We will be visiting Berlin for 12 days this August and are wondering if a day trip to Dresden via train makes any sense. I understand it's about a 2-hour trip from Berlin. Would we have time to see enough of the sights in Dresden to make it worthwhile? Or should we try to stay overnight and make it a 2-day trip?
Thanks.

Dresden is a great one night visit. I think on a day trip is too much. It's very nice at night to sit at an outdoor cafe and have dinner. Try Potsdam as a day trip from Berlin.

I think it would be either a very early start and a very late return, or an overnighter.

You could leave Berlin at 6:44 and be in Dresden before 9 am. That might make a 16 hour day of it, with about 10 pay off hours, but it is possible. Four of the hours would be spent sitting and possibly sleeping! (I am thinking hotel to station and station back to hotel in that 16 hour estimate.)

After an early dinner, you could return to Berlin easily by 21:12 with a 19:04 departure. Or, you could eat on the train that leaves at 19:04.

The trip takes a little over 2 hours with no changes.

The problem is that later departures either take longer or don't go all the way to the main station. (Lichtenberg station is in east Berlin.) If your hotel is east of the middle, it might not be a bad deal.

Better make it an overnighter. And even that is not enough for Dresden (ok, I am biased )

Dresden is more than two hours from Berlin, thus making for a very long day. Having spent two-and-a-half busy days there, my vote would be for an overnight trip, too.

If you have time for an overnight in Dresden then definitely spend the time there. Dresden at night, especially in the summer is a very lively place with great restaurants and even outdoor entertainment many nights along the banks of the Elbe.

If, however, you only have time for a day trip, then go for it. The train takes just 2 hrs - your are correct. While you won't get to see everything in Dresden you have plenty of time for an enjoyable day.

Checking timetables on www.bahn.de I see that the last direct train from Dresden to Berlin leaves at 19:04.

The reference library of a city near you may have the Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable. Tabkle 840 shows rains with buffet cars or restaurant cars leave Berlin main station at 0644 and 0840 and reach Dresden main station at 0852 and 1051. The first train gets full, so you should book ahead. There is lots to see, especially if you go not only to the famous collections but also the museum of the city’s history, with cover of the Nazi and the Socialist times (but it may be closed for changes). With a restaurant car trains leave Dresden main station at 1940 and reach Berlin main station at 2112. They leave Dresden main station at 2135 without catering and reach Berlin Lichtenberg at 2342, main station at 0024, and Zoo at 0034, which can be handy after a Dresden concert.

Ben Haines, London
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It's definitely worth one day and one night, but I went for a half day and enjoyed it too. Of course my itineraries are usually more rushed than others. I went back to Berlin because I had already booked my hotel and I also wanted to spend some more time at Art Forum (in October).

In a half day I saw both parts of the Green Vault and the Alte Meister gallery.

You will want to be sure to have reservations for the historic Green Vault. I am not sure if it's still that popular, but I wasn't able to get reservations and had to stand in line for an hour and a half to make sure I could get in. The number allowed in each day is limited.

By the way, I think that my train was delayed both ways -- certainly the outbound was delayed by at least half hour. I remember it quite well because I took the earliest train and was supposed to get in before 8 to queue for the historic Green Vault. I was concerned I wouldn't be able to make it at all.

My return was, I think, delayed, but not by as much.

Not sure if this is the usual pattern or if I was just unlucky.

Ben as usual gives good advice. Unfortunately the reference book he cites is usually not available even in research libraries at major universities in the US. I know, I have looked.

Your most accessible site for ready information including pricing is the Deutche Bahn site. It is a wealth of information with many details that are available nowhere else in such profusion.

http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/query.exe/en

The cost of your round trip ticket is €51 if you take advantage of the savings fare which requires early booking and selecting a specific train on a designated date.

You can also easily print your own ticket. First set up an account with a credit card. Second, order and print your own ticket from a PDF file (that was my way last July), that the DB computer sends you. Once on the train, show your home-printed ticket and the credit card you registered as an id. The numbers must match.

The ticket is printed on standard A4 typewriter paper using either an ink jet or a laser printer.

The ticket has a coded block on it that looks like a bunch of squiggles, but the hand-held reader that the conductors carry easily scan the coded information provided you do not wrinkle or tear the paper.

I even had two copies of my ticket. One was purely backup.

I found it to be a very simple process once the novelty of printing my own ticket wore off.

Thanks everyone for your help! I think we'll plan on staying overnight in Dresden and making it a 2-day visit.