Landungsbrücken is not a single ferry departure point. HADAG ferries leave from Brücke 1, 2, and 3, and the right pier depends on whether you are heading toward Finkenwerder, the south side of the Elbe, or Elbphilharmonie.
The most useful distinction is simple: Line 62 to Finkenwerder uses Brücke 3, Lines 61 and 75 use Brücke 2, and Lines 72 and 73 use Brücke 1. Check the live departure display before boarding, because service patterns can change.
Finkenwerder is Line 62 from Brücke 3
For most visitors looking for the familiar public ferry ride along the Elbe, Line 62 is the important one.
It leaves Landungsbrücken from Brücke 3 and continues west along the river through stops including Altona (Fischmarkt), Dockland, Neumühlen/Övelgönne and Bubendey-Ufer before reaching Finkenwerder.
This is not the same journey as simply crossing to the opposite bank. Line 62 follows the north-bank side of the Elbe for much of the trip before reaching Finkenwerder, so it makes sense when your destination is one of those western river stops or when Finkenwerder itself is the goal.
If you arrive at Landungsbrücken specifically looking for Line 62, do not stop at the first HADAG ferry sign you see. Brücke 1 is at the eastern end of the Landungsbrücken complex, while Brücke 2 and Brücke 3 are farther west. HADAG currently assigns Line 62 to Brücke 3.
Finkenwerder is also a useful example of why the destination name matters more than the general idea of “taking a harbor ferry.” The Line 62 journey is not simply a short crossing from one bank to the other. It continues through several waterfront stops before reaching Finkenwerder, so boarding it makes sense when that western sequence is part of the trip.
Visitors who only want to experience a ferry for a few stops do not necessarily need to remain on board all the way to Finkenwerder. But if Finkenwerder is the actual destination, the intermediate stops should not be mistaken for alternative arrival points. The line number, final destination and Brücke 3 departure point form one route decision.
Brücke 2 serves two very different trips
Brücke 2 currently handles Line 61 and Line 75.
Line 61 initially overlaps with Line 62 on the north-bank side, serving Altona and Dockland, but then continues through Waltershof to Neuhof rather than Finkenwerder. That means Lines 61 and 62 can both look reasonable if you only recognize the first few stops.
The destination at the far end matters.
Use Line 61 if Waltershof or Neuhof is actually part of your plan. Use Line 62 if you are continuing toward Neumühlen/Övelgönne, Bubendey-Ufer or Finkenwerder.
Line 75 is much shorter. It connects Landungsbrücken directly with Steinwerder on the opposite side of the Elbe.
That makes Line 75 useful when Steinwerder itself is the destination rather than when you want a longer trip west along the river.
Brücke 2 therefore should not be interpreted as a destination by itself. Two passengers standing at the same pier may be making completely different journeys depending on whether they board Line 61 or Line 75.
That makes the departure display particularly important here. Someone heading for Neuhof needs the Line 61 branch through the harbor, while someone heading only to Steinwerder needs the much shorter Line 75 connection. The shared pier does not mean the ferries can be substituted for one another.
For visitors unfamiliar with the harbor, checking the final destination shown for the vessel is more reliable than remembering only “Brücke 2.”
Brücke 1 is the eastern and south-harbor side
Brücke 1 sits at the eastern end of the Landungsbrücken ferry area, toward Elbphilharmonie. HADAG currently assigns Lines 72, 73 and 66 to this pier.
For visitors starting at Landungsbrücken, Lines 72 and 73 are the ones most likely to matter.
Line 72 runs between Landungsbrücken, Arningstraße and Elbphilharmonie. It therefore stays much closer to the central waterfront than Line 62.
Line 73 crosses into the working harbor side and serves Theater im Hafen, Argentinienbrücke and Ernst-August-Schleuse.
Those are not interchangeable sightseeing routes. If the destination name in your journey planner is on the south-harbor side, Line 73 may be useful. If the destination is simply Elbphilharmonie, Line 72 is the relevant HADAG line when it is operating.
Elbphilharmonie is also the clearest case where the ferry should be treated as one possible waterfront connection rather than as the default way to reach the building. The two landmarks sit within the same central harbor area, so the practical choice can depend on whether the ferry is operating conveniently when you arrive.
