Showing posts with label Come to Hamburg. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Come to Hamburg. Show all posts

Tuesday 5 September 2017

Family Travel - 48 Hours in Hamburg

As a family we love to explore and visit new towns, cities and countries. We are therefore always on the look out for new places to visit and regularly visit Skyscanner to try and find some bargain flights. Back in July, I visited the website one evening and entered Manchester as the departure airport and then selected "everywhere" as the destination and August for the month. To be honest, I wasn't expecting to find anything super cheap due to it being the school holiday period, but couldn't believe my eyes when flights came up for Hamburg for only £8! I double checked that I had entered the information correctly, thinking that I must have made a mistake somewhere, but after clicking through to the Ryanair website, I was astonished to see that the price was indeed correct! I added seat selection and the total price for 2 adults and 3 children from Manchester Airport to Hamburg from the 15th August to the 17th of August, came to a grand total of £89.72. That is cheaper than a return ticket to London for just one of us on the train!

I immediately began to do my research, in order to find out what there was for families in the area and whether there would be enough to keep my children entertained. Whilst searching, I came across the Come to Hamburg scheme who help bloggers & journalists arrange their visit to Hamburg and also help them to find accommodation. This sounded an absolutely brilliant idea, so I submitted my application and within a couple of days I received an email back stating that they would love to welcome us to Hamburg and help us with our trip!

We were allocated some lovely accommodation at the Appartello Smarttime Living hotel and received some suggestions on places to visit. The Miniatur Wunderland came highly recommended on Tripadvisor, as did Hagenbeck Tierpark, so we decided that we would have to visit both of these places whilst staying. I also continued my research for other events that were on in the area and found out that the Hamburger Dom would also be taking place, so gradually began to put our itinerary together and got our flights booked! The Hamburg Tourist Board also kindly offered to provide us with a Hamburg Travel Card which would allow us to make use of the public transport in the area to get us around the city without the need for a car. Everything began to come together and we all started to look forward to our trip.


We had an early morning flight on the 15th August, so we arrived at Manchester Airport a little tired, but in plenty of time for our journey. The flight only took 1 hour and 30 minutes, so it was a really comfortable short flight time for us all. We travelled hand luggage only, with it being a short trip, which meant that we were soon out of the arrivals area in Hamburg and ready to find our bus stop for the short journey to the Appartello Smarttime Living Hotel.

The bus trip was only 10 minutes long and we exited the bus at the Alsterdorfer Damm bus stop, which was located just down the road from the hotel. I had arranged in advance to drop off our bags prior to exploring, but we were pleasantly surprised when we arrived, to be told that our room was already available and that we could check in straight away.

Our apartment was lovely, tastefully decorated and with a modern decor. There was ample space and it was immaculately clean and tidy. It was a great place to have a quick rest and freshen up before heading to our first attraction of the day. The staff on reception were wonderful and even printed off a bus timetable for me, to help make sure we had all the directions we needed for the day. The whole hotel was just fantastic and we would definitely recommend it to others. You can read more about the Appartello Smarttime Living Hotel in our blog post here: Our Stay at the Appartello Smarttime Living Hotel


Our first attraction was the Miniatur Wunderland and so we caught the train to Baumwall before having a nice walk around the area. We saw the magnificent Elbphilharmonie building on the waterfront which was absolutely stunning and the kids enjoyed watching some of the street performers. We had a nice drink and snack from one of the local cafes before making our way to the attraction, which was located just next to the Hamburg Dungeons.



The Miniatur Wunderland is situated alongside the River Elbe and is easily accessible by public transport. It is home to the worlds largest model railway and features an extensive collection of miniaturised countries, all displayed in an amazing and unique way. It first opened in the year 2000 and is not expected to be completed until 2028.

Riley loved watching the trains journey around the exhibits and we were shocked to find that as of Autumn last year, there are a staggering 1040 trains in total, in addition to more than 10,000 wagons. The longest train measures in at 14.51 metres and the total track length is an astonishing 15,400 metres. You can read more about the Miniatur Wunderland in our blog post here: Our Family Visit to Miniatur Wunderland


Once we had finished our visit to Miniatur Wunderland, we made our way back to the U-Bahn station. We then caught the train again to the Hamburger Dom which is a huge fair packed full of stalls, rides and delicious food. The train journey was literally only a couple of stops away in Heiligengeistfeld and the Dom was right next to the station, in the event area by St Pauli stadium.


