Dresden rises from ashes
- Maya del Aire
- Dec 8, 2018
- 9 min read
Updated: Jan 20, 2019
This is your second and third day of your 9 day vacation itinerary. If you choose to follow this itinerary on your vacation, you will explore three regions, Bavaria, Saxony and Brandenburg, in Germany which include eight different spots. This itinerary will assist you to make the most of it within two days in Dresden. It covers details about what is the best way to explore Dresden, what are the ticket discounts that you can have and all the things you need to know before you come to Dresden. The itinerary includes all relevant information that you need to have a smooth vacation, so just get ready and follow my lead.
Click below to check out the rest of your ultimate Germany itinerary
Day 2 & 3 Dresden rises from ashes
About the city
Dresden is a capital of Eastern German state, Saxony. It is an enchanting city that before II World War was called “the Florence on the Elbe river”, even though is has survived wars, bombing, fires, floods, thanks to it’s restorations the city still looks like a fairy tale. Dresden old city’s architecture is distinguished by Baroque and Rococo style architecture, and even though quite small, it has a lot of stories to tell. It is built to give an exceptional travel experience, wowing you with its Versailles-inspired Zwinger palace, its Baroque style Church of Our Lady and many more. The Old city which was mentioned in 1216, and was built as by German colony, is quite small and it can be easily explored by foot. This is why I wholeheartedly recommend taking one of the walking tours, so you can get a better picture about the city.
How to get there:
From Munich
a) Renting a car. When we were in Germany, renting a car was the most cost effective option, considerably cheaper than booking two train tickets from Munich. It did take 4 and half hours, but the drive was very scenic and for you people that like speed, enjoy the drive as fast as you like on the Autobahn! No speed limit!
b) Taking a train from Munich Hbf, This can take 5+ hrs (and more). The tickets were quite expensive at that time, over a 100€ per person.
c) Taking a bus. You may be able to find a pennyworth ticket (starting from €22), however, the only spoiler is that this trip takes around 7 hrs.
***Click here for tips on how to choose your transport and find the best train/bus ticket in Germany
Two days itinerary
Dresden day 1
Map link: <iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/embed?mid=1j80N3C2X13ZJmQ1c5o9gp5D9gb_ihO_A" width="640" height="480"></iframe>
Brühl’s Terrace
10:30-11:00
Begin the walk at the Brühl’s Terrace Dresden, a 500 meter stretch along the Elbe. Called “The Balcony of Europe” by Goethe, it used to be a city wall and was later the parade ground of Dresden’s High Society. It still offers great views on the Elbe, but you’ll mostly see tourists there. There are a lot of cafes there so you can have a coffee or an ice cream and enjoy the view. Depending on how long do you need to take photos or eat you ice cream you will need from 10- 30 minutes to spend there.
Albertinum
11.00-12.30 150m, 2min walk from Brühl’s Terrace Dresden
The Albertinum gallery stands there and waits for you to discover master pieces of European painters from Romanticism until now, starting from Caspar David Friedrich to Gerhard Richter. The gallery/museum has an extensive collection of paintings and sculptures on 2 floors, so may need an hour or so to enjoy it fully. If visiting a gallery is too tedious for you, you can just wander around this two-story steel structure resembling a floating bridge spans the inner courtyard of the museum, which was originally built in 1884/87. 17 meters above the ground, the structure now houses flood-safe storage areas and workshops. This preserves the courtyard of the four-wing building while creating a new covered space.[i]
Opening hours: 10.00-18.00, closed on Mondays
Admission: €10
Address: Tzschirnerpl. 2, 01067 Dresden, Germany
For current tickets and timings check out over here:
#albertinum #albertinumdresden #artdresden #culturedresden #paintingsdresden #artgallerydresden #culturetripdresden #galleriesdresden #paintingsgermany
Frauenkirche Dresden
12.30- 13.00 260m , 3 min walk from Albertinum
Descend on large staircase leading up to the terrace at Schlossplatz and continue towards the Frauenkirche. This church was first built in 11th century; it was almost completely destroyed during bombing in WWII. Its restoration started in 1994, and 180 million euros was collected mainly from private donation. The church was built combining the old stones with new ones, and today it stands to reflect Protestant influences.
Tips and tricks***
Entry to the church is free, but if you want to climb up to the dome for a view of the city, you need to get a ticket which you can buy online or on-site. The website says that you can have a guided tour in French, Italian, Japanese and Russian. However, when we visited the church they said there is only tour in German. They also have some performances which you can check on the spot or online if you know German . If you are maybe interested to hear the service with organ music, you may see it for free; just make sure you check the schedule before times.