This is different from Finkenwerder, where the ferry itself forms a substantial part of the journey. For Elbphilharmonie, the value of Line 72 is the short water connection and the arrival perspective rather than solving a difficult cross-city transport problem.
That distinction helps prevent the article from treating every HADAG line as if it served the same type of journey.
Line 72 does not currently run on summer weekends
There is an important 2026 exception.
HADAG states that Line 72 does not operate on Saturdays and Sundays during the summer season through November 1, 2026. Monday to Friday service continues between Landungsbrücken, Arningstraße and Elbphilharmonie.
This matters because Elbphilharmonie appears so close to Landungsbrücken that the ferry can look like an obvious connection on a map.
On a summer weekend in 2026, do not build the trip around Line 72. Walking, U-Bahn or bus may be the practical alternative.
Line 73 can also be affected by harbor conditions
Line 73 has a different complication.
HADAG notes that the Ernst-August-Schleuse stop depends on suitable water levels because high water can prevent vessels from passing beneath the Argentinienbrücke.
There is also a scheduled closure affecting Argentinienbrücke from August 31 to September 19, 2026, and again from October 12 to October 14, 2026 because of construction work.
If Line 73 is important to your day, check the live service before walking to Brücke 1.
The south-harbor destinations on Line 73 are also less intuitive for first-time visitors because they are not simply another version of Hamburg’s tourist waterfront. Once the ferry crosses away from Landungsbrücken, the route enters a harbor landscape shaped by docks, workplaces, theater access and industrial infrastructure.
That makes the stop name particularly important. Boarding Line 73 simply because it crosses the Elbe can put you somewhere that is awkward for a conventional sightseeing walk.
Use Line 73 when one of its actual stops is part of your plan, not as a substitute for Line 62 or as a generic way to “see the other side” of Hamburg.
Do not choose the ferry only by pier number
The pier number helps once you know the line.
It should not be the first decision.
At Landungsbrücken, start with the destination:
| Destination or direction | HADAG line | Landungsbrücken pier |
|---|---|---|
| Finkenwerder | 62 | Brücke 3 |
| Altona / Dockland then Waltershof or Neuhof | 61 | Brücke 2 |
| Steinwerder | 75 | Brücke 2 |
| Elbphilharmonie | 72 | Brücke 1 |
| Theater im Hafen / Argentinienbrücke / Ernst-August-Schleuse | 73 | Brücke 1 |
The reason this order works better is that several lines share Landungsbrücken but diverge quickly once they leave the central harbor.
Walking to the correct pier first does not help if you have selected the wrong line.
This order also makes the route easier to recover when something changes. If a departure is moved or a pier assignment is temporarily altered, you still know which line and destination you need. If you memorize only a pier number, a change at Landungsbrücken removes the one piece of information you were relying on.
The durable part of the journey is therefore the relationship between destination and ferry line. The pier is the final operational detail to confirm on arrival.
That is particularly useful at a transport hub such as Landungsbrücken, where rail, U-Bahn, buses and several ferry services meet within the same waterfront area.
Line 61 and Line 62 overlap before they separate
The easiest pair to confuse is 61 and 62.
Both leave Landungsbrücken and serve Altona (Fischmarkt) and Dockland. After that, they split.
Line 62 continues toward Neumühlen/Övelgönne, Bubendey-Ufer and Finkenwerder.
Line 61 turns toward Waltershof and Neuhof.
If you are only traveling as far as Altona or Dockland, either line may appear in a journey planner depending on timing. If your destination is farther along the route, the line number becomes much more important.
The shared stops are also why boarding whichever ferry arrives first is only safe when your destination lies on the common section. A traveler going to Dockland may have more flexibility than someone continuing to Neuhof or Finkenwerder.
Once the routes divide, the cost of choosing incorrectly is no longer just a few minutes of waiting. You may end up deeper in a different part of the harbor and need another ferry or land connection to correct the journey.
The simplest check is to look beyond the next stop. If your destination is after the point where Lines 61 and 62 separate, confirm the line number before boarding.
