Day Tripping with Ryanair
I am more than happy to organise club trips but I appreciate the club timetable may not suit your own. As an alternative to the scheduled trips, you might to make the journey yourself on your own or with a friend. It is quite possible to visit the Exhibition in one day so long as you meet some of the requirements. Luckily, I live within an hour’s drive of London Stansted airport, so it makes it possible to use the Ryanair flight to the Lübeck-Blankensee airport (which Ryanair refer to as Hamburg-Lübeck) in the morning (leaving 06:25) and take the reverse flight in the evening (leaving 21.00).
By travelling midweek (on a Wednesday), low season (November) and booking in advance during a sale, the airfare was a total of £20 (the fare was free, but the tax and use of a credit card was actually £19.98). I do not know how long Ryanair will offer two flights a day but whilst they do, it is an easy, if not long, day to visit the Exhibition. Ignoring the petrol cost, I also paid £12.40 to park my car at the mid-stay car park for the day.
However, as you may know, Lübeck is some way north of Hamburg. This should not prevent the making of this trip since it is actually very simple to get to the centre of Hamburg itself. At the Lübeck Airport the aircraft taxis to the terminal building (which is similar to a large shed) and at that point your coach is on the other side of the building some 50 metres away. At the time of my visit, the
railway station was still under construction. The 10 Euro (one-way) coach fare to the central bus station in Hamburg (known as the ZOB) seemed a fair deal. Moreover, one hour after touching down, the coach arrived in Hamburg. In fact, all the Lübeck-ZOB shuttles are timed for Ryanair flights.
From ZOB you can actually see the Hamburg Hauptbahnhof, but the U-Bahn entrance is closer and you have no need to go to the main station. The U-Bahn station name is ‘Hauptbahnhof-Sud’ and is a mere 25 metres from the bus station.
I purchased a ‘9-hour’ ticket, which allows you to roam central Hamburg after 9am any day Monday to Friday. The cost was 5.30 Euros.
The U-Bahn journey to the Exhibition takes no more than ten minutes as it is only four stops. You need to take the U3 (Yellow) line in the direction of Barnbeck, your station is Baumwell. Initial orientation may be confusing, but you are moving away from the direction that you came, not going back. The Baumwell station is elevated and you walk down (or take the lift) to street level. At this point, the Exhibition is behind you. You need to turn around, cross under the line, then over the road and the bridge, then turn left keeping the waterside on your left. The walk is a quick five minutes or slow ten-minute saunter according to your need.
The Miniatur Wunderland is housed in a converted warehouse with the unassuming entrance under the ‘d’ of Wunderland. Blink and you will miss it. Strangely, the entrance proper is on the third floor, so take the lift. Be warned however, you should always make a reservation through the MW website. This is simple and free and means you can use the special entrance. When I arrived at 10.30 am there were no queues anywhere; one hour later, it was like Kings Cross on a Friday evening.
The Northern Elbe River
I had a chance to meet Theresa (one of the MW administrators) who is helping the club and then I spent four hours walking around the Exhibition. I am not going to spend anytime here writing about this experience because my purpose here is to encourage you to consider making the same journey if it suits your agenda.
I spent a few more hours looking around the shops; in better weather it might have been worthwhile taking a harbour trip. I also noted several tourist ‘sight-seeing’ buses that could have proved a useful diversion but instead I simply walked back to the ZOB (taking a slow distracted walk) detouring everywhere.
Back at the ZOB, the A20 bus was embarking passengers for the airport and their flight to Dublin. I jumped on board and slept all the way back. At the airport, most travellers headed for the check-in. I headed for the bar where I had a beer (or two) and there I wrote this article.
My flight home was on time and eventless (the best type). I returned to my bed 19 hours after I left it. Excluding food, drinks and souvenirs my wallet is now £57.80 lighter than when I began planning.
One last thought: if you think going in one day is a bit mad, you could take the easyJet option of flying in the evening directly from Luton to Hamburg; make your way to a suitable hotel and visit the Exhibition fresh in the morning. In the early evening make your way back to the airport and hence to Luton. Be careful though, they do not fly seven days a week! Expedia offer such trips as a package. This method obviously costs more due to hotel costs and a more expensive airline.
One of the 186 photographs I took that day and one of my favourites as well, Keith.