Opening hours: 10:00-12:00 Monday - Friday, and 13:00-18:00 on weekdays
Weekend hours depend on scheduled events
Admission: Free to enter the church, however the observation deck visit costs €8
Address: Neumarkt, 01067 Dresden, Germany
https://www.frauenkirche-dresden.de
#frauenkirche #frauenkirchedresden #frauenkirche-dresden #organmusic #protestantchurch #germanyattraction
Saxonian lunch
13:00-14:30 65 m, 1 min walk from Frauenkirche
If you are hungry, have a Saxonian lunch, in a restaurant located right behind the Frauenkirche: the Pulverturm The restaurant itself is a museum, and they have really tasty food there. If you are lucky and you got good weather on your side, you may indulge flavors of German cuisine with a view of a fairy tale city.
Address: An der Frauenkirche 12, 01067 Dresden, Germany
www.pulvertrum-dresden.de
Transport Museum
14:30-15:30 500 m, 6 min walk from Pulverturm
Walk for 5 minutes, until the monument of Friedrich August II Koening Von Sachen, behind it you may visit a city museum, which is small but has information about the history of Dresden. Enjoy the view of a beautiful square and then walk for another 5 minutes until your next stop, Dresden Transport Museum. It is housed in the Johanneum, the former royal stable, at the Neumarkt. The museum takes you to the journey of 200 years of transport history. The exhibition holds old timers, bikes, bicycles, model planes and much more. There are 5 listening stations, and also you can download an app for free, that you can use during your visit.
Opening hours 10:00-18:00 closed on Mondays
Admission fee: €9
Address: Augustusstraße 1, 01067 Dresden, Germany
https://www.verkehrsmuseum-dresden.de/
Royal Palace
15:30-17:00 400 m, 5 min walk from Transport Museum
Your next stop 400 m, 5 min walk from Transport Museum , Royal Palace. Since 1945, the bombing, the castle has been presented to the public as a palace of Art and Sciences. The palace consists of number of museums that you can visit : Coin Cabinet where you can see historic coins or the Cabinet of Prints, Drawings and Photographs, one of the oldest such collections in Germany. The Green Vaults, the nine chambers of the exhibit an array of crown jewels, bronze and ivory statues, and amber artwork. I would suggest visiting the Green Vault as it is the most popular on TripAdvisor.
Opening hours 10.00 – 18.00
Ticket for all museums is €12
https://shop.skd.museum/webshop/?___store=english&___from_store=deutsch.
Tips and tricks***
You may also opt for the Dresden Museum card, €22 valid for two days, which gives you access to 14 museums.
More about Museums in Dresden:
http://www.dresden.info/museums/
http://www.dresden.de/en/tourism/attractions/sights/old_town/albertinum.php
Day 2 Old Dresden city with a moment of the Neustadt
Map link: <iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/embed?mid=1-efvE4ITEy3kJgKwr9zbSl9Dj6zmwDvu" width="640" height="480"></iframe>
Fürstenzug or “Procession of Princes
10:00-10:20
Start your day with The Fürstenzug or “Procession of Princes.” This is a large mural painted on 23,000 Meissen porcelain tiles. This mural represents the Saxonian kings, lords, and electors between 1127 and 1904. The 101-meter-long mural represents the history of the Wettins, Saxony’s ruling family, as a larger-than-life procession of riders.
Address: Augustusstraße 1, 01067 Dresden, Germany
Tips and tricks ***
If you opt for the city tour, you would most likely be introduced to this mural and its details, which helps a lot in understanding it. I have used Dresden City Walks agency, which was only 12 euros per person,and I absolutely enjoyed it. The tour itself included history of Dresden city and it connected the dots with its present. The guide was very knowledgeable, and open for questions beyond the history of Dresden itself, therefore I considered this tour as very well spent money.There are other agencies that you can choose from, however, I wholeheartedly recommend this one.
https://www.dresdenwalks.com/en/homepage/
However, if you decide not to do that, just do your research online, because it would be a pity not to
get a whole idea of this grand work.
#processionofprincess #saxoniankings #dresdenmural #meissenporcelaintiles #historyofwettins #Fürstenzug #dresdencitywalks #dresdenwalks #dresdenhistory
Semperoper, Opera house
10:30-11:30 350 m, 4 min walk from Processiom on Princess, via Chiaveriegasse
Semperoper is home to the Saxon State Opera and the Dresden Staatskapelle, an orchestra with an uninterrupted history of 460 years. A lot of important premieres took place here, like Richard Wagner’s “Rienzi”. Aside from seeing a performance, you can also visit the Semperoper on an exclusive guided tour, which takes one hour. The website says that there are different topics that you can chose when booking your tour: architecture, musical history, scandals associated with Opera house, however once you choose the language English, there is only a general tour offered. It’s worth seeing, especially for lovers of classical music.
