Hamburg
You're flying out of Hamburg Airport, you have 90 minutes to kill, and you'd like to do better than a Pret. Good news: airport drinking has improved more in the last five years than the previous fifty. Pre-flight drinks at Hamburg Airport range from chain reliability to surprisingly polished hotel-style bars in the airport hotels. This is barsforKings's editor-curated guide to drinking better at Hamburg's airports.
City centre · $$$
20up sits on top of the Empire Riverside Hotel and delivers a panoramic harbour view at a more accessible price point than Tower Bar or Clouds. The 20th-floor c
Sternschanze · $$
Altes Machwerk Bar draws a steady local crowd in Sternschanze. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening.
Hafencity · $$$
Bar am Wasser Hafencity draws a steady local crowd in Hafencity. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening.
City centre · $$
Barfly is the Eimsbüttel neighbourhood cocktail bar from a long-running Hamburg bartender — a tight programme of well-built classics in a no-pretensions corner-
Want a real drink before flying? The fastest play is to get to airport hotels next door — most run polished bars that beat anything post-security. We list them at the bottom. If you've got 60 spare minutes pre-airport, see our shortlist of bars in Hamburg proper at the end.
Plays for Hamburg Airport: post-security, pre-security, lounges, and the airport-hotel cheat code.
Pre-flight drinks, hotel-bar reviews, and the openings we're watching across 200+ cities. Friday mornings, no filler.
Looking beyond Hamburg? See our guide to the best airport bars worldwide, or compare airport bars city by city.