Hamburg

The Speicherstadt is one of the main highlights of the great harbour tour. Built in 1883, five years before Hamburg was granted its free port, this world's largest integrated complex of warehouses has been under historic monument protection since 1991. Constructed on oak piles, the district is crisscrossed by fleets — canals that are flooded with the tides and navigable by ship. You can explore the narrow canals in small barges to appreciate the architectural details when the tide permits. A canal tour on a historic barge like this offers an unforgettable experience. Most tours start from the landing stages in St Pauli, and groups can even charter an entire barge. Located in the Freihafen between Deichtorhallen and Baumwall, this is the world's largest contiguous warehouse complex.

The Chilehaus is one of the finest examples of 'Brick Expressionism' — an architectural style that was popular in Hamburg in the 1920s, characterised by the use of clay tiles and hard-baked bricks. Designed by architect Fritz Höger, the Chilehaus sits at the heart of Hamburg's Kontorhaus district. The building's name originates from the trade in nitrate between Hamburg and Chile. Constructed between 1922 and 1924, it was one of Hamburg's first high-rise buildings. The Kontorhaus district, along with the Speicherstadt district, was nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015.

The Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park was created to protect the single ecological entity of the Waddensea of Hamburg, a UNESCO biosphere reserve. It is an exclave of the city state of Hamburg in North Germany and lies in the estuary of the Elbe in the North Sea. In June 2011, the entire German section of the Wadden Sea, including the Hamburg Wadden Sea, became a World Heritage Site after more than 9,500 square kilometres of tidal flats off the coasts of Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony and the Netherlands were included in 2009.