Remember to book everything online, upfront, so you can reserve your tour.
Opening hours: Monday-Friday 10:00-18:00, Saturday 10:00-11:00
Admission: €11
Address: Theaterplatz 2, 01067 Dresden, Germany
https://www.semperoper-erleb-en.de/book-tour.html
#semperoper #operahousedresden #dresdenstaatskapelle #musichistorydresden #saxonstateopera #richardwagner
Zwinger palace
11:30-13:30 500 m, 3 min walk from Semperoper
About
Just next to the Opera house, stands the baroque style Zwinger palace. Its construction begun 1709 and was completed 1719. It was commissioned by August II, King of Poland and elector of Saxony. However, the inner court continued to be a workplace of many craftsmen, artists, constructors throughout the whole 19th century. [i] It served as orangery and it was built to host festivals and exhibitions of the Dresden court. It is a square structure with the inner court the, while the Semper Building (not the Opera house) is combined.
In front of the Porcelain Collection entrance, you may spot something called “stumbling stone”, on your path. These little brass bricks are installed by Guenther Demnig, a 62-year-old Berlin-born artist, as memorials to all the victims of the Nazi regime. He mentions their name and details about the date of death.
How to explore
Allow 2 hours to walk around the palace, make sure you take the stairs up to the both sides of the palace from where you can take good shots, and also around an hour for each gallery/museum for a visit. The palace/garden itself is open from 6 am until 10 pm from April-October, but museums/galleries are open from 10 am-6 pm, The Zwinger holds the Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon, which is located parallel with Ostra-Allee street and the Porcelain Collection, that you can enter from Sophienstrasse. The Old Masters Gallery and its entrance are located on your left from the Opera house.
Opening hours: Zwinger the palace/garden 06:00-22:00
Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon and the Porcelain Collection, Old Masters Gallery 10:00-18:00
Admission: for all three places is €14
For current updated info look into:
https://shop.skd.museum/webshop/eintrittskarten/zwinger.html
Tips and tricks***
If you enjoy classic music, note that Zwinger hosts music events and their tickets include seating, coat check and toilet fees. For an extra special night, you may book the VIP experience which includes a three-course meal, prosecco during the intermission, a program and more. Don’t forget to book it online upfront, in a holiday season sometimes you need to book it days ahead.
You may also download an app schlosserland sachen, and use your phone to download guide specific to Zwinger, Wackerbarth castle Grand Garden of Dresden or any other venue and listen to it offline when you are at the exact place. It is also free of charge. My advice is to download it ahead and check how the app works. See if this is the app you would like to use, before going to the actual place.
#zwinger #zwingerdresden #zwingerpalace #zwingergallery #schlosserlandsachen #mathematisch-Physikalischersalon #oldmastersgallery #porcelaincollectondresden #culturedresden
Kunsthof passage
14:30-15:30 2,6 km, 25 min by train or 10 min by car from Zwinger
If you have some extra time get to Neustadt, don’t miss on the Kunsthof passage ( Art Courtyard passage). It is a short but colorful passage between Alaunstrasse and Görlitzer Strasse in Dresden. It comprises of 5 courtyards with specific themes, beautifully painted buildings, shops and bars[i]. It is the most visited place in New City Dresden.
Opening hours: 11:00-19:30 Monday-Friday, 11:00-17:30 Saturday, Sunday closed
Address: Görlitzer Str. 21-25, 01099 Dresden, Germany
More about it:
#kunsthofpassage #kunstoffdresden #newcitydresden #tourismdresden #gemsofdresden #neustadtdresden #mustknowdresden #traveltipsdresden #howtodresden
Markethalle
15:50-17:00 1.6 km, 20 min walk from Kunsthof passage
If you've got any energy left, and still feel hungry, make one more stop at the Neustadter Markthalle. It is an indoor market place where you can enjoy fresh food and drinks, but also purchase some clothes and souvenirs. This old building, with its wrought-iron handrails, artistic iron stairways, is the ambiance that will complete your experience of Germany culinary delights that you might indulge over there.
Opening hours: Monday-Saturday from 8:00- 20:00 closed on Sundays
Address: Metzer Str. 1, 01097 Dresden, Germany
[i] http://www.dresden.de/en/tourism/attractions/sights/neustadt_district/art-courtyard-passage.php
[i] https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zwinger
Commenti