We spent a weekend in Dresden in order to combine some sightseeing with a German parkrun. Dresden is an excellent destination for a weekend city break. In fact, we opted to tag it onto a road trip round Poland. Which is also an excellent idea.
I have visited Dresden once before; in 1988 to attend a football match. It was the day I introduced my German boyfriend to English cider, thus the memories are somewhat hazy. This time, I managed more sightseeing and (marginally) less drinking.
How to get to Dresden
We flew to Berlin and hired a car for the 115 mile drive south down the Autobahn (A13) to Dresden. By train, there is a regular service from Berlin Central Station to Dresden Central Station, which takes just under 2 hours. RJ and Flixbus both run a regular bus service between the two cities.
Getting around Dresden
Most of the top attractions in Dresden are on the south bank of the River Elbe and are within walking distance. There are plenty of buses and trams if you prefer not to walk.
Where to stay in Dresden
We stayed at the Leonardo Hotel Dresden Altstadt, which as the name suggests, is in the old town, conveniently located for all the attractions we wanted to visit. It was very pleasant with clean comfortable rooms, free parking and a good buffet breakfast.
Dresden in 2 Days Itinerary
| Day 1 | Drive to Dresden Accommodation – Leonardo Hotel Dresden Altstadt Yenidze Semperoper Dresdner Zwinger Residenzschloss Kulturpalast Altmarkt Frauenkirche Dinner at Zum Schießhaus |
| Day 2 | Gläserne Manufaktur Großer Garten Dinner from Hamid Kebap Haus |
Dresden Day 1
This morning, we check out and set off towards Dresden.
Drive to Dresden
It’s a straightforward drive from Berlin to Dresden, with a 115 mile blat south down the A13 Autobahn. Although it does involve weaving our way through hundreds of Polish lorries which appear to be engaged in a huge game of Dodgems.
Accommodation – Leonardo Hotel
We arrive in Dresden at lunchtime and check into our hotel: Leonardo Hotel Dresden Altstadt, which is a modern hotel, conveniently located for the old town and also offering free parking.
Yenidze
We head first for the Yenidze; a tobacco factory built in 1907 in an oriental style with chimneys resembling minarets. It is topped with a golden cupola surrounded with stained glass. It allegedly contains a rooftop beer garden with spectacular views over the city which is allegedly open. However, when we reach the sixth floor beer garden, there is a handwritten sign directing us to a horribly overpriced restaurant upstairs instead. We descend and buy some pizza rolls from a nearby café.
Semperoper
After our picnic lunch, we head for the south bank of the River Elbe to the Old Town, an area which was devastated by British bombing and a subsequent firestorm in 1945. Many of the buildings have now been restored to their former glory. For example, the grand 19th Century Semperoper opera house.
Next door is its funky modern offspring Semperoper Zwei with weird faces carved onto the corners of the building.
Dresdner Zwinger
Next to these is the Dresdner Zwinger, a baroque palace built in the 18th Century for Augustus the Strong after he returned from Versailles with palace envy.
The palace houses three museums; the Old Masters Gallery, Porcelain Collection and Maths-Physics Salon. As we are limited by time and budget, we just take a wander around the grounds and admire the architecture.
- The grounds are free and between June and October are open daily from 6 am until 9 pm.
- The museums are open daily except Monday from 10 am until 6 pm. A ticket covering entry to all three museums costs €16.
- A new addition is the Zwinger Xperience; a VR journey through the palace’s history. This costs a further €12.
Residenzschloss
Onwards to another palace, the 15th Century Residenzschloss, former home of Saxon kings. Almost completely rebuilt having been practically destroyed during WW2, it now contains a large collection of treasures, split into two; The Historic Green Vault and the New Green Vault. There are also two smaller collections; The Coin Cabinet and Print Cabinet.
The Procession of the Princes
The rear of the palace is covered with a 102 metre long mural of The Procession of the Princes, which is spectacular, but very difficult to photograph.