My children loved the wide range of rides that were available and each of them chose a few to go on. We bought some delicious sausages from one of the food stalls that tasted incredible and enjoyed a refreshing drink whilst walking through the fair in the sunshine. Some of the rides looked spectacular, although a bit scary! After a very early start and a long day on our feet, the children were beginning to get tired and so we made our way back to the hotel for a good nights sleep, ready for the following day.


We all had a lovely sleep that evening and woke up bright and early the following day feeling refreshed and re-energised. We made our way to the Appartello Living Room for breakfast, before catching a bus to the Hagenbeck Tierpark which was a 30 minute bus ride away. We had read on Tripadvisor that you could feed the elephants there, so we were all very excited at being able to get up close to such beautiful animals.

Shortly after entering, we saw a small crowd gathering to the right hand side, so we made our way over to see what was happening. As we approached, we saw the most beautiful elephants, who were all reaching out with their trunks, to collect fresh fruit and vegetables from the visitors. They looked well cared for and the size of their enclosure was very impressive, along with a large pool for them to cool off or play in. It was amazing for the children to be able to get so close to such a large and stunning animal and they just couldn't believe that they were actually feeding them by hand. You can read more about our visit to Hagenbeck Tierpark in our blog post here: Our Trip to Hagenbeck Tierpark


We spent the whole day at Hagenbeck Tierpark, before returning to the hotel and popping out for an evening meal. We couldn't believe how much we had managed to fit into just 48 hours, but were a little sad that our visit had almost come to an end and there was still so much we wanted to see and do.

We enjoyed a final visit to the Appartello Living Room where Riley had a play with the train sets, before heading back to the room to pack for our journey home. We had such a wonderful time in Hamburg and I have already been looking at returning in November for the Christmas markets and to experience Winter in the city. We would also love to watch the fountain shows that take place late in the evening, so we will definitely be visiting again soon.


I would like to thank Come to Hamburg, Appartello Smarttime Living Hotel, Hamburg Tourist Information & Miniatur Wunderland for helping to provide us with such a fantastic experience. We look forward to visiting you again in the future!


Disclaimer: We received complimentary accommodation from Appartello Smarttime Living through the Come to Hamburg Scheme, along with a complimentary Hamburg Travel Card & Miniatur Wunderland tickets from the tourist board for the purpose of providing a full and honest review of our visit. Our review is based on our own experience & we have received no additional payment for the blog posts. Opinions and photographs are my own unless otherwise stated. This post contains affiliate links.



Friday 25 August 2017

Our Trip to Hagenbeck Tierpark - A Review

Whilst visiting Hamburg last week, we were very surprised at just how much there was to do in the area. We were only staying for a couple of days, but managed to fit so much into the space of 48 hours. One of the places we visited was Hagenbeck Tierpark, which is one of Germany's most popular zoos.

The zoo was approximately half an hour on the bus from the Appartello Smarttime Living hotel, that we were staying in. It was a direct bus service on the number 39, so there was no need for us to make any changes during the journey. It was then a very short walk from the bus stop, to the entrance of the zoo, where you paid at a kiosk for entry. We had Hamburg Travel Cards which give a discount on admission, however the family ticket worked out a much better deal than using the travel card discount, so we opted for this instead.

Hagenbeck Tierpark first opened in 1907 and drew attention, due to the fact that the animals enclosures are surrounded by moats, as opposed to fences. We noticed that this was still the case for many of the animals, only spotting a couple of fenced enclosures during our visit.


At the ticket office we were provided with our map and a list of feeding times. It is important to keep hold of this, as all the signposts throughout the park are numbered as opposed to named, so you will need to keep referring to the map to see which number corresponds to which animal. As we made our way into the attraction, we noticed a small queue of people, who were buying bags of fruit and vegetables. We had read beforehand that you could purchase these bags to feed the elephants and baboons, so the children quickly joined the queue to buy some food. There is no set purchase price, but instead they ask for a donation. I never really know what to give in these kind of situations, so I did feel a bit awkward and worried as to whether I had donated enough, but we gave around 3 euros in change per bag.

