The Cool City That German Tourists Keep to Themselves

Falling in love with a city in September is like falling in love with a FaceTuned Tinder photo–the weather is just too good, the population too refreshed from summer and their kids being back in school. But if you find yourself charmed by a place in the depths of winter, say, a blustery rainy long weekend in February, and still want to go back–you know it’s the real deal.

Such was my experience just a couple weeks ago in Hamburg, Germany, where for four days I visited in the rain. It’s the country’s largest city and the seventh largest in the EU. However, it’s one where, other than to conduct business, Americans rarely visit. A perfect fit, then, for our series on underrated destinations, It’s Still a Big World.

Charmed is precisely what I was after my four days there. Whether it’s architecture, music, food, history, or urban curiosity that motivates you, Hamburg has something for everybody. And, as it’s a city focused more on work and play for its own citizens and not for non-German tourists, there is a sense that as a total foreigner you’re experiencing a place, a way of life, relatively unscathed by our tourism.

Read more at The Daily Beast.