Steinwerder is not the same trip as Finkenwerder
The similar place names create another easy mistake.
Steinwerder and Finkenwerder are different places and use different ferries from Landungsbrücken.
For Finkenwerder, use Line 62 from Brücke 3.
For Steinwerder, use Line 75 from Brücke 2.
This matters especially if you are looking at the opposite bank from Landungsbrücken and assume that any cross-Elbe ferry will eventually put you in roughly the same place. The harbor basins and industrial areas make corrections much less direct than they appear on a simple map.
The difference becomes more important when planning what happens after the ferry. Steinwerder is reached by a short cross-river movement, while Finkenwerder belongs to a much longer route along the Elbe. Choosing one because its name looks similar to the other can therefore leave you on the wrong side of the harbor with no simple continuation to the place you intended to reach.
This is one of the situations where looking only at geographic distance can be misleading. Hamburg’s harbor contains docks, industrial areas and waterways that interrupt direct land movement. Two places that appear close on a map can require very different onward journeys once you arrive.
If you are arriving from Hamburg Airport, finish that journey first
The ferry decision starts after you have reached Landungsbrücken.
If you are coming directly from Hamburg Airport, use the existing Landungsbrücken from Hamburg Airport: S1 and Elbe Walk guide for the airport-to-waterfront section.
There is no reason to repeat the entire airport route here.
Once you reach the St. Pauli Landungsbrücken, switch from thinking about airport transport to the actual harbor decision: destination first, then ferry line, then Brücke 1, 2 or 3.
This separation also keeps the two articles useful for different searches. Someone searching for transportation from Hamburg Airport needs to know how to reach Landungsbrücken. Someone already standing at Landungsbrücken needs to know which ferry branch continues toward the correct part of the harbor.
Repeating the airport journey here would bury the ferry decision beneath information that many readers no longer need.
The handoff between the two articles should therefore happen at Landungsbrücken itself: the airport article ends once the waterfront hub is reached, and this article begins with the line-and-pier decision.
A harbor ferry is public transport, not automatically a harbor cruise
HADAG operates these lines within Hamburg’s public-transport network, and appropriate HVV tickets can be valid on the ferries.
That does not mean every ferry serves the same purpose.
Line 62 is often attractive to visitors because of the longer Elbe journey toward Finkenwerder. Line 75 is essentially a short cross-river connection to Steinwerder. Line 73 serves working-harbor destinations that are very different from the north-bank waterfront. Line 72 is a short central connection toward Elbphilharmonie when operating.
The useful question at Landungsbrücken is therefore not simply, “Where is the ferry?”
It is:
Where am I actually trying to get off?
Once that is clear, the correct line and pier become much easier to identify.
This is especially relevant because the same HVV network can contain both highly practical cross-river links and routes that visitors also enjoy for the view. The ticket system may make them look like one category, but their geography is different.
Line 75 solves a short point-to-point crossing. Line 62 stretches much farther along the river. Line 73 reaches parts of the working harbor that most casual visitors would not choose unless they had a reason to go there.
Thinking of every service as “the cheap harbor ferry” removes exactly the information needed to choose correctly. The line number matters because each ferry belongs to a different transport corridor.
Before boarding at Landungsbrücken
Use the live HVV departure information and the displays at the piers rather than assuming yesterday’s departure position still applies.
HADAG itself recommends checking the departure point shown in the HVV app and the information displayed on site.
For the current pier layout, the practical pattern is:
Brücke 1: Lines 72 and 73, plus 66
Brücke 2: Lines 61 and 75
Brücke 3: Line 62
That is the useful structure to remember—not “all Hamburg ferries leave from the same place.”
The display is also the final safeguard against relying too heavily on an article, map screenshot or remembered pier number. Landungsbrücken is an operating transport hub, and the information shown on site should take priority if it differs from a static guide.
Before boarding, confirm three things together: the line number, the destination shown for the ferry, and the Brücke displayed for that departure.
If all three match the journey you intended to make, the harbor layout becomes much less complicated. The article can explain why the lines differ; the live display tells you where that specific ferry is leaving from today.
