The Tube escalator
Long and curved, its end invisible from its start.
Mathieu Chollet — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dietmar Rabich — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dietmar Rabich — CC BY-SA 4.0
The Plaza is the public floor of the Elbphilharmonie: an open deck thirty-seven metres up, sitting exactly on the line between the old brick warehouse below and the new glass structure above. And it is entirely free — a deliberate architectural and political decision. When the building was designed, it was insisted that the public should have access to the concert hall without buying a ticket. So the Plaza was built as an elevated public square wrapping all four sides of the building, which anyone can enter and walk around, looking out at the harbour and the city in every direction. Getting there is part of the experience: a long curved escalator called the Tube takes about two and a half minutes and you cannot see its end from its start, carrying you up inside the old warehouse until the view opens suddenly. You need a free entry ticket, collected at the counter or booked online at busy times.
Long and curved, its end invisible from its start.
The harbour and city from every direction.
Platz der Deutschen Einheit 1, 20457 Hamburg
ElbphilharmonieThe Elbphilharmonie is a concert hall on the bank of the Elbe and the most famou1 minute walk4.5
Spicy's Spice MuseumThe Spice Museum in the Speicherstadt is the only museum in the world devoted to5 minutes walk4.2
Miniatur WunderlandMiniatur Wunderland is the largest model railway in the world, filling several f5 minutes walk4.7
Vasco da Gama SquareA small square in Hamburg's Portuguese Quarter near the harbour, named after the5 minutes walk4.4
Hamburg DungeonThe Hamburg Dungeon is a scare show in the old warehouse district, in more or le5 minutes walk4.6Not always. The ticket is free and can be collected at the counter on arrival, but at weekends and in peak summer the near-term slots can run out and you may wait an hour or more. Booking online in advance for a nominal fee guarantees a set time — worth it if your schedule is tight or you are visiting in high season.