Car Hire: Take advantage of the special easyJet inflight rates and visit the Europcar desk on arrival or call +49 (0)40 500 2170. Open from 7am-midnight seven days a week.

Airport Transfer: Pre-book your door-to-door transfer with easyJet’s transfer partner, Holiday Taxis—from home to the airport, then city or resort (easyjet.holidaytaxis.com).

Train: The nearest rail link is at Ohlsdorf station, served by overground S-Bahn lines S1 and S11, as well as the U1 underground U-Bahn—all pass through the main train station.

Taxi: The journey to the city centre takes 20 minutes and costs about €22.

Schweizweit
( 20 Grosse Rainstrasse. Tel. 040 3990 7000 )
Whether fondue, hearty soups or cheese platters, it’s all done to perfection at the city’s only Swiss restaurant, located in Ottensen.

Freischwimmer
( 1 Fruchtallee. Tel. 040 4145 9980 )
Inventive dishes like calamaretti with lemon-rosemary risotto make this stylish eatery, featuring a basement-level bowling alley, a city favourite.

Brauhaus Joh. Albrecht
( 7 Adolphsbrücke. Tel. 040 367 740 )
A canal-side brewery that serves fresh weizenbier (wheat beer) and hearty German cuisine to nearby office workers and visitors.

La Mirabelle
( 15 Bundesstrasse. Tel. 040 410 7585 )
Helmed by oenophile Pierre Moissonnier, this friendly French eatery west of the city-centre features menus that include fried spring roll with goat's cheese, followed by ox cheek with swede compote.

Riva
( 3 Beim Alten Gaswerk. Tel. 040 890 620 )
Perfect for a relaxed cocktail and aperitif, this chic bar, decked out with dark sectionals, is located in an historic brick-clad and cobble-carpeted former industrial courtyard in the Ottensen district.

Cotton Club
( 10 Alter Steinweg. Tel. 040 343 878 )
Hamburg’s oldest jazz club dates back to 1974 and lures the best jazz and classic New Orleans Dixieland bands from Europe and America.

Huehnerposten
( 1A Hühnerposten. Tel. 040 2353 2883 )
Housed in what was once a post office, two raw-boned dance floors keep blissed-out revellers content with a mélange of house and electro, on tap at the weekend.

Hamburg’s answer to Smythson, Waltraud Bethge features leather-bound accessories, luxe fountain pens, personalised diaries and calendars wrapped in such exotic hides as shark and lizard. The shop also features hundreds of types of paper, wrapping paper and greetings cards (9 ABC-Strasse. Tel. 040 311 552).

Discover the century-old Alter Elbtunnel (Old Elbe Tunnel), which is wrapping up its multi-million euro renovation, before the rest of the city’s visitors do. Both of the passageways are decorated with glazed terracotta tiles and are used for exhibitions, but also by walkers, cyclists and a handful of cars.

Situated a stone’s throw from the harbour, Ditmar Koel Strasse is a popular cobbled street that offers superlative Spanish, Brazilian and Portuguese fare. More than a dozen cafés, restaurants, pubs and tapas bars dot this three-block street, each filled with gastronomic delights.

The autumn instalment of the city’s tri-annual theme park, the Hamburger Dom, is set in Heiligengeistfeld and features 280 stalls and activities, food and amusements (7 November-7 December. www.hamburger-dom.de).

Lüneburg – Located 50 kilometres from Hamburg, this petite enclave is famous for its handcrafts, traditional costumes and fairytale Old Town, the Altstadt. Despite this antediluvian milieu, a young vibe permeates this city of 50,000, thanks to a local university and a smart pedestrian-only core lined with indie boutiques (www.lueneburg.de).

Dating back to 1300, Hamburg’s oldest building is also Europe’s oldest lighthouse. It's located on the island of Neuwerk, at the mouth of the River Elbe, near Cuxhaven in the North Sea, and is open to the public.

Compiled by Farhad Heydari/www.farhadheydari.com