Hamburg is the city after which the lowly hamburger is named- but what a poor definition of a city! For Hamburg is definitely not commonplace, unexciting and mundane; it’s perhaps the most lively, stylish and cosmopolitan of Germany’s cities- a city with verve and smartness, a city of posh restaurants, designer labels and a vibrant nightlife. Hamburg is the city with the largest number of consulates in the world (after New York), Germany’s second largest city, one of the largest and busiest ports in Europe, and a city which so completely enjoys itself that it’s hard to escape the infectious joie de vivre of the place. 

Hamburg is located on the River Elbe, and has been a port of international significance for many centuries now; it is also one of only two German states (the other is Bremen) which still retains some of the freedom it enjoyed as a medieval city state; it even calls itself `Freie und Hansestadt’ (Free and Hanseatic). And, other than this air of independence, there is much else that is a legacy of the past; the many canals which crisscross Hamburg; the stately old buildings; the parks and gardens. No wonder Hamburg still attracts such hordes of tourists; with all its attractions, with its history and its liveliness, who wouldn’t want to come to Hamburg?