Hamburg · Backpacking

Fixed numbers to build on: an hvv single for Hamburg AB is 4.10 €, a day ticket 8.20 € and a group day ticket 16.40 € for up to five people; children 6–14 pay 1.50 € single. Miniatur Wunderland is 22 € and the Fischmarkt is free. Buying in the hvv app knocks 7 percent off ticket prices.

The HADAG ferry from Landungsbrücken to Finkenwerder, calling at Altona (Fischmarkt), Dockland, Neumühlen/Övelgönne and Bubendey-Ufer, runs on an ordinary hvv ticket. It passes the container terminals and the Elbe beaches, which is most of what a paid harbour cruise shows you.

On the Elbe in Altona, Sundays only: 05:00–09:30 from April to October and 07:00–09:30 from November to March. Free to walk into, running since 1703, and the 1896 Fischauktionshalle beside it has live music and brunch. Prices drop sharply in the last half hour before the traders pack up.

63 € a month on an annual subscription buys unlimited regional and local transport across the whole of Germany, hvv included. It only makes sense from about two weeks upwards or if Hamburg is one stop on a longer German trip, and it is a subscription you must cancel.

The open public level between the brick warehouse base and the glass concert hall, 37 metres up with a walk-around view of the harbour. Open daily 10:00–24:00 with last entry 23:30; a Plaza ticket is 5 €, and concert ticket-holders get in free from two hours before their performance.