Pegontheroad

Notice the ellipsis!

I'm in the daydreaming stages if planning a stay at a Goethe Institute in Dresden next year. When I visited Quedlinburg and Lübbenau this summer, I was inspired to see more of eastern Germany. I plan to take weekend trips to see some of the towns I've heard about or read about.

Can you recommend towns fairly near Dresden that I might enjoy visiting ? I like architecture and historical sights, and I enjoy walking through an Altstadt or just sitting in a sidewalk cafe, taking in the ambiance or sitting in a beer garden enjoying an Orangensaftschorle. (Is that spelled right?)

quokka

Orangensaftschorle is spelled perfectly! Are you really sure you still need German lessons? ;-)

Before Ingo looks into this, here are my favourites (some if which I owe to him):

Görlitz
Bautzen
Meißen
Weesenstein palace
Freiberg
Moritzburg palace
Radebeul
Pirna
Then there is, of course, Saxon Switzerland with its rock formations and all those small towns and villages.

All these are within easy day trip distance from Dresden.

Pegontheroad

Thanks so much for the suggestions! I hadn't thought of any of those places.

In regard to language, my specific goal this time will be to improve my vocabulary. Germans compliment me on my German speaking, but my vocabulary is not what I want it to be.

Saxon Switzerland also sounds intriguing to me. I love interesting geology.

Cowboy1968

I'd also say that anyone who can handle Orangensaftschorle does not require any lessons anymore

What you should really do (weather permitting) is a short cruise on the River Elbe to or from Bad Schandau (near the Czech border). Boats run regularly, several per day. You will see the rock formations of Saxon Switzerland much better than from the train or car. Since rail and river share the same valley, you can almost anywhere switch from boat to train, e.g. go upstream by train and downstream by boat back to Dresden.
In Bad Schandau you can take the Kinitzschtalbahn, a historic tram, through the national park to an (artificial) waterfall, or the historic elevator to the top of the ridge to enjoy the view.
You will find links to the tram and elevator at the bottom of Bad Schandau's Wikipedia entry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Schandau

Cowboy1968

sp: Kirnitzschtalbahn
Maybe I need some lessons..

Ingo

I join the chorus re: Orangensaftschorle

Peg, great idea - you'll love it.

Quokka beat me by some hours. Not that I am surprised. LOL The places she mentioned are easily doable as day trips. I'd like to add a few where quokka hasn't been (yet):

Kamenz
Löbau
Zittau
Annaberg-Buchholz
Grimma
Torgau

... there are more in the region. But I don't want to go too much into details.

Cowboy's tips are excellent also. Bad Schandau is wonderful for walking along the river promenade or through the Kurpark or sitting in a cafe doing some people watching. The steamer trip is a *must*.

Some other tips: Go to small towns on Saturdays (or weekdays). On Sundays (bank holidays) they are quite dead (except a few like Meißen or so which are more touristy) because shops are closed on Sundays/holidays in Germany and people prefer to leave the cities and towns and spend time in the countryside on Sundays (weekends in general).

Radebeul: Dresden's neighbouring town is located at the foot of the vineyard hills, stretches along them over about 10 km. Visit the wineries (Schloss Wackerbarth, Schloss Hoflössnitz and area around the latter), but definitely spend time in "Altkötzschenbroda" (if you can pronounce that properly you definitely don't need to attend a German class, LOL). That's a longish square with small, old houses surrounding it where you find galleries, cafes, wine shops, restaurants ... they put tables and chairs in the middle of the square, under the trees, and serve food and beverages, wine and beer there. Highly recommended.

Best places for Sundays are the many palaces, castles and gardens in the region. Quokka mentioned Moritzburg and Weesenstein. I'd like to add the castles Königstein, Stolpen (which has a cute old town also, btw), Hohnstein (another cute, but tiny old town), Lauenstein, Barockschloss Rammenau, Barockgarten Grosssedlitz.

And of course the National Park Saxon Switzerland. If you're interested in geology then you'll find the change from sandstone to granite interesting (in Hohnstein e.g.). The Kirnitzschtal was mentioned by Cowboy. Stadt Wehlen is quite nice and lively but not overrun (The house where impressionist painter Robert Sterl lived and worked is open for visitors.)

Watch out for festivals, like Weinfest in Meißen and Radebeul, Dixieland Festival in Dresden and so on. Speaking of wine - a steamer trip downstream from Dresden is also very scenic. You'll pass Radebeul/Altkötzschenbroda, the wine village Sörnigen at the foot of the Spaar hills, Meißen, and finally arrive at Diesbar-Seußlitz, another wine village with excellent wineries, a Schloss and Barockgarten.

Don't neglect the region east of Dresden - called the Oberlausitz. Sorbian (a slavic tribe) culture, a minority of Sorbs, pop. about 60,000 lives there. The villages are picturesque (Umgebindehäuser! www.umgebindeland.de) and the landscape is beautiful (rolling hills). South of Zittau is the Zittauer Gebirge, sandstone again, rocky patches, cute villages Oybin, Jonsdorf, Waltersdorf, Grossschönau, and a quite famous ruin: Oybin, former monastery on a sandstone mountain/rock. Highly recommended.

