Suzanna

We will be in Hamburg between May 29-June 6 and would like to rent an apartment. Which neighborhood(s) should we look at? I would like to be close to good public transportation but in a safe, quiet area.

Also which are the best rental agencies for Hamburg? Thanks in advance.

sparkchaser

Budget? How many people? Desire to be near/far from anything?

Cowboy1968

As sparkchaser wrote, a bit more information is needed.

In general, I'd stay North of river Elbe.

The neighborhoods bordering the Alster lake (the larger central lake, on which Southern shore is the city center) are the most upscale of the central districts.

You probably won't find too many apartments in the very city center (shopping area) anyway.
The next neighborhoods immediately neighboring city center (St. Pauli, parts of St. Georg and the Sternschanze (Schanzenviertel)) can be a bit too lively for your taste.

The next layer of neighborhoods, which also includes the aforementioned Alster lake neighborhoods for the stinkin rich, e.g. Eimsbüttel, Hoheluft, Rotherbaum would be upscale residential, often with their own share of nice shopping and restaurants & bars. The NE central districts like Barmbek or Wandsbek are not upscale but still very okay to stay in. Pretty much middle class. Or by Hamburg's costs for property rental, upper middle class. Altona is like a town of its own (as it has been) with its own share of more rustic or nice neighborhoods.

Travelwise you probably don't want to stay further away from the city center than that - thought safety-wise it would be no problem. And the transit system also connects any outer district with the city center by trains or express buses every 10 minutes. You would just need longer in total to get to any inner city site.

The only neighborhoods I would avoid were those sandwiched between the Northern side of the Elbe and Harburg on the Southern side of the river and harbor, i.e. Wilhelmsburg.

sparkchaser

I'd also avoid Reeperbahn. Well, <b>I</b> wouldn't avoid it but OP may want to.

Suzanna

Thanks a lot for the helpful answers. There will be 3 adults. I would like to keep if possible the cost of the apartment under $120/night. I do not yet know how expensive this city is, what this budget means there. I would not want to be very far out from where museums and the main train station is as I would like to take day trips. But obviously I would like to avoid seedy, unsafe, noisy areas. I hope this helps. I would like to find an apartment and I do not know which reliable rental agency specializes on Hamburg. Airbnb doesn't seem to have too much to offer. Any suggestions would be appreciated.