Sailing trip on the Hamburg Outer Alster

Recommended by 95% of travelers

Badge of Excellence

Hamburg, Germany

1 hour 30 minutes (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Explore Hamburg's Outer Alster Lake aboard a two-masted wooden sailboat and discover the appeal of old-style sailing as you glide past some of the city's sights. Use your time on deck to help set the sails, or leave the boat in the hands of your experienced captain and instead focus on the view: Hamburg City Hall and St. Michaelis Church are among the sights.

Bypass the crowded tourist boats and set sail on a classic sailboat
Use a provided life jacket and sailing gear if you wish
Learn more about Hamburg and the sailing boat from your captain
Enjoy a more personalized experience in a group limited to 11 people

What's Included

Life jackets and waterproof sailing jackets and sailing pants are available for free use if required.

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

barca BOAT EVENTS
An d. Alster 67a, 20099 Hamburg, Germany
Our boats are located at the landing stage "barca - An der Alster", An der Alster 67a, 20099 Hamburg. It is the second boat dock diagonally opposite the famous Atlantic Hotel.

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Itinerary

Außenalster

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Rathaus (Pass By)

Elbphilharmonie (Pass By)

Alsterfontäne (Pass By)

Michaeliskirche (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Not wheelchair accessible
Service animals allowed

Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 11 travelers

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

Kristen_D

This was such a wonderful experience. My sister and I really enjoyed it and the sailing trip was so relaxing. The people hosting this were very communicative and flexible, especially since thunderstorms were forecasted when we orginally booked. Highly recommend to anyone looking to relax and enjoy the Alster!!! 10 out of 10 experience!!! Would go again the next time we are in Hamburg!

Reviews

4.8

based on 44 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Smooth sailing

Thomas_A, Jul 2025

We had a wonderful trip. The weather was cloudy but cleared up a bit just in time for a sunny cruise, and windy - perfect for sailing. Our captain was experienced and very skilled and made it a great and safe trip. The Alster is great for sailing.

Sailing in Hamburg

Lisa_C, Jul 2025

We brought our own drinks and had a relaxing and enjoyable boat ride. Our guide was friendly and helped to make our trip memorable.

Great Fun!!

debra_s, Jul 2025

Our captain was skilled, friendly, & quite knowledgeable about the area. He welcomed our two young teens to help with tasks on the boat, teaching & guiding them carefully as they did so. Excellent English, which was great, since our German is still “student level.”

Very pleasant.

Maria_S, Sep 2024

Very pleasant experience. Super enjoyable to sail the calm waters of the Alster. The Captain was very knowledgeable and answered all our questions. You can bring your own drinks if you want to celebrate as well.

Great boat trip on the lake

Steven_R, Aug 2024

We had a great time on the boat and really enjoyed it sail. We got a go at steering the boat which was great fun.

The perfect way to view Außenalster

Mark_H, Aug 2024

The small boat that were sailed on was absolutely perfect. The time was exactly 2 hours, Henning was accommodating, engaging and flexible. We had things explained and the fact there was no set route meant Henning took advantage of the conditions

A Beautiful and Relaxing Sailing Experience

Kristen_D, Jul 2024

Amazing

Hannah_B, May 2024

Amazing experience! Learned about the life in Hamburg, saw amazing views, and enjoyed a relaxing time on the water. The sailor was informative, kind and let us decide what we wanted our experience to look like.

Great Time Sailing the Alster!

Evan_F, Apr 2024

Sailing Lake Alster in Hamburg was a perfect five-star experience. Great communication leading up to the event, a knowledgeable captain, and stunning scenery made for what seems like a tranquil getaway from the city despite the lake being right in the heart of the city center. A must-do for Hamburg visitors.

Relaxing and fun!

Gabriela_S, Sep 2023

We enjoyed the early afternoon tour. The weather was sunny and slightly breezy. Our tour guide was super friendly and knowledgeable too. It was great to experience the tour with locals as well. Would recommend!

A pleasant evening on the Alster

Lisa_W, Jun 2023

It was a pleasant evening on the water. Unfortunately, there was not much wind for our time and it was more of floating on the Alster and less of sailing, but I enjoy being on the water and thought it was relaxing. This is not a tour, which is clear in the description, but the captain did try to point out some interesting buildings/areas to us and answered questions. We were offered a different day with better sailing weather, but we weren’t in town for that long.

