Admire everything from medieval altarpieces to contemporary photography at the Hamburger Kunsthalle, which was established in 1849. One of Germany’s largest art museums, its collection spans three buildings, which date from 1869, 1921, and 1997. The museum's assemblage of art is even more impressive, as one of the few of its kind in the country to traverse seven centuries of European art. Today, guests can gaze upon works by Old Masters like Rembrandt and Francisco Goya, 19th-century artists like Edgar Degas and Claude Monet, and such luminaries of modern and contemporary art as Edvard Munch, Pablo Picasso, and Andy Warhol.

Trace the trails and trials of European emigrants as they journeyed to the New World at Auswanderermuseum BalinStadt. Previously the site of the city's emigration halls from the 1850s to the early 1930s, Hamburg's fascinating emigration museum once saw some five million travelers from across the country pass through on their way to a new life in the Americas. Guests can hear personal stories, understand the impact of immigration, search through genealogical records, and learn about the man who turned Hamburg into a port of dreams, Albert Ballin, general director of the HAPAG shipping company and founder of the city's emigration halls.

Journey through the Speicherstadt, a UNESCO-designated maze of red-brick Gothic Revival buildings and labyrinthine canals that stands as the world's largest contiguous warehouse district. Literally meaning "City of Warehouses," the Speicherstadt was constructed between 1883 and 1927 and spans 260,000 square meters (close to 2,798,617 square feet). From 1881 to 2013, the area served as a free zone, allowing merchants to transfer goods without paying customs. As of 2005, Speicherstadt and the companies it housed were responsible for one-third of the globe's carpet production, as well as other goods like maritime equipment, spices, tea, coffee, cocoa, and electronics. Aside from the area's striking architecture, visitors to Speicherstadt can also explore the city's International Maritime Museum, which is set inside Hamburg's oldest preserved warehouse, and Miniatur Wunderland. The latter is Germany's most popular attraction and home to the world's largest model railway system, along with tiny recreations of destinations from across the globe.