The lanes and stairs
A car-free maze of white houses and rose gardens — Hamburg's loveliest way to lose time.
Kroppe — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Axel Schnell — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Charlotte Heineccius — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Charlotte Heineccius — CC BY-SA 4.0
The finest way is ferry 62 from the Landungsbrücken — some 40 river minutes on a transport ticket — then a short walk along the bank. Faster: the S1 from the centre to Blankenese station, then walk downhill towards the river.
Honestly no: the quarter itself is continuous stairs on a slope. Anyone who cannot manage them can stay on the flat lower riverside promenade with its cafés and enjoy the scene from below.
The sand is for sitting, sun and play; swimming in the Elbe is dangerous — ship currents and sudden wash — and firmly not advised. The scene, not the water, is what you come for.
Sign in to write your review of this place.
No reviews yet — be the first.
The Treppenviertel — the "stair quarter" — is the surprise nobody expects of Hamburg: an old fishing village terraced down a slope above the Elbe, white houses in tangled rose gardens, and almost no streets at all — just stairs, about five thousand steps linking house to house and dropping to the river. Getting lost in the lanes is the activity: every turn opens a view, every stair leads down towards the water, where a genuine sandy beach faces the giant container ships gliding past to the port — a strange, lovely sight: sunbathers on the sand, sea giants metres away. Getting there is half the pleasure: ferry 62 from the Landungsbrücken drops you nearby after a river ride on an ordinary transport ticket, or take the S1 train and a short walk.
A car-free maze of white houses and rose gardens — Hamburg's loveliest way to lose time.
Real sand with giant container ships passing close — a scene no other city offers.
From the hilltop you see the river's bend and the quarter stepping down below — the classic photo point.
Blankenese, 22587 Hamburg