Our team

MOIN, WE ARE HAMBURG CITY CYCLES!

Hamburg City Cycles was founded in 2009 by Lars Michaelsen and has its office in St. Pauli very close to the famous Reeperbahn and the stunning harbour.
We focus on guided bike tours only and manage a very well equipped bike rental.
We believe the best way to discover Hamburg is on a bike tour – that’s why we cycle through our favourite city Hamburg everyday with people from all over the world.

Guides and organization

Lars

Favourite tour: Elbe bank – Most beautiful place in Hamburg: Vier- and Marschlande – In my free time I ride: Singlespeed Möhre, cargo bike, racing bike – Whenever possible: wrestling with my children – Favourite quote: Don’t do to others what you don’t want them to do to you“ – Favourite drink: Gin Tonic

Gerrit

Favourite tour: Elbe bank. Alster. Or maybe Wilhelmsburg? – Most beautiful place in Hamburg: Bornsteinplatz at the southern end of the Elbe tunnel – In my free time I ride: mostly my bike – I like: Elephants, ginger, peace on earth and most of all my dearest. – Favourite food: depends on season, but definitely pears, beans and bacon (traditional Hamburg dish) – From: Duchy Lauenburg

Dennis

Favorite Spot in Hamburg: the harbor and the Bille river
favorite music: the goal anthem of HSV football club
favorite quote: "Milan or Madrid -- I don't care, as long as it's Italy" (Andy Möller, 1992, allegedly)
what else am I doing with my life: tinkering in the garden, and travelling
what can't I do: wheelies!
where do I want to go: to India, in my VW camper van

Ilka

Favourite tour: Elbe bank
I like: sitting in a Portuguese restaurant with friends, drinking wine and pretending to watch a football match
Favourite music: Irish folk
Favourite food: fish
Essential on tour: bottle with delicious Hamburg tap water
What else am I doing: painting, reading, gardening
Special skills: knitting socks

Guides

Nils

From: Hamburg – Favourite place: Park Fiction – I like: empathy and patience – I dislike: no time for breakfast – Love to listen to: reggae from latin america – Favourite food: mom's spaghetti bolognese – Favourite drink: passion fruit spritzer – Name of my barber: Horner Schere – Always on tour: curiosity and good mood – Profession: tourism merchant and student of politics – Let's go here: to the South

Gunnar

Favourite tour: Hamburg Compact – Favourite place in Hamburg: Fish market – Just awesome: tolerance – No go: ignorance – In my free time I do: guiding through Millerntor, traveling – Have to go to: doesn’t matter as long as I’m on the road

Lars L.

Favourite tour: Blankenese, uphill – Favourite tour in Hamburg: cemetery Ohlsdorf just before its closing – Favourite food: Schnipo Schrank – Favourite quote: „Health might not be everything, but without health everything is nothing.“ (would be easier to follow without Schnipo Schranke) – Name of my barber: Vorhair – Nachhair, door plate: Kamm In – Professional background: advertising – True born: from the deep woodlands

Phil

Favourite tour: Hamburg Compact – Favourite place in Hamburg: Alster by boat – Never ever without this on tour: freight elevator at the Old Elbtunnel – What I do besides: writing screenplays, making movies, cleaning the bathroom – Still practicing: German language! – Native: Australian

Emilie

Favorite tour: Wilhelmsburg
Favorite place in Hamburg: The canal around Billerhude Island
I like: enjoying the (rare) morning sun from my bed
Favorite drink: freshly squeezed orange juice.
Professional background: film director.
Special qualities/skills: Multilingualism!

Manuela

Favourite place in Hamburg: everything west of the Alster
Privately I ride: city, trekking, racing and folding bike
I like: Cabaret
I like to listen to: countertenors
Favorite quote: The clown is the most important meal of the day
Indispensable on tour: my lambskin saddle cover
What else do I do: sing in the ladies liqueur choir, improv theater
Special skills: platt schnacken

Manfred

Favorite place in Hamburg: Hamburg harbor
Privately I travel: often to Cape Town
I like: Concerts in the Elbphilharmonie and elsewhere in Hamburg
I do not like: Selfishness
I like to listen to: jazz and soul
Favorite drink: Gin in all possible variations
Indispensable on tour: a good mood
Professional background: retired police officer
What else do I do: cycling, paddling in and around Hamburg in my own boat

Lili

on my own time I ride: a comfortable city bike with a child seat as the family coach, my faithful racing bike when I need to get places in a hurry, or my new Bombtrack for longer rides -- I like: justice, a clear political point of view, the thick air in the "Fabrik" venue during a rock concert -- favorite quote: "Between right and wrong, there's a place -- and that's where we'll meet" (M. Rosenberg) -- main occupation or original training: coach for interpersonal communication (and originally an econ major...)

