Binnenalster

The Binnenalster is the smaller, more dressed-up sister of the Außenalster and Hamburg's postcard basin par excellence: 18 hectares of water framed by the Jungfernstieg to the south, the Lombardsbrücke to the north, the Ballindamm to the east and the Alsterarkaden to the west. The famous Alster fountain in the middle – 60 meters high since 1987 – runs from April to October. What the Binnenalster really is: Hamburg's unbuttoned inner-city living room. Whoever finds a bench on the Jungfernstieg waterfront has bought what is probably the city's finest 8-euro view. Practical detail: from May to September, the Alster steamboats run a round trip across both basins every 30 minutes from the Jungfernstieg jetty (10 euros, a classic for relaxed city sightseeing). The same jetties offer pedal boat and rowing-boat rental (from 18 euros per hour, a summer favorite with children). A nice walk: from the Jungfernstieg through the Alsterarkaden with their cafe terraces over to the Rathaus – 12 minutes that knock off all the postcard motifs in one go. In winter, when the Alster freezes over (rare, every 8–15 years, last in 2012), it turns into a spontaneous ice-skating arena complete with mulled-wine and bratwurst stalls – a Hamburg legend. Getting there: U-Bahn/S-Bahn Jungfernstieg, right on the water.