And you'll let me know if/when this daydream comes true, eh? ;-)

I.

quokka

Ok Ingo, so this is the list for my next visit!!! ;-)

One attraction is still missing. Peg, in case you are into Christmas ornaments and want some real Erzgebirge/Ore Mountains woodcarvings, better buy from the producers than from overpriced souvenir shops in Dresden. The No. 1 place is Seiffen, every second house in the village contains a workshop and/or a shop selling these. Two big workshops are open to visitors to watch how these items are made. Then there is the cute baroque church, the very little yellow one you see in so many woodcarvings, and an open-air museum village. Workshops selling their products can also be found in many other towns and villages (Ingo has some more insider tips for sure).

Ingo

quokka, you're welcome! ;-)

On second thought, you have been to Torgau, haven't you?

Seiffen, yes, of course, but it is not so easy to get there ... as I heard. I personally think it is only worth going there in winter, especially December, when I am in Christmas 'mood'. I would find it odd to shop for Christmas ornaments in summer.

Of course there are other interesting towns in the Erzgebirge. Schwarzenberg is very beautiful e.g. And all these castles along the Zschopau valley ... Lichtenwalde, Augustusburg, Zschopau, Scharfenstein, Wolkenstein, Schlettau ...

How long did you want to stay in Dresden? LOL

Pegontheroad

Great information! Thanks, everyone, for the tips. The Umgebindehäuser look wonderful. Having visited the Spreewald, I know a little (very little) about the Sorbs. I look forward to learning more about them and their culture.

I'll be sure to visit Seiffen to have a look at some woodcarvings. I'm not much of a shopper, but when I see something really special, I will buy.

I have printed out all this information, but I think I'll need to do the last page again so that I can have all the information you all have so generously shared.

My sweet little neighbor girl (19 year old student) came over to help me with some planting, and I read your posts to her and showed her pictures of some of the places you mentioned from the Eyewitness Guide I've been reading. She was thrilled to hear about some of these places.

Reading all this has made me very enthusiastic about my proposed trip. However, since I have trips to San Antonio, Texas, and Hawaii planned for this year, I can't travel to Dresden and environs until at least next spring.

I will surely let you all know when I finalize plans--and I'll write a trip report.

Pegontheroad

I plan on staying in Dresden for a month, which gives me five weekends all told, including a weekend before and one after the Institute. I assume there will be times when I can visit two places in one weekend. However, I like to travel slowly. I won't do that if it means that I'll have to rush.

I do love castles!

Palenque

radebuhl has i believe some kind of steam train going from it into the hinterlands - a regularly scheduled in service steam train - maybe scrapped by now?

and Saxon Switzerland i believe is one of Europe's most overlooked river valleys - awesomely scenic - places like the Bastei - two forts on pinnacles with a bridge in between, if i remember correctly

quokka

Depending how many hours per day you are studying, you will have some time at your hands in the (late) afternoons and evenings. Places like Radebeul, Meißen, Pirna are easy hops by S-Bahn and can well be covered in some of those late afternoons during the week. Maybe you'll want to visit each of them two or three times to see more. The later in spring you go, the longer daylight hours you'll have to do and see things. I'd recommend May or June.

Have we already given you the links to our travel pages on VirtualTourist?
Here is the link to my travel map: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/m/f86bd/ - scroll down until you reach the Land Sachsen entries in the list, and then click the names of the locations to see the individual pages. They are far from complete but will give an impression. There is a certain member who has much better pages than mine but I am leaving to him if he wants to provide the link...

Ingo: Yes I have been to Torgau!! Even for business research. Unfortunately in pre-digital camera era. A cute old town with a remarkable castle and location of an important event in World War II history.

Palenque: Indeed, Radebeul has a narrow gauge steam train going to Moritzburg and Radeberg. A fun way of visiting Moritzburg castle in style.

Ingo

Peg,

with five nights you need to concentrate on the top spots - as usual quokka beat me to the punch here ;-)

Must see towns are IMO Meißen, Görlitz, Freiberg, Bautzen, Pirna. As quokka said, Radebeul is very close, only a 10 minutes or so ride by S-Bahn. Pirna only 20 minutes by S-Bahn, Meißen fourty-some minutes I think. Perfectly doable after your classes at the Goethe Institut.

Don't forget Dresden itself. You might want to venture out to the outskirts and off the beaten path places. You could fill your weeks with spending time around the Blue Wonder Bridge (Blasewitz/Schillerplatz, Loschwitz/Körnerplatz), the other 19th century residential areas like Weißer Hirsch, Striesen, Kleinzschachwitz, Laubegast - each of them has its own small centre where you can do some shopping, strolling, sitting in cafes and do some people watching. Pillnitz Palace and Gardens, the Neustadt district, Hellerau (the continent's first garden city), and, and, and ...

Definitely see the National Park Saxon Switzerland, visit the castle/fortress Königstein, castle and garden Weesenstein, Schloss Moritzburg.

That should keep you busy

And here is the link to my travel map on Virtualtourist:
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/m/4166c/

Quokka: I knew it! You went to Torgau and we talked about the protestant chapel consecrated by Martin Luther, right?

I.