Strandpauli, St. Pauli, Hamburg

Are there any beach clubs in the UK? By way of explanation, a beach club is an outdoor bar with a layer of sand across the floor to make it like a beach. Most of these bars are next to rivers or lakes, but not always. Anyway…

Strand Pauli is the most permanent and generally the closest beach club to the Reeperbahn. The pluses are that the atmosphere is always cool, the seating is good and the view is interesting (so long as you like shipping). The main minus is that the sand is dirty and full of cigarette butts. The beer is kinda expensive, but cheaper than the other beach clubs.

Sorry fellas, but it’s NOT like being on the real beach: so damn packed you can’t even strech your legs and the view is non-existent due to the monstrous Blohm&Voss shipyard with all the noise from welding and construction (is it another yacht of Abramovich?)

Well, actually it’s not that bad, better than infierno of the cement and glass in the city on a hot summer day. They have cocktails, they have beer, they have sand - but that’s about it.

This is a great place to go to relax and have couple of cocktails in summer. It really shines when the weather is great and you can take of your shoes.

It’s a bit crowded so you may have to wait till you get a place to crash.

Mojitos they make are awesome!

Nice place to relax and drink a couple of mojitos in the sun. You might struggle to find a place if the weather is good, since this beach bar is very popular.

I enjoyed it a lot. Gives you a feeling like you’re on a real beach somewhere in Hawaii.

If you come to Hamburg on Sunday morning you will visit the Fischmarkt. You have to be there very early and after a walk and bargaining with different Fischmarkt-sellers, you will need a place to chill. If you follow the way from Fischmarkt to St. Pauli-Landungsbrücken, you pass Strand Pauli (that means Beach Pauli. And if it is summer and if the sun shines, you can sit on sofas or beachchairs or even lie on a queensize bed, drink Cocktails or have a breakfast, or snacks like Hamburger. The prices are a little bit higher than in a Pub - but when you see, that you have a beach in the harbour and can watch the ships passing by (as we saw the Sadov today) it is worth the money. We paid 10 Euros for 3 very well served non alcoholic drinks.

You really feel like you are on the beach. Wonderful… but it remembers a bit on a package tour. Over all the prices. Too expensive. And going to the toilet costs extra.
But the excuse is good: The view, the sand.. the summerfeeling.

Suntan o’clock! It really is kind of like being on a real beach, except you’ve just walked from your house and you can’t actually jump in the Elbe, just see it. A relaxed vibe, decent seating/cushions if you get in early, and a nice bar that will even serve Weissbier with a straw - totally tropical. My only gripe would be the amount of cigarette butts in the sand. So no 5th star. Still - something very different and cool to show off to your English friends!

Wow, what a great place! I headed straight here the first time I was in Hamburg when it actually didn’t rain! Walking up through the hustle and bustle of the riverside past the harbour, I really wasn’t sure what to expect, and was pleased to find this place with a nice level of busy-ness (i.e. plenty of different seating options and not vast queues to the bar, but still a good vibe and lots of people from all age ranges). The imported sand is soft, although it could have been cleaner. The music is funky-chill-out - something I’d hate normally but seemed to fit the place well. I didn’t eat but the food (pizzas, burgers, salads) looked fresh and big portions. A perfect way to spend a hot and lazy afternoon in Hamburg, watching the big ships sail past and catching up with friends.