HafenCity

On roughly 390 acres of former dockland, Europe's largest inner-city development project has been rising since 2008, and it now reads as a finished quarter rather than a construction site. HafenCity feels deliberate and open: wide quays, glass and brick towers, water on nearly every side and far more sky than the older parts of Hamburg allow. The Elbphilharmonie anchors the western tip, with its free public Plaza and the concert hall inside the wave-shaped glass crown. The Internationales Maritimes Museum fills the oldest surviving warehouse in the harbor with ship models and maritime history across nine floors. The Magellan-Terrassen are the broad stepped plaza where the neighborhood gathers on warm evenings, and the Überseeboulevard is its shopping and dining spine. Where to stay: HafenCity is a strong base for a first visit if you want modern hotels, quiet nights and the Speicherstadt, Miniatur Wunderland and the Elbphilharmonie within walking distance. It suits couples, architecture fans and travelers who like a calm, uncomplicated home base. It is far tamer after dark than St. Pauli or the Schanze, so night owls should look west. Getting there: U4 to Überseequartier for the center of the quarter, U4 or S3/S31 to Elbbrücken for the newest eastern section, U3 Baumwall or U1 Meßberg for the Speicherstadt edge. Ferry line 72 from the Landungsbrücken stops at the Elbphilharmonie and is the most scenic approach of all, on a standard transit ticket.