10 Dos and Don’ts for visiting Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg, Germany
Hamburg may be the second largest city behind Berlin in population and second largest port city in Europe but it can claim #1 in one thing: model trains. Inside an old warehouse building in Speicherstadt sits nearly four levels of miniature train dioramas. Even if you aren’t a mini train fan, this place has something for everyone.
Do:
Make a reservation ahead of time. You are going to want some peace of mind knowing that you will be able to browse the museum when you are ready. Sure, you can buy tickets there and we noticed people didn’t have issue with this, but why risk it?
Use your Hamburg Card for discounted admission. Similar to the first one, a little bit of planning can allow you some more flexibility in your wallet. You may save a Euro or two per person but if you already have the travel card, you should use it to its full offerings.
Give yourself plenty of time. Yes, once you scheduled a reservation and used your Hamburg Card discount, you want to also be sure to get your money’s worth. Part of that means having enough time to fully immerse yourself in each diorama.
Watch every display through day and night. Each “world” goes through a day and night cycle at least a couple of times each hour. Be sure to watch how each place changes from day to night.
Watch the planes take off and land in the airport. Spend at least 20 minutes here, you will not be bored.
Push the buttons. There are buttons placed throughout each world where you get to participate in the miniature world. Each button engages a different activity and it is so fun to see the details
Don’t
Stand in one place in each world. In order to truly appreciate the full experience, you need to move around the different angles of each world. Move around, kneel down, stretch up. There are details high and low if you look close enough.
Just take photographs. It is amazing what you can capture through video and you can see the movements of the trains and characters. Plus, it is so much more telling when you look back at your memories to have a video or two.
View the whole place through your phone. On the flipside, sometimes you need to put the phone down and actually look at the display with your own eyes. Like I said before, the camera will never capture the scale of this place so sometimes it is okay to just take it in for yourself.
Get caught in the gift shop. You know they strategically place both the entrance and exit in the gift shop. Personally, I thought that a lot of the toys and knick-knacks are items that could be purchased elsewhere and are not even unique to the museum. Skip it!