Ingo

Favorite spot in Hamburg: the Elbe beach -- on my own time I ride: Singlespeed -- I like: Sports and serenity. -- I don't like: unnecessary hectic -- favorite food: fish in all variations -- favorite quote: being determines consciousness -- - occupational background: teacher (sports and geography) -- One thing I cannot do: tailoring

André

Favorite Tour: Through the harbor on Sundays
Favorite spot in Hamburg: The Chilehaus courtyard
For fun, I ride: Bicycles from the 1950s
Favorite quote: „My definition of happiness? No appointments and a slight buzz“ (Harald Juhnke)
Favorite drink: Scotch Whisky
What else am I doing: Guided tours 🙂
Where do I want to go: after the tour? Home!

Gerrit F.

Favorite tour: Wilhelmsburg
Lieblingsessen: Parmigiana di Melanzane
Favorite quote: "There is nothing good unless you do it." (E. Kästner)
Favorite drink: exciting beers
Was mache ich sonst so: Studying architecture and exploring the world
What can't I do: do nothing at all
Kommt aus: "The Länd" (Baden-Württemberg)

Alexander

Olly

Favorite tour: Elbe banks
Favorite place in Hamburg: Elbstrand
I drive privately: A family cargo!
Favorite music /I like to listen to: King Tubby
Favorite food: English breakfast
Favorite quote: ‘To those that think, life is a comedy. To those who feel, life is a tragedy’
Favorite drink: Tea
Name of hairdresser: Leonie - my wife
Indispensable on tour: Poncho
What else do I do: Cook curry’s
What can’t I do at all: Speak German
Originally from: UK

Savvy

Carlos

I like: Swimming
I like listening to: Latin American music
Professional background: Paramedic and firefighter
What else do I do: I'm passionate about cooking, and unfortunately about eating, too 😂
Comes from: Spain
Special qualities/skills:
A firefighter is like a duck. Can swim a little, walk a little and fly a little but unfortunately none of it perfectly

Fabian

Favorite tour: Hamburg Compact Favorite places in Hamburg: Alster, Bille, Elbe, Wandse and the harbor I don't like: Structural injustice and those who make it happen Favorite quote: Nadennyo to the port What else do I do: urban research or something like that That's where I want to go: To the port, then have a look. And best of all to Marseille.

Lifesaving Mechanics

Imke

Favourite place in Hamburg: island Kaltehofe
I don’t like: drunks in public transportation
Favourite music: the perfect pop song
Favourite food: cake
Favourite drink: coffee
Indispensable on tour: air in the tires
What else am I doing : supporting the social initiative „Westwind“
Where I want to go: into the blue

Hall of Fame

Backy

Favourite tour: individual tours with small groups – Most beautiful place in Hamburg: Stintfang – In my free time I ride: Cannondale, Tesoro 3, tube, car2go – No go: Nazis, AfD (twice the impact) – Never without it on tour: photobook, hat, guests – Others do it better than me: speaking russian, sitting still

Bertram

Favourite tour: Wilhelmsburg – Most beautiful place in Hamburg: Oberes Alstertal – In my free time I ride: racing bike and cyclocross – Don’t like it at all: noisy cars and motorbikes – Makes my belly happy: cheese spaetzle – True born: from Oberschwaben, close to Bodensee

FRIENDS, PARTNERS & MEMBERSHIPS

A-Frame

Hamburg Elbe Island Tour

Pedalotours

Cycle Cities

St. Pauli archive

Hamburg Card

Hamburg Green Card

OFFICIAL GUIDE

Hamburg Tourist Board

Supporting member ADFC

Westwind Hamburg

WE LIVE SUSTAINABILITY

With our bike tours we contribute to environmentally friendly and sustainable tourism in Hamburg. So that our children and their children can continue to live in an intact environment and society, we do our best every day to run our business as ecologically and socially as possible.

Good energy

Our operation uses green electricity: for our energy-efficient appliances, energy-saving light bulbs and our computers, which are turned off at night and run in sleep mode when not in use during the day. In this way, we ensure that only as much electricity is used as is urgently needed. For the consumption of our van we compensate certified by atmosfair the CO2 emissions, but leave it whenever possible: For smaller purchases, we prefer to use the cargo bike for shopping around the corner.

Recycling

We separate waste: from scrap metal and hazardous materials to our recycled paper and paper pens in the office. If something can no longer be used, it is separated and disposed of properly. Ideally, we would like to recycle everything. But did you know that old bicycle tires belong in the residual waste? We have asked Continental if there is not a better solution for this. And we donate discarded bikes that are still perfectly usable to Westwind e.V. who make bicycles fit for refugees and people in need.

Social and fair

We want to be a role model as a social enterprise. Therefore, what others are still discussing applies to us: 12 € minimum wage. No unpaid overtime, no ifs and buts. In addition to fair pay, the compatibility of family and career is important to us – for owner Lars, himself a dad of three children, this is a matter of course. Also self-evident: Everyone is welcome. That’s why sexism and racism have no place at Hamburg City Cycles. Discriminatory and xenophobic statements will lead to exclusion from the bike tour. Item. And last but not least, a sentence that we would like to emphasize to you: Support your local dealer! As a Hamburg-based company, we support local partners for healthy consumption. It’s easy to join in: for example, on the Gentrification bike tour, where €3 per passenger goes to the St. Pauli district archive.