Hamburg: 1-hour Harbor Tour

Nice sailing tour, but it was unclear when I booked that only German spoken, so useless in terms of information

This trip was pleasant enough. I agree with other reviews that it’s hard to hear the audio via the app. I think I would recommend booking on the day at the dockside. Views of the beach and the Elbphilharmonie were cool. Staff were great too.

Great experience as the English app worked great as long as you only selected landmarks the ferry was passing.

We originally booked the one hour tour of Hamburg harbour but when we turned up we were bumped onto the 90 minute illuminated trip. And what a trip aboard the paddle steamer the Louisiana Queen. I have never felt spending €30 so worthwhile. The highlight for me was when we turned into Hamburg’s container terminal in the dark! What a sight to see, we loved every second of it from start to finish. Had we the time I would have gone again as we enjoyed it so much. You will not regret this trip!

Really enjoyable tour and a great length as well. I think 1 hour is a great amount of time to see the main attractions around the river. Audio guides are easy to use by downloading on your phone and listening with your own headphones, so no problem if you can't speak German! Staff were all friendly and helpful too.

Waste of money. €45 for 2 people (1 disabled) and it was really boring to be bounced around on a smelly boat with nothing of any great interest to see on a river that was filthy. Save your money and go on a bus instead.

Ive done much better and more scenic river cruises than this one. The commentary was in German and I heard a lot of laughs so it seemed he was telling a lot of jokes. The English app was useless and wouldnt load. Some nice scenery but a lot wasnt interesting especially around the container ships.

Despite the tour being in German, it was great. We got to see the waterfront in Hamburg. There were many things to see. From the picture I was expecting to go through some 'canals' but the tour was mainly on the Elbe. Got up close to some very large container ships, saw a cruise liner up close. The audio guide in another language was a download, which was unsuccessful.

I took the Hamburg Harbor tour with my adult son. I requested a tour in English. When we arrived the staff at the entryway didn't speak English and didn't seem to understand why we were there. The tour was narrated in German. There was a brochure I happened to find by chance that gave a link to an English narration based on GPS signals of the boat's location. The signal kept dropping so it didn't work. Also, halfway through the tour the bar ran out of glasses which I heard caused some annoyance for the passengers who were drinking. Overall I had a boat ride in a small circle around a small end of the harbor to look at things I could see from the shore with narration I couldn't understand.

It was a beautiful tour the only problem was that it was in German, I was not advised that apparently I needed to download some type of app or link in my phone for another language so I just enjoyed the view of the beautiful Hamburg without understanding a word from the Captain but my friend that speaks German, told me that it was very good.

What a terrible tour. You don’t go down the canal past all the beautiful buildings you see all the shipping containers. What a waste of time and money DO NOT BOOK THIS TOUR

Was an interesting tour and saw a lot. Main negative is that it took 1 hour 45 minutes vs the advertised 1 hour which then threw out all our other reservations for the day

It’s a real problem that you have no control over whether you travel into the Speicherstadt on these tours. It’s why most people want to take the boat. They book two fundamentally different tours on the same ticket and it’s up to them which one you go on. We quite specifically prebooked for high tide and were told that we had to wait two hours for a Speicherstadt boat. 30 mins, 60mins fine. But on a tourist trip you can’t just wait two hours. Wouldn’t recommend.

Not the best experience. Advertised with English commentary available…..it was not. Not a big problem for me but my partner can’t speak a word of German. The tour otherwise started well going around the canals of Hamburg which are really pretty. This lasted about 20 minutes and then the rest of the tour was going around the industrial docks looking at shipping containers. Not exactly what I want to look at when I’m away.

Great trip! There are English speaking options for audio, however it quit working half way through the tour.

The tour itself was nice, but the sexist commentary and badly aged jokes from what feels like the 50s were just annoying.

Real enjoyed the Hamburg harbor cruise for a unique perspective of Hamburg from the water. Both as a city and as a seaport.

If German is not your native language then you must download app to follow a narration in a different language. The app is terrible quality and if you don’t travel with headphones then you can’t hear very well. It started back at the start of the tour narration 3 times within the first 10 minutes of the tour. I’m extremely disappointed that I was unable to know about the things seen during the trip.

Only issue we had was a last minute download of itinerary in English so we knew about the history. It took a while to download and we were a bit behind the German version.

