francebound

Overview: My husband and I live in Vancouver and are in our early 60's. We wanted to tag a week in Europe onto the tail end of our trip to Africa, and as we were routing through Frankfurt decided to visit Eastern Germany and Prague, as neither of us had been before. With light luggage we were able to take trains so did not rent a car.

First I would like to thank Ingo, PalenQ, and fourfortravel whose recommendations were spot on.

Part 1: Dresden (Sept 17 & 18)

The Hotel Martha in Dresden was perfect. We arrived in Dresden in the morning very tired, off an overnight flight via Frankfurt from Nairobi, but the train was easy to manage and when we presented ourselves well before the regular check-in time, the hotel was able to offer us a room right away. Thanks Ingo for the hotel recommendation.

We arrived in Dresden on a Monday and strolled around on our own. There is lots of green space and trees; it's just a lovely looking city. They had not had any significant rainfall in 5 months so the River Elbe levels were seriously down, and very few tour boats, if any, were operating. It was very warm and sunny. was not a crush of tourists even in the old town, so that was nice. We were able to get right in to the historic green vault to see the treasures there, followed by the modern green vault. Both are closed on Tuesday we found out from Heidi (my Dresden BFF even though we never met).

As we like to find a good guide when we visit a new city I had randomly found Citytours-Dresden months ago. Heidi Paizs replied and was very helpful in offering up a few walking tour options for us. We dithered about whether to book and by the time we got around to it she was already busy, so she arranged for another guide to meet us. His name was Tom (wish I got his last name). The tour cost 90 euros for 2 people for about 2.5 hours. Tom grew up in a town nearby so was able to give an interesting perspective - he was 15 years old at the time of re-unification.

We love a good guide as we feel you can only learn so much from a book. Aside from learning about Dresden's history, Tom gave us a couple of ideas about how and where to go hiking near Pirna, as well as directions to an interesting Dresden neighbourhood filled with different shops, restaurants and mural-decorated passages off the street. On his recommendation we ate at a restaurant called Planwirtschaft. We also had a great dinner at Pastamanufaktur, right down the street from the hotel. If you like white wine it's pretty much heaven here with delicious reislings on offer. Oh and who doesn't like a good had bratwurst and beer once in a while? We had that one day too.

But I digress. Most importantly we learned so much about the history of the city and how it has rebuilt (and is still doing so) after the devastation of the Feb 13/14, 1945 firebombing which destroyed so much of the city and killed 25,000 people.

If you are into Christmas decorations there is a LOT of it here, and Dresden lays claim to the best Christmas market in the country.

A cautionary note: don't come expecting everyone to speak English. Our hotel front desk person, tourist information, train clerks, restaurant servers - all had to look around for someone who could talk to us a little. It wasn't impossible to communicate, but it wouldn't hurt to have brushed up a bit on some German if I'd known it would have been so useful. To a polite "sprechen sie english?" to the rail clerk in the bahnhof, I received a curt "Nein". So be prepared to figure some of these things out on your own.

We were immediately smitten with Dresden and would recommend it to anyone wanting a smallish city with plenty of history, museums full of treasure to visit, and close proximity to the Saxon Switzerland.

francebound

Part 2: Pirna Day 1

It's only about 30 minutes on the S train from Dresden to get to Pirna. https://www.saechsische-schweiz.de/e...ces/pirna.html

I found the Pension Donatus on the internet and booked it well in advance. There were 2 flights of spiral stairs up to our room which we didn't know about that were not a lot of fun to lug suitcases up. But a lovely room overlooking a courtyard and a serviceable breakfast in the morning. Nice modern bathroom with stand alone tub my husband said was fantastic to soak in after a day hiking.

We arrived on market day in the square which is always fun to check out, and we enjoyed a delicious cake and coffee pick me up at a sunny outdoor table nearby. A tourist information clerk who loved us because we were from Vancouver where she had spent part of a holiday, was very helpful and gave us good instructions and a train timetable for our hike tomorrow.

My husband found us a bike rental shop and rented us bikes for the rest of the day. Armed with instructions from him (ok, he spoke great English), we set out for the Pillnitz castle and park. It was about 10k each way and easy riding, a very pleasant way to get some exercise. Arriving at the castle we bought a ticket to go into the park but not the museum. Beautiful gardens and palace. We wandered around the grounds and came upon the 250 year old camellia tree. There was a very large metal and glass structure nearby which I wondered about. Was it somehow moved around the tree during the winter months to protect the camellia or was it used for something else? Never found out...

Tonight we had a delicious meal at Restaurant Schifftor. Seafood, excellent wine, generous portions. When we impulsively ordered another bottle of wine we could not finish our server agreed to put our name on it for the following night. Conveniently the restaurant's courtyard where we ate dinner (still t-shirt weather) is directly below our bedroom. Luckily everyone seemed to eat early so it got quiet by 9pm.

francebound

Pirna - Day 2

A full day of hiking and sightseeing.

