Bremerhaven Harbour Bus Tour with Live Commentary

Schaufenster Fischereihafen, the Fishery Harbour

The tour starts at the Schaufenster Fischereihafen, the 'shop window' of Bremerhaven's Fishery Harbour. Built from the 1890s, the Fishery Harbour became one of the largest fishing ports in Europe, and its red-brick packing halls once handled huge catches from the North Sea and the Atlantic. Today the historic halls house fish restaurants, smokehouses, small shops and an aquarium, while the working harbour around them still processes fish.

Arrive a little early to walk along the quay, see the fishing boats and the old harbour crane, and try a fish sandwich before boarding. This is the first boarding point, and only passengers who start here get the full route through the city as well as the port, so it is the best place to begin your Bremerhaven harbour tour.

German Maritime Museum and the Old Harbour

From the Fishery Harbour the bus drives through the city centre to the German Maritime Museum, Germany's national museum of shipping history. Its main building, opened in 1975, was designed to evoke the decks and funnels of a ship, and its most precious exhibit is a merchant cog from around 1380, found in the river Weser in 1962 and carefully restored. Historic museum ships lie in the Old Harbour outside.

The museum entrance on Hans-Scharoun-Platz is the second boarding point; passengers who join here take part in the port section of the tour only. If you plan to visit the museum, the bus tour is a good way to see the setting first and return later on foot.

Havenwelten, the Harbour Worlds waterfront

Next comes the Havenwelten, or Harbour Worlds, the modern waterfront built around the Old and New Harbours in the 2000s. Here you find the Climate House, which takes visitors on a journey around the world along the 8th degree of longitude, the German Emigration Center, a zoo specialising in northern and marine animals and the tall sail-shaped glass tower that dominates the skyline.

From the bus you see how the former port basins have been turned into promenades, marinas and museums, and the guide explains how Bremerhaven reinvented its waterfront after the decline of shipbuilding. It is the city's main sightseeing area and the place to come back to after the tour.

Cruise quay and the emigrants' departure point

North of the city centre the bus passes the cruise terminal on the Weser, where large cruise ships and ocean-going vessels berth beside a quay with a long history. Between the 19th and 20th centuries millions of emigrants left Europe from Bremerhaven for the New World, many of them from this very waterfront.

Seeing a modern cruise ship tower over the quay while the guide tells the story of those departures is one of the most striking moments of the tour. With luck you will see a ship preparing to sail or passengers boarding, especially in the summer cruise season. Ask the guide about the timetable of ship calls; departures are often announced in advance, and evening sailings make a fine sight from the promenade after the tour.

Container terminal and car-export port

The highlight for many visitors is the drive into the international port area, normally closed to the public. Bremerhaven's container terminal stretches for nearly 5 km along the Weser, one of the longest continuous container quays in the world, lined with gantry cranes that load and unload the biggest container ships afloat.

Nearby lie the car terminals, where Bremerhaven handles a huge share of Europe's vehicle exports and imports, with rows of new cars waiting to be driven onto specialised car carriers. From the upper deck of the bus you see the scale of the port up close, and the guide explains how goods move from ship to rail and road. Bring your passport or ID card, as it may be checked at the port gate.