There are many companies providing enjoyable harbour tours of Hamburg - this is not one of them. We were a buisness group of 11 people of mixed nationalities hoping to enjoy this boat tour - not exactly a stag party. The "captain" of the vessel was playing extremelty loud, random music and only speaking through a very loud speaker system in German. Most of the group couldn't understand this and we would have preferred this would have been made clear when they took our money. However in all honesty it wouldn't have been too bad if it wasn't for the very rude, obnoxious behaviour of the "captain" towards us. Anyone daring to have a conversation in a language that wasn't German was singled out and told to be quiet (in English of course). German speakers talking were uninterrupted. Eventually we were all forced to hide out the back where we were permitted to enjoy our afternoon without sitting in absolute silence enduring this. It was raining but it appeared the only place we were allowed to be. Also, as we are a HSE team we suggest the owners fit guards against the sliders before they take a child's finger off and the the captain of the vessel looks at his course rather than repeadly facing the wrong way. Probably better not to leave his post to stop our (actually not that loud) conversations - I'm no expert but I'm happier when someone is steering the vessel. I would advise that people find a better/less dangerous tour operator to guide them through the extremely interesting Hamburg Harbour.

Nice tour, but only English option is through the App which could’ve had much more information about the sites. Also, should provide link to download App in advance and instructions to bring own headphones because they discourage from playing from your phone.

We enjoyed our one hour tour on The Nellie via Rainer Abicht tours. Regular low sling boat, but views were excellent. At noon on a Monday, boat was almost empty. Discounted tickets for seniors available…but you have to ask. Guide and captain was Elias. Great jokes in German, but so fast, it was hard for me to translate from German into English for my husband. Tours with English narration are not available unless you download the app first - and bring headphones.

I booked the trip in English, as the main commentary was, understandably, in German. When we arrived, we were handed a leaflet for an app to download for other languages. Unfortunately, the app was very poor (only has a 1 star rating on the Apple App Store) which meant that we missed out on the opportunity to learn about the sights along the way.

No one told us it was in German. There was a downloadable app but again, no one told us it was available. Otherwise comfortable albeit hotel chairs, clean and vending machine with beer. I would have preferred to have understood the tour!

Too much docs, cranes and container ships and not enough city view and history! BYW, we wanted the red line but I think they guided us to a boat that was on the blue line. Not sure but either way, it is not what we asked for and paid for. Would not recommend.

Nice, short tour of Hamburg harbour. Seeing the large container ships was a highlight. Be aware, the tour is only in German. However, there is an app you can download for an English tour. Download ahead of time on WiFi, and bring earphones. A one hour tour was long enough for my family. We took the 11am tour and afterward headed for lunch at a nearby Portuguese restaurant.

Definitely not recommended for non-German speaking tourists. The boat's commentary is in German and one needs to download and listen to their app for other languages. I felt like we got hustled when we bought the tickets: we specifically made a point of asking if they could do it in English, and they said "yes", but waited until we paid for the tickets to tell us we needed headphones or ear pods, and an Internet connection to download the app. By the time I had downloaded the app and installed it (poor phone reception on that part of the harbour, not helped by limited data availability on our Danish phone sims) we were already well into into the cruise. Even after that, the app commentary kept dropping out periodically. While the cruise was pleasant enough, we were really not impressed by the off-hand way we were treated by the sales staff/crew. Date of the cruise was 24th August 2022.

We're a mix couple english/french, Before buying the tickets we've been reassured : don't worry, just download the app and you'll have explanations in different languages. The problem is the App isn't updated so impossible to download and we understood nothing.

Guide was okay, though he was making lots of dirty jokes in front of children. Also, on the homepage it says it costs 22 EUR for adults and 11 EUR for kids, but they said it cost 40 EUR. And of top they ask for a tip! Hilarious.

No English language Because we had a baby trailer they recommended us to have another tour than having the tour we had booked

It was a nice tour of the harbor. But, as others noted, the speaker was extremely loud. My kids kept there hands over their ears the entire cruise. And, it was all in German, so we didn't understand anything. Nice hot toddy drinks and ice cream for kids.