A fun, relaxing way to spend 1.5hr's in Hamburg

Claire_H, May 2023

We were blessed with sunny weather, though very little wind, so not a great deal of hands on sailing, but our Captain, Henning, was great fun and we very much enjoyed the company of our fellow sailing crew too. A relaxing 1.5hr on the water.

Awsome Experience

Sheri, Jul 2021

It was a really nice sailing trip in a very warm day. We had never been on a sailing boat before and had some concerns but as captain was friendly and sailing was smooth, we enjoyed it very much. All in all it was a wonderful experience!

Great sailing with a caprain

Mglues, Aug 2020

Very nice and cheerful captain. The all mahogany twomasted boat was in perfect condition and with lots of space. We cruised between a large number of canoes, pedalboats, SUP:s, sailing boats of all shapes and sizes. A nice and cooling experience this summer day with 30 degrees and great wind .

Response from Host, Aug 2020

I am so happy that you loved the boat and enjoyed our little cruise and now have recommended it to others with your lovely review. Thanks so much! I hope you had some more lovely hours in our beautiful Hamburg. Ahoy and best, Henning

Is there only the German language?

vittoria_s, Aug 2025

A ride a little 'monotonous far from expectations is not worth the expense you do not admire any of the landscapes described in the proposal good at maneuvering the shipowner

Auto-translated

Response from Host, Aug 2025

Dear Vittoria, I am very sorry, that your expactations were not met at all. Our tours are actually no typical sigthseeing tours like on the big tourist boats, but relaxing sailing cruises on a beautiful old wooden sailing boat. So we don't have a fixed program or give standard informations for tourist, neither in German nor in English. And we do not have specific English cruises but our skippers are able to give necessary informations or answer questions at least in simple English. So our cruises are often with international guests on board and with a captain who is able to speak English at least on a small talk basis. We offer a unique and quite scenic sailing experience for non-sailors in the middle of Hamburg, where you can see a lot of Hamburg sights from the waterside, of course in a distance: the city hall, the concert hall Elbphilharmonie, all the main churches, the Alster fountain, ... can be seen on any of our tours, also on the cruise that you joined. So I cannot understand, why you write, that there was nothing of these sights to see on your tour. And of course you can ask questions and talk to our skippers if you want to know anything and we try to give answers as good as we can. A lot of people actually just sit and relax on the boat and enjoy the peaceful scenery. And some people ask a lot of questions like the others - in your case german guests - on your cruise and than the skippers give answers. Your skipper told me that you did not ask a single question during the cruise. But as there are always people on our cruises who don't want specific informations and instead prefer to enjoy the cruise without talking a lot, we don't find that irritating. So every cruise is different depending on the guests on board. I am very sorry again and I hope you still had a good time in our beautiful city of Hamburg. Ahoy and all the best, Henning

Sehr schöner Segelausflug

Caroline_K, May 2024

Hat sehr viel Spaß gemacht!:-) sehr netter "Kapitän", der uns viele tolle Tipps zu Hamburg gegeben hat! Highlight war, dass wir unter Anleitung sogar selbst segeln durften, was total Spaß gemacht hat:-)

Segeltörn auf der Alster

Werner_M, Oct 2023

Super Segeltörn. Det Skipper war super. Hat alles super erklärt. War ein tolles Erlebnis. Haben viel gesehen

Die entspannte Atmosphäre...

Sabine_S, May 2023

Die entspannte Atmosphäre und die Kleingruppe hat mir gut gefallen. Ein netter Skipper, der für Fragen offen war.

Sehr schönes Erlebnis

Mandy_M, Aug 2022

Wir sind vorher noch nie auf einem Segelschiff gefahren. Super Einführung durch den Skipper erhalten. Sehr kinderfreundlich. Empfehlenswert.

Segeltörn auf der Außenalster

Anja_T, Jul 2022

Wir hatten die schönsten Plätze vorn im Bug und eine herrliche Aussicht auf die Stadt. Der Skipper manövrierte uns sicher über die Alster und gab Infos wenn gewünscht wurde, ohne sich aufzudrängen. Der Preis ist aber ganz schön „haarig“.

Perfekt!

Constanze_L, Jun 2022

Ich hatte versehentlich ein falsches Datum gebucht - dennoch wurde uns der Segeltörn zu unserem Wunschdatum ermöglicht! Vielen Dank an dieser Stelle! Es war ein sehr schöner Ausflug mit unglaublich lieben Skipper, super organisiert. Empfehle ich sehr gerne weiter!