Category: Tips

Start your day with a great Breakfast at Café Paris

Some say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Though this might not be true for everyone, enjoying a proper breakfast while you are on vacation in Hamburg is always a good idea before you start to explore the city. If your accommodation does not include breakfast and you are searching for a charming place, I can highly recommend Café Paris, which is centrally located next to the Rathaus, our city hall. They offer long breakfast hours Monday to Friday from 9.00 am to 12.00 pm, and Saturday to Sunday from 9.30 am to 4.00 pm within a unique, classy atmosphere.

Café Paris has a great variety of breakfast dishes. My personal favorite is their Breakfast for 2 that comes with a selection of cheese and sausage, marmelade, 2 boiled eggs, fresh fruits, smoked salmon, tomato/mozzarella, 2 croissants, 2 chiabatta and 2 rolls, 2 fresh orange juices 0,1l, 2 Cremant 0,1l, and 2 hot drinks for 33,50 €.

Café Paris is very popular and can be well-frequented. It is recommended to reserve a table in the room Saal at reservierung(at)cafeparis.net in advance, but you can of course also stop by spontaneously at Rathausstr. 4:

Pure Happiness: Handmade Chocolate by Leysieffer

Not sure how you feel about chocolate – for me, there’s no adequate substitute. If you want to enjoy high quality chocolate and bring a few (or more) pieces of happiness back home, I’d recommend to visit Leysieffer in the Hanseviertel shopping mall.

Leysieffer is well-known for creating handmade chocolate truffles, chocolate bars, Baumkuchen, and many more sweet temptations since 1909. According to their company philosophy (and my own gustatory nerves), quality is their top priority, which means they are focusing on natural ingredients and fresh produce originating from Osnabrück, Germany.

Their chocolate store in Hamburg opens Monday till Saturday from 10 am to 8 pm. Looking at the picture above I feel like I need to shop there again as well – what about now…

Leysieffer Chocolate Store in the Hanse Viertel Shopping Mall — Images © http://www.leysieffer.de/

Innovative Home and Office Accessories by Werkhaus

Since 1992, the German brand Werkhaus builds functional and decorative products for your home and office based on their award-winning connecting system. Here’s what I like about them in a nutshell: They offer innovative products made of environmentally friendly recyclable materials, demonstrate social responsibility by employing people with physical or emotional disabilities, and their entire production is made in Germany with focus on reducing CO₂ emissions. More details on their company ethics can be found here.

In my view, Werkhaus is a great company to support and their creative construction and design style results in real eyecatchers. Since their products come unassembled, you can easily transport them back home. In case you’re looking for a special gift or unique home and office accessories for yourself, check out their shop at Hermannstr. 14 next to the Europa Passage:

Pizzeria Tip: Luigi’s Restaurant

Close to the train station Landungsbrücken at Hamburg’s harbour is our so-called Portugiesenviertel, an area where various good restaurants are located next to one another. Some are so popular that it can be difficult to find a free table without a little wait, especially in the evening hours. If you like traditionally thin Italian pizza, the most frequented insider tip is Luigi’s Restaurant. It has a cozy, unique atmosphere and very delicious pizza, fairly priced. Guten Appetit!

Luigi’s Restaurant opens daily from 11:30 am till midnight and is located at Ditmar-Koel-Str. 21:

What clothes to pack for Hamburg: Onion look

For quite a while I have been considering to provide you with a packing list for Hamburg. There is of course no “one list fits all”-solution, but I thought about a general guideline. Finally, I simply want to write about the one principle that is applicable for every season of the year: Pack clothes that can be worn as Zwiebellook, the layered onion look. Depending on the particular day, time, sunshine/clouds and the area you want to go to (e.g. the windy harbour), temperatures can feel quite different during your stay.

Also, do not check the Hamburg weather forecast two weeks ahead – the reality is, it can be quite different until you are here. If you are coming during summer, you may still encounter one of those surprisingly rainy and windy days that suddenly feel like autumn – keeping my fingers crossed that this is not going to happen. Equally, we already had the most wonderful days in the supposedly colder season, up to +20 °C in December! These are of course only exceptions, but be prepared and check Hamburg’s weather max. 3 days in advance.

Tip: When you are here and wonder if you need to carry your umbrella with you, I always like to have a quick look at the current Hamburg rain radar because blue sky can be as misleading as clouds.