Using the 2-day pass we bought from the tourist office we hopped on the train which winds it's way up (or is it down), the River Elbe to the stop at Kurort Rathen where, crossing the river by ferry, the hike up to the Bastei Bridge begins. We took the Malerweg (Painter's Way) and walked up through the cool and steep ravine called the Schwedenlöcher. The name refers to hiding places for the region's population during the 30 Years War, according to my notes.

At the top, when you get to the Bastei, you're not exactly alone as there is a hotel and plenty of tourist buses and school groups. There is a walkway that takes you to the ruins of a former castle and provides some beautiful views out over the countryside and you can see how far up you climbed!

Tom told us that the sport of free climbing started here. We saw some climbers from a distance.

We had planned on continuing on to the Konigstein fortress so we did that, but probably should have just gone back to Pirna. It was very hot and we were tired. But we do love a good fortress so on we went. There is an English brochure to refer to and you can rent audio guides.

You can walk up from the station but we elected to take the shuttle up which was 10 euros for a round trip ticket. When we realized how short the distance was and that we could easily walk down it was too late to exchange our ticket. The driver was not very pleased with me and my inability to explain what I wanted, so that was that.

Another excellent meal at the restaurant downstairs and an early night. Tomorrow the train to Prague!

francebound

Prague on the weekend.

What a shock to the system and strain on marital harmony. A shock to see such crowds and a strain to try and fight our way through them to find our hotel from the main train station. It looked so easy on the map! We found out that the city has seen 8 million tourists this year already.

The Iron Gate Hotel and Suites (recommended here by fourfortravel) was just around the corner from the old town square but mercifully quiet at night. We were upgraded to a suite which involved traversing a corridor from the elevator, a door to the outside, a door back to the inside, another corridor, down some stairs and then up some stairs. So not so sure it was much of an upgrade, but bliss to have quiet, air-conditioned comfort and a bonus: 2 full bathrooms. A deal at 116 euros per night we thought, especially as it included a vast buffet breakfast with something for everyone. A little tired of bread, meat, cheese & hard boiled egg, it was nice to have a pastry or three.

After settling in and re-grouping we fought our way through the crowds across the river and, swimming against the late-afternoon tide, had a good look around. The views of the city from the castle are wonderful, but I thought, how much better would they be from the tower? We bought tickets and proceeded to climb another 247 steps up. Not recommended for the claustrophobic, but fortunately being late in the day not a cause for the panic of being stuck half way up and half way down.

And it was a beautiful view, only somewhat spoiled by a man shouting into his cel phone, but he was escapable, and I gave him my best stink-eye which was satisfying.

If only the people who are constantly taking selfies on the Charles Bridge and everywhere else would put their phones down. Makes one wish to yell, "people - you're not that attractive!" Rant over, and yes I realize I am a tourist too so shouldn't judge.

We thought about booking the Prague for Foodies tour which sounds terrific, but not being very hungry and feeling a little short on time we opted for another option for our last day in Prague. A 3 hour walking tour with The Naked Tour Guide, recommended on this forum, was our choice. Our guide Dan was knowledgeable, personable and grew up in Prague himself. Highly recommend this company based on our experience. He managed to steer us away from the crowds and show us places that were off the beaten track. There were 4 lovely ladies from Ayr in Scotland on the tour with us. I believe that 6 is the maximum number.

We didn't have any memorable meals so I've nothing to say about that. I will say however that the beer is every bit as good as I had hoped it would be. Sitting down to a cold Czech beer on a hot day has to be one of life's greater pleasures.

On Sunday it was time to go home. We heard that unfortunately the taxi drivers in Prague have a bad reputation, so we arranged a private transfer through our hotel. The airport is about a 30 minute trip (on a quiet Sunday morning) from the center. The Prague airport is very modern and efficient and has some good shops. I'm always trying to find things that are made in the country I am visiting and had good luck at the airport.

Ingo

Very glad you enjoyed your trip, and thanks for the report!

The " very large metal and glass structure" near the camellia in Pillnitz park is indeed the greenhouse that is moved over the camellia every year in autumn to protect it from the freezing cold. It's going to happen again in the next days, if it hasn't already.

I was in Prague this summer for a long weekend and was also shocked by the crowds. Like you we went to places more off the beaten path in the ouskirts (mostly). Troja palace e.g. was almost deserted. Ditto Novy Svet, which is only a few steps from the castle (and where we had a memorable meal).

fourfortravel

"We were upgraded to a suite which involved traversing a corridor from the elevator, a door to the outside, a door back to the inside, another corridor, down some stairs and then up some stairs."

Haha. We had one of those "upgrades, too! Ours was in January, so the outdoor walk was probably a little colder than yours.

PhillyFan

Thanks for your report. I loved Dresden too. Perhaps we had the same train clerk in Dresden. Mine also very sternly told me she only spoke "very little" English - but she understood everything i said.

I was there in the afternoon to purchase a train ticket to Berlin for the next morning. I double checked what the clerk gave me - and the ticket was for the morning train - that day! That train had left the station hours ago. I went back to the clerk and explained to her in English that the ticket had that day's date on it. She understood me well to not ask for any clarification and reissued me the proper ticket.