Shortly after entering, we saw a small crowd gathering to the right hand side, so we made our way over to see what was happening. As we approached, we saw the most beautiful elephants, who were all reaching out with their trunks to collect food from the visitors. They looked well cared for and the size of their enclosure was very impressive, along with a large pool for them to cool off or play in. It was amazing for the children to be able to get so close to such a large and stunning animal and they just couldn't believe that they were actually feeding them by hand.


We could have spent ages here just watching the elephants, but after half an hour, we decided to go and explore the rest of the zoo. As they were situated close to the entrance and exit, we told the kids that we would come back and see them again before we left. We continued our walk around the zoo and came across some pelicans wandering across the grass. They weren't bothered by the passing crowds and simply carried on about their business by the side of the lake.


In addition to all the wonderful animals, the Hagenbeck Tierpark is also home to some stunning gardens. This was one of our favourite places that we came across whilst walking around and it was so peaceful just sitting by the lake and enjoying some lunch.


There were lots of opportunities to feed animals as you made your way around the zoo. Even though the elephants were definitely the children's favourite, we also enjoyed feeding the baboons, alpacas and goats. It was a great chance for Emma, Ben and Riley to get close to some lovely creatures.


Emma really enjoyed the goat pen, which is where you could walk into the enclosure and feed and stroke the goats. Some were a little on the cheeky side and would try and take the whole bag from your hands, but others were quite happy to simply stand and pose for a photo!


Another popular part of Hagenbeck Tierpark was the children's play park. This was a really large area that provided plenty of room for kids to run around and have some fun. There was plenty for all ages to enjoy and Emma & Ben particularly liked the swinging rope, as they hadn't seen one of these before.


After a short play on the park, we continued our walk towards the Hagenbeck Eismeer, which is spread over 8000 square metres. The clever design allows you to view the animals from both above and below the water, which was very impressive.


Whilst underground we noticed that there were lots of information boards (in German) providing plenty of facts and figures. There were also a few photo opportunities, like this one on the ski mobile.


Overall we had a lovely day out and feeding the elephants is certainly a memory that my children will hold on to. The Hagenbeck Eismeer is spectacular and we spent a couple of hours in this area alone. The whole park is well maintained, with beautiful gardens and scenery, along with plenty of seating to have a rest when you needed to. The majority of the enclosures were very large for the animals, though I was a little disappointed with the lions enclosure as felt that this looked quite small in comparison to the others. Hagenbeck Tierpark was easily accessible by public transport and I felt that the entry price for families was reasonable. We would definitely visit again.

Important Information

Address: Hagenbeck Tierpark, Lokstedter Grenzstraße 2, 22527 Hamburg

Opening times: Hagenbeck Tierpark is open all year from 9am. Closing times vary throughout the year, so I would always recommend visiting their own website, for the most up to date information which can be found here - Opening Hours

Entry prices: The following entry prices are for the zoo only, however you can also purchase combined tickets which allow entry to both the zoo & the aquarium. For the most up to date prices you can visit their website here - Entry Prices

Adult single ticket - 20 euros
Child single ticket (4 to 16 years) - 15 euros
Family Card 1 (2 adults & 2 children) - 60 euros
Family Card 2 (2 adults & 3 children) - 70 euros



Disclaimer: All opinions and photographs are my own unless otherwise stated. Our trip to Hamburg was arranged with the assistance of the Come to Hamburg scheme. Information provided was correct at the time of writing, but is subject to change, so would also recommend visiting the attractions own website before visiting.

Thursday 24 August 2017

Our Family Visit to Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, Germany

I love researching & thoroughly planning our trips when arranging family travel abroad, so I had done plenty of homework prior to our visit to Hamburg. The Miniatur Wunderland came highly recommended on several other blogs as well as being voted the number one attraction in Hamburg on Tripadvisor. My first instinct was "How interesting could a collection of small things be?", but as I soon found out, the answer is VERY interesting.


Miniatur Wunderland is located alongside the River Elbe and is easily accessible by public transport. We caught the U-Bahn to Baumwall station and the attraction was only a short walk away. It is home to the worlds largest model railway and features an extensive collection of miniturised countries all displayed in an amazing and unique way. It first opened in the year 2000 and is not expected to be fully completed until 2028.

