Why Hamburg, Germany Is Considered 'Venice Of The North'
By Jenna Busch
VACATIONS
While Venice, Italy, is renowned for its bridges and canals, you can find a beautiful, underrated alternative in the German city of Hamburg, located 60 miles from the North Sea.
Called the "Venice of the North," Hamburg has more bridges than Venice, at almost 2,500, and plenty of canals. It also has two manufactured lakes, Aussenalster and Binnenalster.
Hamburg boasts a wide variety of bridges, some even dating back to the 17th century. The oldest bridge is Zollenbrücke from 1663, which is 82 feet long and has three arches.
The city is also home to Germany's second-largest bridge, Köhlbrandbrücke, inaugurated in 1974. This cable-stayed bridge is almost 2.5 miles long and about .2 miles wide.
One unique spot in Hamburg is Miniatur Wunderland, which contains over 260,000 miniatures and features tiny recreations of places like Austria and the United States.
Other places to visit include the Elbphilharmonie concert hall and Rathaus, the town hall that survived being bombed in WWII despite one landing in its center.