Hamburg Shore Excursion: Hop-On Hop-Off Tour with Harbor and Lake Alster Cruises

Hamburg, Germany

See the best of Hamburg while you’re in port on an easy and convenient hop-on hop-off tour, including two cruises – a harbor cruise and a panoramic sightseeing cruise on Lake Alster! Set your own itinerary on this perfect do-it-yourself combination shore excursion in Hamburg. The hop-on hop-off tour allows you to see Hamburg’s top attractions at your own pace aboard a comfortable double-decker bus, while the one-hour harbor cruise and one-hour Lake Alster sightseeing cruise provide great views from the water. See all the major attractions, including St Michael Church, the newly built Hamburg Harbor City and the infamous Reeperbahn red-light district!

Set your own itinerary and explore Hamburg at your own pace when you’re in port on this convenient shore excursion. The hop-on hop-off bus tour allows you to simply hop off at the stop you want and return to any stop to continue your tour! Board one of the red double-decker buses at the St Pauli port landing piers, and begin your sightseeing adventure, hopping off at Town Hall Square, the main train station or at any other stop on the route. Your ticket is valid for the whole day.

Then, get another perspective of Hamburg on your included one-hour harbor sightseeing cruise with English commentary (from April to October). The boat leaves daily at 12pm from the landing piers of the Hamburg port. Cruise along Hamburg's picturesque warehouse district to Hamburg's Harbour City, one of Europe's biggest urban development projects with the new concert hall, Elbphilharmonie, built on the roof of a storehouse. Sit back and relax.

When you’re back on land, head out on another sightseeing cruise! Your included one-hour Lake Alster cruise leaves from Jungfernstieg Passage in central Hamburg, only a short walk from Town Hall Square. The boat will take you along the shoreline of Hamburg's inner-city lake, lined with impressive villas and beautiful garden areas. Multi-lingual audio commentary is available on board.

Finish your day with a traditional cup of tea (included) at the teashop in the heritage-listed Krameramt district, an area of former merchants' homes built in the 17th century (hop-on hop-off stop is St Michael Church).

See the Itinerary section below for a full list of hop-on hop-off tour stops.

This excursion is located within a 10-minute walk to the cruise port, so you determine the time you return to your ship in Hamburg. Please allow yourself ample time to enjoy the excursion and ensure your timely return to the port. This excursion is not covered by our worry-free policy

USD $46.00

Traveler Reviews

Review by:   Alister W,    June 2015
Having to exchange the Viator voucher for a ticket before being able to board the Lake Alster cruise boat was somewhat frustrating and wasted valuable time when we were only in Hamburg for the day. The boat cruise was interesting but the first cruise departed at 10am. However, the first bus near the boat departure point didn't arrive until after 10am, so time was wasted waiting to exchange the voucher. Better co-ordination would be an improvement so that visitors could do the boat cruise at 10am if they chose._br/_ Kay and Alister

Review by:   Amy A,    May 2015
Include a picture of the bus and boats. We were afraid of getting on the wrong bus. This would help eliminate that issue._br/_ Bus tour was ok. Guide definitely gave more information in German than in English. _br/_ Lake cruise: Cruise was only in German and didn't really see anything you wouldn't see on the bus tour_br/_ Harbor cruise was great, very neat to see the ships up close

Review by:   Evan V,    July 2014
We found Hamburgh to be a lovely city,but the hop on hop off bus tour was an absolute disaster. The buses did not have an audio system and the only commentary we received was from the German driver. Initially he only spoke in German but after we spoke to him he threw in a few lines of English which because of his accent and tone of voice ,made him virtually impossible to understand. The commentary was so bad we did not even go on the Lake Alster tour,which also had no audio system. Both tours were a complete waste of money for us.

Review by:   Elaine L,    August 2013
The river cruise was great. The bus tour was terrible. English speaking guests beware. This is not a German/English tour. It is 85% German and 15% English. The tour guide told long, apparently funny stories in German and did not repeat them in English. We got off midway. The lake tour was pretty.

Review by:   Ciara M,    August 2013
The cruise and the bus tour were fantastic, staff were very friendly and very accommodating. The only issue was the local tourist information office were not aware of the viator and our original booking did not have the information related to the local tour operator on it. but we were finally directed to the correct tour company and the staff were very helpful.

Review by:   Margaret B,    August 2012
It was very disappointing. In Hamburg we had to pay a cab 7 euro to get to the bus and 8 euro to get back Way to far. The distance from the bus to the boat on the lake was at lease a mile. I am so glal i didn't sign up for a hoponhopoff at all ten of our stops. The guide in Hamburg was very nice but they didn't give me all of the tickets I needed and almost didn't get to go on boat ride. We skipped the harbor tour. We were tired and frustrated. Sorry, I know some travelers love this alternative to high priced tours but for us it just didn't work..

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