This firm is the closest you come to a tourist trap. When we came to the desk at Landungsbrügge we showed the employee our Hamburg card that gives discount on the price. Nevertheless he told os to pay 25 euro pr. ticket. When we went avay he shouted: “Ok 20 euro pr. ticket”. I knew it was still more than there price at their homepage, but accepted because we had only 1 full day in Hamburg. The price on there homepsge is round 17 euro with Hamburg card. So the empoyees at Abicht bouttrips takes the best price they can get from stupid tourists. The boat trip was not worth the money (not even for 17 euro). I will in stead recommend you to walk a trip around the channels of beutyful Speicherstadt. It’s free an you have time an space to take the fotos you like.

It was a good tour of the harbour BUT the guide was speaking non-stop and it was very loud. It would have been nice with at least a little bit of quiet time to take in the views. Kind of ruined the experience

Booked the English tour but it was in German. Thankfully I know enough German so I could follow along quite well but still didn’t understand as much as I would have if it was in English (which is what I booked). It was really cool to see the huge cargo ships and the cargo docks. So would recommend this tour if you’re German speaking.

I had come from a tour of the Airbus factory, also in Hamburg. My paddleboat cruise was schedule to leave at 5:30. As I was taking the ferry from the other side of the harbor and it was heading toward Landungsbruecke 1, I saw the paddleboat pass us going in the other direction about 5:20 PM. The boat must have filled to capacity and left early. I was very disappointed; however, I did receive a full refund which was of only minor consolation.

No memorable parts. We were led to believe there would be English speaking. Everything in German. Very disappointed

I booked the tour for the promised English language at 1200. I should have read the other reviews. The boat ride was in German, so complete waist of money and time. There was inside and outside seating, so when we got cold, we could sit inside.

The tour was listed as being in English but unfortunately it wasn't, therefore limited benefit from the obviously many interesting facts about the harbour area that were given by the guid in German. Nevertheless, a good trip up and down the harbour and the facilities on the boat were very good.

I had book and paied for an english speaking cuise - but everything was in German ... not worth much when you don't speak the lingo ... VERY disaponting. The bar dit not accept cards - cash only!! not very corona friendly and very "Old School" There was NO disenfection of tables or facilities onboard..

In my opinion, also shared by my trip companion, this cruise was very good. We were provided a lot of explanations and details, in a more than reasonable English - which we came to really appreciate after being one day in Germany. The route goes by the docked commercial vessels, by the spectacular Philarmony building, and up and down, along the Elbe shores. There is a bar and washroom facilities on the boat, and plenty of seating, both on the main and upper deck, as well as inside.

We were after a boat tour in Hamburg of the port and a boat tour in Hamburg of the port is what we got. However we have no idea of what we saw. They guys that sold us it for €20 were informative and told us the time and we could chose an hour or two. We are very happy to have chosen one. We chose the big boat and wasn’t informed of anything else. We had a tour guide who had a tip jar at the end. My tip is maybe tell people the tour isn’t in English. We paid €20 and have no clue what we saw or what was said whatsoever and it felt like an hour wasted and money down the drain. We were not told that it would be in German and felt that we had been missold the tour and we left disappointed and frankly due to the weather (not their fault) rather down and gloomy. At least we were warm for an hour.

With only 24 hours in Hamburg, we were delighted that we had chosen to take a harbor cruise. We opted for the smaller boat cruise (from Pier 1) even though it was in German. The English-narrated cruise offered close to the time we got there was on a larger boat that didn't cover the Speicherstadt, an area we really wanted to see. Great decision! The sunny day helped make this a wonderful hour, traveling through the picturesque warehouse district and then out into the cruise and container port. Cost was 20 Euros per person, but worth it for us on our tight schedule. Others had beers in front of them, but we missed out and were ready for a drink by the time we disembarked - that was the only slight negative. It appears the tour times change according to tide, so we were lucky to arrive in perfect time for the tour that included the Speicherstadt. Highly recommend a harbor cruise if you are short on time in Hamburg and especially one that includes the Speicherstadt as well as other parts of the harbor. It was fascinating, with so much to see. Beautiful.

We delayed leaving Hamberg long enough to take the only harbor cruise in which English was spoken. We bought tickets immediately before the cruise was to leave. We were told that our boat was the Iris. The Iris left for a harbor cruise but the English speaking cruise never did. A ton of people milled around and waited in line for 1/2 hour to 45 minutes, attempting to get info out of passing staff. Eventually, it became clear from one very nice young staffer that the cruise might leave sometime in the future or it might not. We gave up and asked for our money back. The communication about what we assume was a mechanical problem

Audio guide in languages other than German worked so poorly that all the focus went to looking at one's phone

Interesting round trip with a very good captain who entertained us amusingly with a lot of information. Top! Gladly again

Great tour through the Hamburg harbor with funny stories from the guide. Very entertaining and interesting!

