A daytrip to Germany’s second largest city is the pretext for checking out Germany’s fastest train.
Hamburg central train station
If you read this blog, you know I’m a wholly unapologetic train nut. So when I recently visited Germany, there was no way I was going to pass up a chance to check out the ICE train.
ICE stands for Inter-City Express. It’s Germany’s high-speed passenger train, Deutschland’s answer to the French TGV. Having traveled on the TGV and two of its variants in Britain and Italy, I was anxious to see how Germany’s version of high-speed rail travel measured up.
Inter-City Express. Photo courtesy of FreeFoto.com
My test run was a daytrip from Berlin to Hamburg, a distance of 158 miles, or 221 kilometers if you want to go totally European. An Amtrak train typically would take about three hours to make that trip — presuming it wasn’t delayed by a freight train or a breakdown.
Time on the ICE train: one hour, 40 minutes. Smooth.
My friend and fellow rail enthusiast Carl also has tried both systems and prefers ICE to the TGV. We’ll compare notes later, but based on my ICE run, I can’t agree. In fairness, I have to note that the Berlin-Hamburg ICE train seemed to be one of their older trainsets, while the last TGV run I made was on their Paris-Strasbourg line, their newest, with trainsets to match.
Having said that, the TGV’s ride seemed a lot smoother and quieter than the ICE train. Inside, passenger comfort was no contest. Rode first class on both trains, if only because mere mortals can actually afford first class on a train. Legroom on both was lovely, but the TGV first-class seats were more like big living-room lounge chairs that you could just sink into. By comparison, the ICE first-class seats were okay, but that’s all. Not even the “rich Corinthian leather” could make them more than just average. On the TGV, these would’ve been in second class.
Either of these trains blows Amtrak off the rails, and both are working to bring newer, even better models on line. I can’t wait.
What? Hamburg?
Oh yeah, Hamburg.
Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany after Berlin, the largest city in Europe that isn’t a national capital. It’s also one of the biggest ports in the world.
This place is even greener than Berlin, if that’s possible. They know that in Hamburg because someone apparently went around and actually counted the number of trees. (I’ll take their word for it).
The area around Lake Alster will widen your eyes with its cool, green beauty. Huge, white, ornately decorated homes surround the lake amidst all those trees, looking like giant white wedding cakes. Hamburg has a lot of consulates, and not surprisingly, a lot of them are here. Lots of joggers and cyclists around the lake, and rowing enthusiasts on the lake itself. There’s a fountain that shoots a single geyser of water out of the lake at one end.
Lake Alster, Hamburg.
Hamburg is laced with canals, so this city may have more tour boats than tour buses. Hamburgers (really, can I call them that?) will tell you that their city has more bridges than any in Europe — including Venice!
My bud Walt, who’s been just about every place, tells me that Hamburg weather tends to be cold and miserable for all but a few months of the year. If so, then late July is the time to be here.
Like a lot of European cities, it has a grand central square that coincides with the location of its historic old city hall. But as I said, this is a port city, and the construction cranes in this town all seem to be pointing toward an effort to make Hamburg’s harborside the focus of city life. Major redevelopment is going on near the city’s cruise ship terminal — offices, apartments, the works. Should look pretty inviting when it’s all done.
The tour buses make a point of taking you through the red-light district. Prostitution is legal here between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. The district itself, though, seems to lack the relative gentility of that in Amsterdam. Then again, at 11:30 in the morning, all the working girls were off-duty, so who knows?
This was also the part of the city where one of Europe’s bigger musical acts got their start. You’d know who it was even if the tour bus guide didn’t tell you. The big, cartoonish yellow submarine sticking out of one of the marquees is a big giveaway.
That’s right, the Beatles.
Hamburg’s population is very diverse, lots of people from Turkey, North Africa and the Middle East, which gives it a unique flavor — or as the kids might say nowadays, “flava!” You could book a flight from here to Istanbul or Tehran with no problem at all.
The whole of Scandinavia is just a short flight or a ferry ride away.
On the down side, Hamburg has issues with poverty, drugs and crime. It was the only time on my trip in Germany that I was told of no-go areas for tourists.
I don't care that they're only sold in Europe, that they're actually made in Italy, that BMW doesn't sell them anymore. I want one!
Even so, I’d go back to Hamburg again. I like the multicultural flavor of the place. There’s lots to see and enjoy here.
And yes, it would be an excuse to give the ICE train another shot!