This may be the most touristy thing you can do BUT you’ll hardly get a better crash-course to Hamburg;

Go to the central station (Hauptbahnhof) and exit direction Kirchenallee. Along the street you will see the busses. You can choose between a few different tours and there is always a buss waiting for passengers. During the tour you can get on and off the buss as you like.

By the way, at the central station you’ll ofcourse also find the tourist office.

My first blog entry is a small homage to the uniqueness of this town - water - and the environmentalism of the Germans i.e. public transports by water!

You can zig-zag your way by ferry on the Elbe for a day-trip or getting from a to z. See for schedules. (Depending how far out you will go you need a 1-5 zone ticket.)

If you like to make a day-tour than take your bike (or rent one) on the ferry and go all the way to Finkenwerder for a wonderful tour to the “Alte Land”, a paradise for leisure bikers on paved roads along the fields and among the many apple-trees. Get a guide from the bookstore (e.g. Thalia on Spitaler Straße by the main station) or see the Elbradweg website for tour and bike-rentals.

Enjoy the unique way of travelling!