ABOUT MOIN HAMBURG TOURS

The guides behind the stories

Walking tours in Hamburg built around the specific histories, people, and decisions that shaped the city — not the version in the guidebooks.

How Moin Hamburg Tours started

Hamburg wasn't supposed to be permanent. I came from South Africa in 2011 to study, and the plan was always to move on. But Hamburg has a way of keeping people. By 2014 I was guiding on weekends. By 2016, guiding was the job.

The reason I started was frustration, honestly. The city I was living in — the one with the specific fire in 1842, the exact spot on Große Freiheit where John Lennon played his first Hamburg show, the merchant families who shaped the port and everything attached to it — wasn't the city in most tours. I wanted to build something tighter and more honest. Max 15 people, because beyond that you can't have a real conversation. Local stories, because Hamburg's history is genuinely strange and interesting if you tell it right.

Moin Hamburg Tours runs in English, German, and Spanish — genuinely, not with a translator on the side. Every tour is a single-language experience, and that changes the quality of the storytelling. If you speak a language as your own, you can be more specific, more funny, more like a person and less like a script. That's what we're going for.

THE PEOPLE

Meet the guides

Kalvin Brookes

10 years guiding in Hamburg

Guides in English, German

Kalvin grew up in South Africa and came to Hamburg in 2011 to study — and never left. Over ten years of guiding in English and German, he has built tours around the stories that most guidebooks skip: the specific people, decisions, and accidents that shaped the city you're walking through. He knows where the Great Fire started, why the Rathaus tower is exactly one metre taller than St. Petri, and what the Beatles were actually doing on Große Freiheit.

Favourite historical fact

“The Great Fire of 1842 burned for three days and destroyed a third of Hamburg's old city — but it also gave the city the chance to rebuild with the wide streets and drainage systems it desperately needed.”

Ramiro Otilio Fernández

7 years guiding in Hamburg

Guides in Spanish

Ramiro moved to Hamburg from Argentina seven years ago and never quite left — the city got under his skin fast. As a professional guide, he's spent those years exploring its streets and tracing the stories that built it, from its earliest beginnings to right now. For Ramiro, a good tour isn't just facts delivered in order — it's knowledge paired with a genuine experience. His aim is simple: share Hamburg's history and culture properly, and make sure every guest leaves with a memory worth keeping.

Favourite historical fact

“Hamburg has more bridges than Venice and Amsterdam combined.”

Lukas Widmann

5 years guiding in Hamburg

Guides in English, German

Lukas grew up in a small town in Bavaria — and fell for Hamburg precisely because it offered everything his hometown couldn't. He studied computer science and economics before becoming a guide, and it shows: he tells Hamburg's history with the same care he'd bring to a spreadsheet, equally happy with a good story and a precise number.

Favourite historical fact

“For 116 years, Speicherstadt had its own customs border within the city of Hamburg.”

OUR APPROACH

How we do it

Small groups, always

We cap every public tour at 15 people. The average is 6–8. That means you can ask a question without everyone staring at you, stop for as long as you want at a building, and have a tour that actually feels personal. We don't do bus tours. We won't start doing bus tours.

Stories, not facts

Every stop on every route has a person behind it. The Great Fire of 1842 isn't a date — it's a decision about property rights and a candle in a chimney flue that changed how a whole city was built. We tell it that way. If we can't make something interesting, we don't include it.

Three languages, genuinely

English, German, and Spanish — each tour is one language, start to finish. No translation, no switching, no compromise. If Spanish is your language, your tour is in Spanish. We think you get more from a story when the person telling it speaks your language as their own.

10+: Years guiding in Hamburg
200+: Five-star reviews
3: Languages
15: Max group size

Frequently asked questions

: We cap every public tour at 15 people — and the average is usually 6–8. That means you can actually hear the guide, ask questions without feeling awkward, and have a genuine experience rather than a march through the streets.
: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before your tour. Cancel within 24 hours and you'll receive a full refund. Cancel on the day — no refund, but we'll do our best to reschedule you if there's space.
: Tours run in all weather — Hamburg is a rain city, and locals know it. We walk past covered arcades and sheltered spots on every route. Bring a waterproof jacket. If the weather is genuinely dangerous (storm, thunderstorm), we'll cancel and refund in full.
: Yes — children aged 8 and up generally enjoy the tours. The walking distance is around 3 km over 2 hours at an easy pace. Children under 15 must be accompanied by an adult. If you have young children or a pushchair, let us know in advance and we'll advise on the best route.
: Meeting points vary by tour. The Old Town tour starts at Rathausmarkt, right in front of the Rathaus. St. Pauli starts at the Pegelturm (water-level tower) at Landungsbrücken. The Speicherstadt tour starts in front of the Chocoversum chocolate museum at Messberg 1. You'll receive the exact meeting point details in your booking confirmation email.
: Around 3 km over 2 hours at a relaxed pace — we stop frequently for stories and to take in the surroundings. Comfortable shoes are recommended. The Old Town and St. Pauli routes are fully paved and wheelchair-accessible. The Speicherstadt tour passes through a historic district that is predominantly cobblestone throughout — manageable, but worth knowing in advance for wheelchair users, pushchairs, or anyone with limited mobility.
: Tours are available in English, German, and Spanish. Each tour is a single-language experience — not simultaneous translation. Book the tour in your preferred language. If your group speaks multiple languages, a private tour is the best option.
: We recommend booking at least 48 hours in advance to secure your preferred date and time. For large groups (15+) or corporate tours, a week's notice is ideal. We can sometimes accommodate same-day bookings — call or WhatsApp to check availability.
: Yes — private tours are fully flexible. We have four core routes but can adapt the focus, the pace, or the specific stops to suit your group's interests. Corporate groups often want to include the port and HafenCity. Families sometimes focus on the Old Town. Tell us what matters to your group and we'll build the tour around it.
: Yes. Book directly by phone or WhatsApp to receive a formal invoice with VAT breakdown. Online bookings through FareHarbor do not include a separate invoice — for corporate expense purposes, the booking confirmation email serves as your receipt.
: The 6% fee is charged by the FareHarbor online booking platform — it's not a fee we set. To avoid it, book directly by calling or WhatsApp-messaging us. You'll pay the base price directly, with no platform fee added.

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