Very disappointing experience. The one-hour harbour tour was commented exclusively in German. Although an audio guide app is available in several languages for international guests, it was hardly usable in practice: The live commentary in German was broadcast over extremely loud speakers throughout the ship, making it very difficult to understand the audio guide on your own phone. Those who do not speak German thus spend practically an hour on a sightseeing boat without being able to follow the explanations of what you see properly. Offering a multilingual app does little if it is hard to understand due to the conditions on board. I also found the remarkably high level of attention paid to a huge AIDA cruise ship a bit strange. The boat slowed down or stopped while the guide talked about it in detail and enthusiastically. Perhaps this is interesting for some guests; to me, however, this part seemed more like an advertising presentation than a culturally or historically relevant part of a Hamburg harbour tour. The port of Hamburg is fascinating and absolutely worth seeing from the water. Unfortunately, this tour was a very disappointing way for me to get to know him. I wouldn't recommend them to international guests unless the multilingual audio guide is usefully enabled on board. The one-hour harbour tour was conducted entirely in German. An audio-guide app is advertised for international visitors and is available in several languages, but in practice it was almost impossible to use: the live German commentary was broadcast through extremely loud speakers throughout the boat, making it very difficult to hear the audio guide on a phone. So, unless you speak German, you effectively spend an hour on a sightseeing boat without being able to understand the explanation of what you are seeing. Advertising a multilingual app is not much of a solution if the conditions on board make it practically unusable. Another rather bizarre moment was the considerable attention devoted to an enormous AIDA cruise ship. The boat slowed/stopped to admire it while the guide spoke enthusiastically about it. Perhaps this is interesting to some passengers, but to me it felt much more like a promotional moment than part of a cultural or historical tour of Hamburg harbour. Hamburg's harbour is fascinating and absolutely worth seeing from the water. Unfortunately, this particular tour was a very disappointing way to experience it. I would not recommend it to international visitors unless the company improves the way its multilingual audio guide works on board Esperienza molto delusion. Il tour di un'ora del porto è stato commentato esclusivamente in tedesco. Per i visitatori internazionali viene pubblicizzata un'app con audioguida disponibile in diverse lingue, ma nella pratica era quasi inutilizzabile: la spiegazione dal vivo in tedesco veniva trasmessa attraverso altoparlanti a volume altissimo in tutta l'imbarcazione, rendendo estremamente difficile ascoltare contemporaneamente l'audioguida sul proprio telefono. Il risultato è che, se non si parla tedesco, si trascorre sostanzialmente un'ora su un battello turistico senza poter comprendere le spiegazioni di ciò che si sta osservando. Pubblicizzare un'app multilingue serve a poco se poi le condizioni a bordo ne rendono quasi impossibile l'utilizzo. Altro momento piuttosto surreale è stata la notevole attenzione dedicata a un'enorme nave da crociera AIDA. Il battello ha rallentato/si è fermato per ammirarla mentre la guida ne parlava a lungo ed entusiasticamente. Forse può interessare ad alcuni passeggeri, ma personalmente ho avuto più la sensazione di assistere a un momento promozionale che a una parte culturalmente o storicamente significativa di un tour del porto di Amburgo. Il porto di Amburgo è affascinante e merita assolutamente di essere visto dall'acqua. Purtroppo questo tour è stato un modo molto deludente di scoprirlo. Non lo consiglierei a un visitatore internazionale finché non verrà resa realmente fruibile l'audioguida multilingue a bordo.

Good tour but only German guidance in addition to an app that only guided some places and was a bit difficult to keep up with.

Buying the tickets directly at the Landungsbrücken for the right tour was quick. Booking in advance was not necessary for us, since there weren't that many guests in Hamburg anyway. The harbor tour to the container ships is recommended and a "must." The German-speaking guide was still young and needs to gain more experience. Everything seemed memorized, even the jokes, nothing spontaneous. It is interesting that the same topics were addressed on the subsequent city bus tour, but with different numbers... oh well.