I knew from visiting their website beforehand, that the attraction can get extremely busy and sell out of tickets at the most popular times. As Riley is not the biggest fan of queues, we decided to visit in the afternoon at around 3pm and found that we were able to walk straight in with no queue at all. The attraction was busy inside, but not overcrowded and we were able to view the exhibits with no issues.

We were a little unsure as to what to expect, but as soon as we entered the Miniatur Wunderland, we were overwhelmed by the sheer size and appearance of the displays. The first display that we saw was that of Hamburg itself. It featured a few familiar sights, that we had already spotted on our travels, whilst the kids were quick to point out the Hamburger Dom, which was our next planned visit of the day. The attention to detail was fascinating and each area also featured buttons that could make some of the displays move or light up.



Riley loved watching all the trains journey around the exhibits and we were shocked to find that as of Autumn last year, there are a staggering 1040 trains in total, in addition to more than 10,000 wagons. The longest train measures in at 14.51 metres and the total track length is an astonishing 15,400 metres. The figures involved really are incredible.


Each exhibit has been meticulously planned, with even the slightest of detail being taken care of and included. We could have easily spent hours just looking at all the individual people and situations that the exhibits had created. The planning and design of each area must take so much time, to get things just right and accurate.


My favourite exhibit was the Swiss area, which was spread over two storeys. Having visited St Moritz earlier in the year, the kids enjoyed spotting the Glacier Express, which they had travelled on back in February. The whole display was amazing and we watched whilst numerous trains took their journey around the mountains. Another of our favourites was the airport, where you could watch planes arrive and take off on their journeys. The exhibit was complete with an arrivals and departures board, just like in a real airport and it was fascinating to watch all the planes move around.


Another interesting aspect of the attraction, was that every so often, the main lights would dim and the exhibits would display as if it was night time. Small lights would glow in the houses and it was great to see the towns and cities from both a daytime and night time perspective. In addition to all the wonderful exhibits, there was also a working area, where you could watch staff at work creating miniatures, as well as the control centre, where there were staff monitoring all the displays on screens. There must be an incredible amount of technology involved in producing these spectacular exhibits.

In addition to the main attraction, there is also an on-site bistro that offers family friendly prices for meals, drinks and ice cream. We didn't eat here, however the food that others had, looked really nice and the menu seemed varied and well priced. There are toilet facilities, as well as a baby changing station & I did notice that the bistro staff were also happy to warm up baby food, all of which help to make it a nice family friendly attraction to visit.


Overall, we had a really enjoyable visit and would definitely like to return again. We were told to allow around 2-3 hours for our visit, however I think I could have easily spent the whole day here just taking everything in. There are plans for the attraction to continue expanding up til 2028 so it will be great to return in the future and see what new additions there are.

Important Information

Address: Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg, Kehrwieder 2-4, Block D, 20457 Hamburg - Speicherstadt

Opening hours: Miniatur Wunderland is open 365 days of the year. Opening times vary throughout the year, so would recommend checking their website here for the most up to date information.

Admission price: The most up to date admission prices can be found on the Miniatur Wunderland website here.

Website: The Miniatur Wunderland website is http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/

Alternatively you can find them on social media. Their social media channels are:

Twitter - @MiWuLa
Facebook - Miniatur Wunderland Hamburg


Disclaimer: We were provided with complimentary tickets for the purpose of providing an honest review of our experience. All opinions and photographs are my own, unless otherwise stated.

Tuesday 22 August 2017

Our Stay at the Appartello Smarttime Living in Hamburg, Germany

It isn't often that we come across a hotel that offers continued excellence and quality from start to finish, however The Appartello Smarttime Living Hotel in Hamburg, managed to exceed our expectations and provide an outstanding service from the moment we arrived.

It is a modern apartment hotel that offers 76 rooms, which are suitable for both business travellers, as well as families looking for a relaxing stay. The hotel is conveniently situated close to the airport, but also within easy reach of public transport, which makes exploring the city extremely simple.

