagine that cars used to drive there long time ago. Since no cars pass this road today, it is used more by cyclists. Depending on the day of the week and the time of day, there is almost no traffic going on here.

The highlight itself finally comes on the other side of the Elbe. As soon as you reach the south entrance in the district Steinwerder, you go up the stairs again (or take the elevator if the stairs are too tiring for you) and then turn right around the corner. After only one or two minutes you finally reach the Bornsteinplatz directly at the river.

From here you have a brilliant view of the Landungsbrücken, the HafenCity and St. Pauli district. The highlight of the HafenCity is, of course, the new building of the Elbphilharmonie, which is an indispensable part of today's cityscape of modern Hamburg. You can also watch many passing ships from here.

A nice place to stay and relax with a fantastic view - absolutely recommended! By the way, you can also just take the boat from the Landungsbrücken to get to the other side, but this way is in my opinion much more interesting.