Bus from MARIBOR to HAMBURG

Maribor is the second-largest city in Slovenia with about 95,500 inhabitants, it's also the largest city of the traditional region of Lower Styria and the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor.

Maribor was first mentioned as a market near the castle Castrum Marchburch ("March Castle") in 1204, and received town privileges in 1254. It began to grow rapidly after the victory of Rudolf I of the Habsburg dynasty over King Otakar II of Bohemia in 1278. Maribor withstood sieges by Matthias Corvinus in 1480/1481 and by the Ottoman Empire in 1532 and 1683.

Maribor has a humid continental climate, bordering on oceanic climate. Average temperatures hover around zero degrees Celsius during the winter. Summers are generally warm. Average temperatures during the city's warmest month (July) exceed 20 degrees Celsius, which is one of the main reasons for the Maribor wine tradition.

Many historical structures stand in Maribor. Of the remains of city walls surrounding the old downtown, the most prominent are the Judgement Tower, the Water Tower, and the Jewish Tower. Maribor Cathedral was built in the Gothic style in the 13th century. Maribor Synagogue was built in the 14th century, and is the second oldest synagogue of Europe. Today it serves as a centre for cultural activities. Other prominent Medieval buildings are Maribor Castle, Betnava Castle, and the ruins of Upper Maribor Castle on Pyramid Hill. Town Hall was constructed in the Renaissance style, and the Plague Column in the Baroque style.

The city hosts the University of Maribor, established in 1975, and many other schools.

Every June, the two-week Lent Festival (named after the waterfront district called Lent) is held, with hundreds of musical, theatrical and other events. Every year the festival attracts theatre, opera, ballet performers, classical, modern, and jazz musicians and dancers from all over the world, and of course many visitors. There is also mime, magic shows are being held and acrobats perform during the festival.

Maribor is known for wine and culinary specialities of international and Slovene. There are also many popular restaurants with Serbian cuisine. The Vinag Wine Cellar (Vinagova vinska klet), with the area of 20.000 m2 and the length of 2 kilometres, keeps 5,5 millions litres of wine. The house of the oldest grapevine in the world (Hiša stare trte) at Lent grows the world's oldest grapevine, which was in 2004 recorded in Guinness World Records. The grapevine of Žametovka is about 440 years old.

 

Hamburg - the Gate to the world, the City of bridges or Venice on the Elbe. Hamburg belongs to one of the ten most popular tourist destionations in Europe. With its sitizens numbering around 1,79 millions, Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany after Berlin, the eighth biggest city in the European Union and consequently the biggest city that is not at the same time the capital of a state. Hamburg is divided into seven districts and 104 city parts. Hamburg is located in the northern Germany with the warm maritime climate. The warmest month is July with an average temperature of 17.4 ° C, and the coldest month is January with 1.3 ° C. Temperatures around 28 ° C are not uncommon in summer.

Hamburg is famous for its tourist attractions:

The Port of Hamburg (der Hamburger Hafen) is the largest sea port in Germany and one of the most effcient ports of the world. For this very reason the city bears the name of the Gate to the world. Every year, up to 10,000 ships enter the port of the Hansemetropole,and their number is increasing from day to day. In total, the port, which is more than 800 years old, occupies an area of around 7,200 hectares, which is about one-tenth of Hamburg's area.

The Warehouse District (Speicher stadt) is famost around the world. Since july 2015 this legendary attraction, together with the Kontorhaus District and Chilehaus, belongs to the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site. It is considered to be the largest connected warehouse complex in the world that was built in 1883.

One of the most popular sightseeing spots in Hamburg is the Main church of St. Michaelis (die Hauptkirche St.Michaelis). The 132-meter-high church is the landmark of the city and one of the most important buildings in Hamburg. Among the locals the church is affectionatelly called "Michel". Since its first edification in 1647, the church has been rebuilt twice.

Another architectural as well as musical sight of Hamburg is the Elbphilharmonie. It combines tradition and modernity in such an impressively manner that cannot be compared to any other city in Germany.

If you're looking for city sightseeing in Hamburg, the you should definitely visit the Hamburg Town Hall (das Hamburger Rathaus) in the city center. The magnificent building dates from the 19th century and stands out from the typical Hamburg architecture by its extremely elaborately decorated facade. The sandstone building, which regularly houses exhibitions, evokes associations with a neoclassical castle.

If you want to explore Hamburg with children, the Zoo Hagenbeck (Tierpark Hagenbeck) is just the right choice for you. Sightseeing for the whole family is worthwhile in the largest private zoo in the world. Thezoo, which is more than 100 years old, is the first in the world to completely dispense with cages in its enclosures and to adopt a more equitable attitude which provides more freedom to the enclosed animals.

The Floating Dock (Landungsbrücken) – if the statistics are to be believed, then the St. Pauli Floating Dock is second ,ost important and famous tourist attraction after the Brendenburg Gate. As a matter of fact, the dock is always lively and there’s always something going on.

St. Pauli and the Reeperbahn - The Reeperbahn, also known as "Kiez", is and will remain Hamburg's amusement district number one. With the operetta house, numerous tabledance bars, discotheques and student clubs, there is always something to satisfy each person’s taste at the surface of 930 meters! During the day it can berather quiet,but it is the evening when the street awakens in its complete splendour.

Hamburg is a cosmopolitan and diverse city with an incredible number of sights, events and leisure activities, making it the perfect destination for a short stay.