When you think of Germany’s most popular tourists sites you think of castles and nature and beer festivals and historic town centres. You don’t think of toy trains.
Well, I certainly didn’t. Not until I visited Miniatur Wunderland, that is.
The promotional brochure puts it like this:
“It’s the only time you’ll see Mount Rushmore next to Cape Canaveral. And it’s the only place that’s managed a direct train from Hamburg to the US!”
It’s easier to defy spatial rules when everything is smaller and the model train museum in the Germany city of Hamburg has mastered that.
One way to get to Miniatur Wunderland is with the Hamburg Hop-On Hop-Off bus that will take you to all the city’s main sights.
Unfortunately Miniatur Wunderland has yet to work out how to miniaturise the crowds and it’s busy inside. More than 11 million people have visited since it opened and on some days there are long queues to get in.
So why is Miniatur Wunderland so popular, yet so unknown?
Well, partly it’s because the majority of visitors are German, not international.
And partly because it’s in Hamburg which, despite turning out to be a very cool city, is not on the typical tourist path through the country.
Those who know about Miniatur Wunderland clearly feel the long waits are worth it. I’ve decided to head inside to see for myself.
Inside the old building in the Speicherstadt part of town, the displays take up two large floors.
The train tracks with their model engines and carriages run through entire lands that have been created with small figurines, cityscapes, cultural events and realistic natural panoramas.
At the moment there are seven lands: Middle Germany, Knuffingen, Austria, Hamburg, America, Scandinavia and Switzerland. In the coming years they plan to open Italy, France, the UK and Africa.
It’s hard to get a sense of how large this miniature world is until you see it for yourself. But, to help, let me throw a few facts and figures at you:
- There are 13 kilometres of track
- There are 930 locomotives
- There are 215,000 figurines
- 64 computers run the whole thing
- And it’s taken 580,000 work hours to build
One of my highlights is the airport they’ve built where model planes pull out from the terminal, taxi to the runaway and then take off, disappearing behind the set.
Eventually they will come back to land and a departures and arrivals board shows you what’s coming and going.
Miniatur Wunderland is a fantastic place for train-lovers and for families. You could definitely spend a long time looking at all the small details.
The displays even turn from day to night every fifteen minutes as the lights in the building are dimmed.
If you like model trains, this would be heaven. If you don’t like crowds, it could be hell.
Either way, it’s worth a visit to Miniatur Wunderland when you’re in Hamburg.
Visiting Miniatur Wunderland
Hamburg is one of my favourite cities in Germany and I recommend you spend some time exploring the different neighbourhoods in Hamburg and going a bit deeper into its fascinating maritime heritage.
But a must-do while you’re here is visiting Miniatur Wunderland.
It’s really easy to get to Miniatur Wunderland, which is in the Speicherstadt neighbourhood. It has lots of public transport options or it’s a relatively short walk from the city centre.
However, an option you may like to consider is the Hamburg Hop-On Hop-Off Bus, which will take you to many of the city’s other sights with commentary along the way.
You could spend as long or as short a time as you want exploring Miniatur Wunderland. I would recommend about two hours as a minimum, because you’ll often find yourself spending ten minutes at one display just watching everything change.
There are limited places to visit Miniatur Wunderland and the museum does get full.
To save yourself from a long waiting line – or even not being able to get in at all (which happens a lot) – you should book your ticket in advance for a set time slot.
If you want to go behind the scenes, there are a couple of guided backstage tours that you can do for an additional cost (€17.50 per person, or €13.50 for children aged 6 -15). In groups of no more than six people, you’ll learn all about what happens behind the scenes.
It’s worth booking a tour in advance because they fill up very quickly.
For food and drink, there are two restaurants at Miniatur Wunderland. There’s the main bistro with a range of meals, and there’s the newer Wunderland Diner with a focus on burgers.
Where is Miniatur Wunderland?
Miniatur Wunderland can be found on the southern edge of Hamburg’s city centre. Its address is at Kehrwieder 2/Block D, 20457 Hamburg.
You can see it on a map here.
