Our surprise day trip destination? Hamburg! When H and I were planning our trip to Germany, we knew we wanted to travel by train. So we looked into booking our tickets early, but didn’t want to be stuck with certain trains at certain times. What if our plans changed? We looked into Eurail Pass, and that’s out we found the German Rain Twin Pass. It’s a special pass for two people traveling together through Germany. We bought a ticket for 4 days, and only used 3. Thus the impromptu trip to Hamburg. We were pretty happy with the price and value of the pass. I’d recommend it if you’re going long distances, but be sure to do your research.

Hamburg is just a short 2 hour hop from Berlin and so we grabbed a early morning train and arrived mid-morning. And of course, instead of being sunny, it was freezing and raining. And then it snowed. Since we went on whim, we didn’t really know where to go or what to do. But we wandered around and fell in love with the city. It’s a charming, confusing city filled with old brick warehouses and new homes. And ships! It reminded me of Seattle, which is probably why Hamburg is possibly my new favorite city in Germany. Sorry Berlin, you’ve got competition.

Oh, and those warehouses? Some of them were converted into apartments, with balconies that hung out over the canals. I can just imagine them with exposed brick walls and big windows. Doesn’t that sound like a nice place to live?

Catch up on all our adventures in Germany:
Berlin: Part One, Part Two, & Part Three
Bonn & Cologne
The Rheingau
Dachau
Munich