Travellers often overlook Hamburg to visit bigger Berlin, but they do so at their own peril. This former shipping town has a quaint maritime charm from its waterways and many bridges that dot the landscape, which combines with the fresh modern vibe to create a wonderful eclectic city that is a joy to wander in and admire.

The harbour city is also known as the sex and entertainment capital of northern Europe, with the main streets St Pauli and Reeperbahn often compared to Amsterdam’s Red Light District. The gay scene is based around two centres: St Pauli, located around the Reeperbahn, offers a plethora of shops and bars; and St Georg, near the main station, plays host to a number of popular bars and Hamburg’s leather scene.

For up to date gay news and events, be sure to pick up free magazines Hinnerk or SGH (Szene Guide Hamburg), which are available at most gay venues.

The Hamburg International airport is a mere 8km outside town. The airport express bus service (Busline 110) runs every ten minutes from Terminals 1 and 4 at the airport to U/S Ohlsdorf in the city centre for a fare of 2,20€ per person. Alternatively, a taxi to the city centre will cost approximately 16€.

Hamburg is a beautiful city to wander aimlessly – a dense network of waterways and open water shape the city’s appearance and make up 8% of its total area. Hamburg even has more bridges than Venice! Boat riding on the Alster ("Alsterschippern") or on the larger canals (known as "Fleeten") is a great way to see much of the town.

Hamburg’s old city Altstadt is fairly young by European standards, thanks to the Great Fire on 1842, which trashed most of the historic buildings. Even the apparently ancient St Petri, the oldest of Hamburg’s top five places to worship, was rebuilt to a neo-Romantic design despite its 12^th-century origins. A survivor of the Great Fire is the historic Trostbrücke, the oldest bridge linking Altstadt with Neustadt, featuring statues of Hamburg’s first archbishop.

If you’re looking for the highlights of the city’s culture all neatly organised into a string of galleries and museums, then the Kunstmeile, or Art Mile, is for you. Start at the Hamburg Kensthalle, and move on to the Galerie de Gegenwart for modern art, before hitting up Kunsthaus for local artists and Deichtorhallen for visiting exhibitions.

Hamburg’s premier shopping street, Jungfernstieg, is just about the most expensive in the country. It’s lined with jeweler’s shops – Wempe, Brahmfeld & Guttruf and Hintze are the top names – and chic clothing boutiques such as Linette, Ursula Aust, Selbach, Windmvller and Jdger & Koch. The adjoining streets Grosse Bleichen and Neuer Wall extend the high price zone.

The Hamburg classic Deichgraf (Deichstrasse 23, +49 40 36 42 08) is a small and elegant fish restaurant in the heart of the old harbour warehouse district. It’s one of the best places to get traditional dishes such as Hamburger Pannfisch – fried pieces of the days catch prepared in a wine and mustard sauce.

Central Restaurant (Lange Reihe 50, +49 40 28 05 37 04) is a popular haunt for celebrities, both local and international. Perhaps they’re drawn to the high class cuisine at modest prices that this chic restaurant offers? Who knows, but it’s a culinary and social delight you should experience for yourself.

If you’re looking for somewhere to settle in with a drink or two, G-Bar (Lange Reihe 81, +49 40 28 00 46 90) won’t disappoint. This chic bar is very popular with the younger crowd. If mingling with celebrities, politicians and rent boys is your ideal setting for after supper sips, you can’t go past Harolds Hotel & Bar (Reeperbahn 54, +49 40 31 76 11 61).

Hamburg is the sex shop capital of Europe with more than 20 sex shops for gay men, many of which offer enormous labyrinths and dark-rooms with all the toys one could imagine – and its not GI Joes dolls we’re talking about. Dolly Buster by Seventh Heaven (Reeperbahn 61, +49 40 31 12 61) is one of the largest and should cater to any need.

If you’re seeking the perfect leather accessory or outfit then look no further than Boutique Bizarre (Reeperbahn 35, +49 40 31 76 96 93) – at 1400 square metres, it’s one of the largest leather & fetish shops in Europe.

If all that toy shopping gets you worked up and ready for a steam (and a bit more) then visit Dragon (Pulverteich, +49 40 24 05 14), the cities most popular sauna. This clean and comfortable bathhouse is across two floors, one of which contains a playroom. If you fancy making yourself part of an authentic Hamburger by positioning yourself between two locals, then also try Men’s Heaven (Talstrasse 10-12, +49 31 79 37 27) – the only sauna in St Pauli. It’s an intimate sauna across two levels.