How do you get to Miniatur Wunderland?
If you’re coming by public transport, you can take a bus that stops at the Auf dem Sande bus stop.
Coming from the city centre, it’s about a 15 minute walk.
Miniatur Wunerland is a large building that is hard to miss. Use the entrance to the right of the Hamburg Dungeon entrance and take the stairs up two floors.
When is Miniatur Wunderland open?
The standard opening hours for Miniatur Wunderland are:
Daily: 9:30am – 6pm
Tuesdays: 9:30am – 9pm
Saturdays: 8am – 9pm
Sunday/Public holiday: 8:30am – 8pm
(But opening times vary on a daily basis)
How much does it cost to visit Miniatur Wunderland?
The admission price for Miniatur Wunderland is €20 for standard ticket and €17 for concession. The price for children under 16 is €12.50.
You can find out more information at the Miniatur Wunderland website.
While you’re here, make sure you make some time to explore other parts of the Speicherstadt neighbourhood, which has been listed as a World Heritage Site.
There are also some other excellent experiences in Hamburg that I would recommend here:
This is a city where it’s easy to spend a few days (or more). Just make sure that your time here includes visiting Miniatur Wunderland, because it will be a highlight of your trip!
THE BEST ACCOMMODATION IN HAMBURG
There are some wonderful luxury and design hotels around HafenCity, but you’ll also find good options in most neighbourhoods
BACKPACKER
For an affordable and friendly hostel, I would recommend Jugendherberge Hamburg-Auf dem Stintfang.
BUDGET
For good value right near the train station, Hotel Terminus am Hauptbahnhof is a decent option.
BOUTIQUE
I absolutely love the design at the very cool 25hours Hotel Altes Hafenamt.
LUXURY
And when it comes to views and architecture, The Westin Hamburg is absolutely stunning!
Time Travel Turtle was a guest of the German National Tourism Board but the opinions, over-written descriptions and bad jokes are his own.
I wish you hadn’t told everyone that Hamburg is cool. I was trying to keep it to myself. Loved Miniatur Wunderland. The exhibits are amazing. I’m not necessarily a model train fan — I was mostly dazzled by all of the settings. I was there on a very cold and wet winter’s day and didn’t have to wait in line at all.
Ha ha – I’m sure there’s still enough there to share 🙂
I had the same reaction to Miniatur Wunderland as you. The trains are kind of cool but I was really amazed by all the detail that had gone into the huge settings. You could stand there and study them for so long and still be discovering new things. Oh, and the airport – that was the coolest!!
I’m not a huge toy train person, but I went to a miniature museum in Victoria, Canada last year and thought it was fantastic. This one in Hamburg looks great as well. Definitely not something I would have thought to check out before, but it seems like a fun way to spend a few hours.
I think if you don’t have kids it wouldn’t be an obvious place to go but I really enjoyed it as an adult. I haven’t heard about the one in Victoria but I would be curious to compare them now. This Hamburg one is supposed to be the biggest in the world… but not sure what that actually means! 🙂
Better not tell my nephews and Dad about it. They will be clamoring for a family vacation there next year with their model train hobby. Great shots.
Well you should definitely tell them about it. They can go and play with the trains and you can explore the cool artistic side of Hamburg’s nightlife! 🙂
This is amazing! I didn’t even know I loved miniature train sets until I saw your photos! Now I might turn out to be obsessed and it will be all your fault :c) It looks like a must-see destination, but I would have read about it and ignored it… Until I saw fantastic shots like yours. This is definitely going on the ever-growing list so thanks for sharing!
Thx for this wonderful post about Hamburg and the Wunderland. Greetings from the Speicherstadt. 😉
I still have two videos of the planes landing on my phone. Loved it
The train sets are amazingly detailed. I never knew this was at Hamburg before! People must be trying to keep it secret! Thanks for sharing this!
The Germans certainly don’t think it’s a secret – it is packed full of them most of the time! But it’s weird how it doesn’t have a bigger international reputation. There are plenty of train nuts in the world who would love it!