Our journey to Hamburg began with an early morning flight from Manchester, which meant that we had been up since 4am in the morning to get to the airport on time. I checked the bus schedule beforehand and knew that we needed to catch the number 39 bus from the airport terminal once we arrived. The bus stops are well signposted and it was simply a case of crossing the road and waiting for our bus, which ran every 20 minutes. After a short while, the bus arrived and we enjoyed a short ten minute journey to the hotels nearest bus stop which was Alsterdorfer Damm. The buses all have small screens that show the next stop, so it was easy to know when to disembark the bus, without worrying about missing our stop.


I had contacted the Appartello prior to our stay, to ask whether it would be ok to drop our bags off, before heading into the city to explore, as I knew that the check in time was 3pm. They had replied within a couple of hours, stating that they were more than happy to store our luggage, to save us carrying it around. As we walked into reception, we were immediately greeted with a smiling face, welcoming us to the hotel. I explained that we had come to drop off our bags, but the friendly receptionist, went one step further and offered to check whether our room was already available, in which case we could check in straight away! Luckily for us, our room was ready, so we were provided with our room keys, as well as directions and told to make ourselves feel at home and welcome in the Appartello hotel.

Our Room

Having being up since the early hours, it was great to be able to have an hours rest in the room & enjoy a nice hot shower & a cup of coffee to wake us up. As we entered the room, we were immediately impressed with both the size and layout of the room. It featured all the modern conveniences you could possibly need, including a beautiful white gloss kitchen with brushed steel appliances.


The kitchen area was really modern and clean, which featured a fridge freezer, oven, microwave, coffee machine, kettle and even a dishwasher. It really was immaculate and we were very impressed that this was available to us in our room. There was a Lidl supermarket, just a short walk away from the hotel, so it meant that we were able to stock up with drinks, snacks and fruit for the children and place them in the kitchen. Utensils, plates and cutlery were also provided, so it literally gave us everything we needed to prepare our own meals if we chose to.

Adjacent to the kitchen was a lovely desk and office area, which was an ideal place to catch up with my emails in the evening. There was a comfortable chair, a good wifi connection and also plenty of space for my laptop, papers and note pads.

The living area consisted of a double sofa bed, an additional single bed which had been added for Riley, as well as a comfortable chair, lighting and a 40" flat screen tv. We chose to leave the double sofa bed set up as the bed for the duration of our stay, but we could have also turned this back into a sofa had we wanted to.


The whole room was very tastefully decorated and we loved how fresh and modern the decor looked. This continued into the main bedroom, where there was a large king size bed, a modern wood wardrobe with ample storage space and a further 32" flat screen tv. This was great in the evenings, as it meant that the children could watch a film in the living room, when settling down for the night, whilst we could watch something else in our room.



The shower room was also ideal and featured a fantastic easy to control shower, as well as a very clean toilet and sink. It was quickly apparent that the rooms are kept to a very high standard and cleaned thoroughly and regularly, as we couldn't find a single fault with the room at all. Another aspect of the bathroom I  really liked, was that there was also a stool and childs toilet seat available for use, meaning that the hotel has thought of even their youngest of guests.

Reception & Service

After we had enjoyed a short rest, I made my way down to reception to ask for directions to the Miniatur Wunderland. Rather than just tell me where to go, the receptionist printed off full directions for me, as well as the local bus timetables and train times. I felt that this was excellent service and it was great that they were so willing to help their guests and provide as much information as possible. Once we were ready to go, we made our way to the bus stop and caught the bus to the train station where we headed into the city centre for an enjoyable day of sightseeing.

On our return, we were immediately greeted with the same cheerful welcome we had experienced earlier. We were asked if we had enjoyed our day out and whether we needed any further help or suggestions of places to go in the evening. As we were all so tired from the early start and our busy day in Hamburg, we decided to remain in the hotel on our first evening, so instead we made our way to the communal downstairs Living Room, which was available for all guests.

The excellent service from reception continued throughout our whole stay, and nothing was ever too much trouble for them. We were assisted on our second day with further directions to the Hagenbeck Tierpark, as well as being asked whether we would like a wake up call on our departure day. Everything was always done with a smile & everyone we dealt with, was always more than happy to help.


The Living Room

The Living Room, was literally home from home. There was a wide range of seating available both indoors and outdoors, some vending machines that offered food, soft drinks and alcohol at reasonable prices and a toy corner, where children could play with the train tracks & toys that were provided. Riley loves playing with his trains at home, so this was great for him and he spent a good hour with Emma setting up all the track and moving the trains through the tunnels.

