Although it is the world's largest model railway, it's also so much more, but we'll get to that later.

Your journey starts at the ticket booth. If you're smart, you've booked in advance, and you can skip the line.  If you're like us and walked in off the street you may have to wait; entrance is controlled by a timed ticket to manage the crowds.

At peak times this can be lengthy, but you can check out the Miniatur Wunderland website to get an estimate of the current queue length.  it's also possible to view a 'Waiting Time Prediction page.'

However on our visit, we had a 10-minute wait, and that was in a large waiting area where you can also pick up refreshments.

On entering the miniature world, the first thing we came across was a series of dioramas that took you through significant periods of German history.  

Each scene details aspects of those steps, including the destructive forces of National Socialism.

The next thing to grab our attention is the scale model of a stadium concert.

That's right - a stadium, with a rock band performing on stage, including video screens.  The detail is stunning; you can even appear to see that phenomenon of the sea of mobile phones in the audience.

Now marvelling at the detail in the models, picking out places we have been to before on our travels, but seen from a new perspective we notice the strangest of things: It appears to be getting dark.

That's right, every 15 minutes the light slowly fades and the scene in front of you transitions through dusk, into night time before welcoming the next morning. 

Certainly Las Vegas comes to life at night.

As I mentioned, we visited just before Christmas, and one of the things that stood out for me were the number of scenes that contain a Christmas tree.  

To be honest, we weren't, nor was we expecting planes to be taxing, taking off and landing, all again in both day & night.

I mean the scale is impressive, this is a full-scale international airport.  These folks are serious about their modelling.

It even has the car rentals and the airport parking - check out the car meet & greet in the car park - how's that for detail?

The scenes are wide and varied but there's a special place for Hamburg as you'd expect, including Speicherstadt - it's market day, check out the right of the scene.

And the city's Elbphilharmonie is also modelled.  I love the way people are drawn in by the smallest detail.

From festivals to fairgrounds, normal daily routines, including an unlucky drama.  You could spend hours looking at the detail.

So how long you stay is down to you, and how inquisitive you are.

C'mon, by now you're going to have expected ships floating by, haven't you?  Well if you have, you won't be disappointed.

If you haven't, shame on you.

Now, we don't want to spoil it for you, but you've got a bit of Austria, Middle Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Venice and of course Hamburg

Here's a further selection of shots - (click to go fullsize); 

There were folks of all ages enjoying Miniatur Wunderland on our visit, and there was plenty to keep us occupied, including a fair bit of interaction for kids old 'n' young.

We had a great few hours at Miniatur Wunderland, we could have spent longer, and for an additional fee, you can book a guided tour to give you a view behind the scenes. 

Don't forget to check-out the Miniatur Wunderland site for more info, and the option to pre-purchase your tickets.

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