Hannover -What to See and Do in 1 day

Hanover is a large industrial city and apparently has little to do, but a stop is good if we have the time! Hanover is not one of those cities that are on Germany‘s Must to See list or interesting.

The 13th largest city in Germany, where the best known is the name… well… and the new town hall (neues Rathaus).

First… you should know that Hannover is not pronounced like we usually do: just like it is read in Spanish. No, Hannover in German is pronounced something like “Hanofa“.

[icon name=”bed”] Accommodation

We are staying in an apartment in Airbnb, although there are also many options and offers in Booking for Hannover…

[airbnb]

View all accommodation in Hannover

[icon name”train”] Transport

For public transport (trams and buses) the normal ticket is 2.40 € and the day pass 6.50€. Although if you’re going downtown, I don’t think you’ll need a day pass. We only use it to park the car and move once in the direction of the center.

If you arrive by public transport in Hanover or are going to continue your journey, you might be interested in my other article on “How to travel Germany by Train without being a Millionaire: 7 tricks”

[icon name”city”] Visiting the city

[icon name=”route”] The “Red Thread”

The red thread is an initiative of the city, to offer a free “guided tour”, so that you can visit Hanover at your own pace. To see the city it is a good idea to follow this red line, called “the red thread” in English or “der rote Faden” in German.

Here is a video presentation:

The 4.2 km route covers almost the entire centre of Hanover, passing through all the important and relevant points in Hanover.

The line is circular, but you usually start in front of the train station (a little to the left) from the tourist-info. There you can buy for 3 ? a small complementary guide that explains each of the 35 stops of the route. It is available in Spanish. The app version is also available, but you have to pay anyway.

In the booklet they tell you in a superfluous way the stops, 1 or 2 paragraphs, which is enough for general things, but personally I expected much more. Also many stops of the 35 are basically stuffed.

The line gets lost in some sections, too many I think, but with the map you can get an idea and go on.

The New Town Hall

The new city hall is certainly the highlight of Hanover. It is also on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It was built only at the beginning of the 20th century, hence its name.

Entrance to the hall and building is free. In the great hall just below the dome there are 4 models of Hanover in different periods: 1689, 1939, the post-war (1945) and today.

Going up to the viewpoint located on the dome is very worthwhile to have a 360º panoramic view of the whole city. You get there by going up a very peculiar curved elevator. It’s 3.50 euros (2 euros students).

The elevator is both small and curious. It goes up the side of the dome following a curved path through some rails. The ceiling as well as the floor are made of glass and you can see perfectly how the elevator turns.

The cabin is small, 5 people + elevator operator, who is the one who asks you for your tickets. Every 4 minutes an elevator goes up with 5 people. You can calculate the waiting time by seeing how many people are in line. For us, it was only 20 minutes, but it was a Monday in October and in bad weather.

This is the tallest building in Hanover! In total you will go up 42 meters by elevator, then you will have to follow some spiral stairs up to 5 more floors. Don’t spend a lot of photos on the first viewpoint, because the third floor is a bit better and also with less people.

[icon name=”church”] The Aegidien Church

This Aegidienkirche was destroyed during the bombings of World War II (as was St. Nikolau’s church in Hamburg). The ruins have remained forming a memorial, interesting to visit!

[icon name=”landmark”] The Historic Center

Along the river’s edge and across the city you will find areas of interest to visitors, with sculptures and some old buildings such as the Marktkirche. Also around the train station, going straight to the centre is a lively shopping area.

Others: The CeBit Fair

The CeBit technology fair is held in Hanover, where the major international brands present their products and do business, Apple, sonny, SAP, John Deere, VW, etc. She is very famous worldwide in her field, of course.

In 2014 I visited the fair for 2 days and Hannover is full of high officials, very well dressed, who come at all costs. The best restaurants, hotels and bars will be full of people who are going to take advantage of their time in Germany, or others who are going to do networking.

The fair is interesting, but the entrance fee is about 60-80 euros, although I got 2 free passes through my roommate’s company. It is focused on companies (B2B), although technology lovers are welcome as well.

[icon name=”plane-departure”] Others: Sky Dive in Hildesheim

I took advantage of my visit to Hanover to complete one of my pending tasks: Parachute jumping 🙂

About 30 min. from Hannover is the Hildesheim airfield (Skydive), which for about 200€ you can jump in tandem.

There was a lot of good vibes at the airfield and it was an incredible experience. I don’t have any more photos jumping around because they cost 40 euros more… and although they showed them to me on the screens, I saw them being erased when I told them I wasn’t paying anymore.

Is Hanover worth visiting?

I am in favour of all places being interesting or having something worth visiting, but in the case of Hanover, I would prioritise and go to other places.
I would go first to Bremen or especially Hamburg, my favorite city in Germany.

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