The Residenzschloss is open daily except Tuesday from 10 am until 5 pm. An entry ticket for The Historic Green Vault costs €16. To enter the State Apartments of August the Strong plus all the other museums costs a further €16.
Kulturpalast
Instead, we continue to the Kulturpalast. Built in 1969 as the House of Socialist Culture, here too the walls are adorned with murals. This time, they depict The Path of the Red Flag.
Altmarkt
Across the road is the Altmarkt, Dresden’s historic market. When we visited, the Spring Market was in full swing, but the market hosts a series of festivities throughout the year. Most famous is the Striezelmarkt Christmas market, which has been held in the city since 1434.
After a wander around the stalls, we take a break and have a beer while we watch the world go by.
Frauenkirche
We round off today’s sightseeing at the Frauenkirche. This church was literally reconstructed after the war. The altar alone consists of 2,000 separate pieces, all painstakingly stuck back together like an enormous 3-D jigsaw.
Outside, the building is more striking due to the combination of burned black original stone and pale yellow modern pieces, which join together to form an almost replica of the original building. The contrasting pieces act as a reminder of the devastation which took place here.
Dinner at Zum Schießhaus
We finish the day with dinner at the rather dubiously named Zum Schießhaus – don’t get those vowels round the wrong way! I have Chicken in Cheese and Horseradish, which is delicious. While the old man opts for the Large Pork Escalope; basically a flattened pig.
Dresden Day 2
It’s my last day of visiting old haunts. I have enjoyed my trip down memory lane. There is still a distinct difference between east and west Germany; here, it’s more laid back and the people are friendlier. Other ways they remain linked to the past; the Wifi is rubbish, there’s still a Woolworths and a C&A, even the odd Trabant.
Gläserne Manufaktur
Today, we start the day with a different car; a tour of the Gläserne Manufaktur (Transparent Factory) where they manufacture the VW E-Golf. The building, made almost entirely of glass, sitting in the corner of a park, is quite a sight. We opt to walk the two miles to the factory because we have been told it is difficult to park there! Trams 1, 2 and 4 follow the same route if you don’t want to walk.
To be honest, the factory is little more than a PR stunt. In this high tech, state of the art facility, they make 70 cars a day. Cars are assembled (all the parts are manufactured elsewhere and brought to the factory by tram) by a combination of robots and men in pristine white dungarees.
There are up to 70 factory tours a day, where you can follow a car through the assembly process. Apparently, the robots could function seven times more quickly, but the line runs slowly because the workers feel the pressure of performing in front of so many people. Once complete, the cars are mostly exported to Scandinavia – the Germans are yet to embrace the idea of electric vehicles. The tour is actually really interesting, although is it wrong to admit that my favourite bit was seeing a badly behaved child fall into an ornamental pond?
Tours operate from Monday to Saturday between 9 am and 5 pm (English tours take place at 1.15 pm and 3.15 pm). Tours cost €9 and need to be reserved in advance.
Note: Although tours take place throughout the day, I would recommend selecting a tour when production is actually taking place. Production times normally alternate weekly between mornings (7.30 am to 3 pm) and afternoons (11.30 am to 7.15 pm) and are published on the website.
Großer Garten
After our factory tour, we head for the Großer Garten. As the name suggests, the garden is so large that it has its own railway to transport visitors round its main attractions. You could spend a long time exploring the gardens. We make do with just wandering round the north west corner of the garden; home to the Botanical Garden.
It’s not the best garden we’ve visited; part of the reason may be the enormous hare we watch scoffing its way through the exhibits.
The garden railway runs between Wednesday and Sunday from 1 pm (10 am at weekends) until 6 pm. A ticket costs €8.
Dinner from Hamid Kebap Haus
We round off our final evening in Germany with an obligatory kebab. I don’t want to walk far, so we go to a tiny shop round the corner called Hamid Kebap Haus, where the kebabs turn out to be stonkingly good.
I hope you found the above information useful. For guides to more destinations in the 50+ countries we have visited, check out my full list of Independent Travel Itineraries here.
- Trip taken: May 2019
- Updated: July 2024
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