Winterhude

Winterhude is comfortable, green, middle-class Hamburg, spread between the Außenalster and the Stadtpark north of downtown. The Stadtpark is the city's great public lawn, a broad park that fills with picnics in summer and hosts open-air concerts in its outdoor arena; at its center stands the Planetarium, housed in a former water tower, with shows and an observation deck. Along the southern edge, the Außenalster gives Winterhude its waterfront: sailing clubs, boat moorings, the shoreline path used by half the city's joggers, and the Krugkoppel bridge, from which you get the classic postcard view of the downtown spires rising behind open water. The Mühlenkamp is the neighborhood's showcase boulevard of restaurants, delis and shops, and the Goldbekplatz on the Goldbekkanal is its market square, with canal-side terraces and a village feel that is unusual this close to the center. Where to stay: quiet and residential, a good fit for travelers who want a run or a rowboat on the Alster in the morning and a short U-Bahn ride into town afterward, and for summer visitors who value green space over nightlife. Getting there: U3 to Borgweg or Saarlandstraße for the Stadtpark and the Planetarium, U1 or U3 to Kellinghusenstraße for the western Alster shore, U3 Mundsburg for the eastern shore. From the main station it is about a 15-minute walk to the Lombardsbrücke, where the Alster loop begins.