It was a lovely area where you could just relax with your family, or enjoy drinks with your friends in the evening. Although there was no bar, both wine & beer were available to purchase from the machines, as well as tea and coffee. There was a choice of comfortable living room chairs, dining tables and bar stools and drinks tables. Everything was really clean and well cared for, just like we had noticed in our room earlier.



Everywhere we went in the hotel, just felt so comfortable and welcoming, that my husband and I found it very easy to relax and just enjoy spending time as a family in such lovely surroundings. The sunshine was also making a welcome appearance during our stay, so we also took advantage of the outdoor seating area, where we could enjoy a coffee under the sun.


One thing that didn't go unnoticed, was also their attention to detail. It is very easy for hotels to make things quite basic, but the Appartello had small subtle features everywhere to help make it feel very homely. This included planters outside, plant pots on the tables, ornaments and lovely art work on various walls. I always think that little touches like these really help with the overall experience and show that the owners have put a lot of thought into the style and appearance.


A Great Nights Sleep

After returning to our room in the evening, we had a comfy and really cosy nights sleep. The duvet and pillows were both soft and snug, which meant that the kids fell asleep really quickly and without any fuss. They all said that they had a fantastic nights sleep the following morning, which is a rare comment to hear from the children. Mr F & I, also experienced a peaceful sleep which made us feel energised in the morning and ready for the busy day ahead.

Breakfast

In the morning we returned to The Living Room, which was where breakfast also took place. This could be purchased on a "pay for what you eat" basis, where you simply fill in a form stating what you have chosen and then this gets added to your bill, to be paid on your departure. Alternatively you can choose the "Smart Breakfast" which for 7.90 euros each, you can help yourself to some freshly made sandwiches, rolls, croissants, boiled eggs, tea and coffee. We opted for the smart breakfast and enjoyed a really filling breakfast each morning.


My children enjoyed the selection and were big fans of the croissants that were available. Mr F and I enjoyed some of the freshly made sandwiches and although these weren't something that we would normally eat for breakfast, they simply looked too delicious to resist! There were no soft drinks suitable for children included in the Smart Breakfast, however there was a selection of fruit juices, milk drinks & soft drinks available for purchase.


The coffee and tea was also a really nice quality too, everything tasted just perfect and was a really welcome start to our day. The drinks machines were very easy to use and there was unlimited tea and coffee available with the Smart Breakfast which meant that I was able to get my caffeine boost in the morning.


Other Facilities

The Appartello also offers a fitness suite and free use of laundry facilities. We didn't use either of these during our stay, but it was great to know that they were available should we need them. When travelling with children, their clothes can get dirty on days out, so it was great to know that we could wash clothes prior to returning home if we wanted to.

Our Overall Stay

We had an absolutely fantastic stay from start to finish. We were very impressed with the excellent care and customer service consistently offered by the staff and really appreciated being made to feel so welcome. The rooms featured everything you could possibly need for a comfortable and relaxing stay, whilst also ensuring a great nights sleep. The pillows were incredibly soft and offered an idyllic place to rest your head after a busy day. The location of the Appartello Smarttime Living Hamburg was perfect with excellent public transport links. The airport and numerous attractions were all within easy reach and having the convenience of a supermarket next door, was also an added bonus. Overall we cannot recommend this hotel enough and shall definitely be returning again in the future. We have already been pricing up flights to return for the Christmas markets and the Appartello would definitely be our first choice for accommodation in the area. We would like to say a huge thank you to the Appartello Smarttime Living Hamburg for such a wonderful stay.

For the most up to date information, reservations and prices, you can visit their website here:
Appartello Smarttime Living Hamburg

Alternatively, you can find them on facebook here: Appartello Smarttime Living Hamburg Facebook

Address: Appartello - Smarttime Living Hamburg, Appartello GmbH, Sportallee 4, 22335 Hamburg, Germany.

Tel: +49 (0) 40 60 92 92 100


Disclaimer: We were provided with complimentary accommodation, in a premium apartment for the purpose of writing an honest review of our stay, during our recent trip to Hamburg. This was arranged with the help of the Come to Hamburg scheme. Opinions and photographs are my own unless otherwise stated. For the most up to date information, I would always recommend visiting the hotels own website.