Are any of these places worth visiting.
We have radisson coupans and will be staying in Dresden. Also is 5 days too much time in Dresden. thanks,

Leipzig is a fine city, little damaged by the war, and Erfurt is another, but smaller. Smaller again is Cottbus, but it well repays a day visit both for old places in town and for the Branitz Palace, only nineteenth century, so not old, but a good representation of taste and intelligence in a minor Prussian prince who came under the influence.of Regency England: busses run in 15 minutes from the station. 27 kilometers west of Erfurt is Gotha, seat of a branch of the dynasty of Saxony, and birthplace of Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg Gotha, who himself took the ideas of the German Enlightenment and of good conduct from Enlightenment Germany to Windsor and London. It is another place for a day visit.

Five days is long for Dresden, though it is true the paintings are very good, and lovers of fine china praise that also. May I put in a word for the museum of the history of the city of Dresden, which tries to give a balanced view of the horror of our bombing and of the successes and failures of the city in the days of the Peoples Republic: al was not bad, and the rebuilding was remarkable. You can see the first product in 1945 of Siemens factory for electrical goods, a hand-pulled wheeled cart for pulling rubble to dumps. Not your first image if you think of seeing Dresden, but an important object to think over.

Ben Haines, London
bnhainesyahoo.co.uk

Erfurt is a fine city and a great base from which to hop to nearby:
Weimar, an exceptionally pleasant city with a large park in which is Goethe's cottage - famous of couse, Weimer that is, for Bauhaus architecture
Naumburg - a small-town gem
Eisenach - an OK town but industrial a bit - home of a huge car plant but famous for its Wartburg Castle, where Martin Luther holed up in hiding once - the room where he had an encounter with the Devil still has the ink stains on the wall after he threw his ink well at the dirty Devil!
Leipzig is also nearby - didn't excite me much except for having what once was Europe's largest train station and a few other things, but worth a quick look.
Have not been to Cottbus, said to be a hotbed on Neo-Nazism and racists skin heads.

No, 5 days is not too much time for Dresden. Calculate at least two days to see (scratch the surface!) the main sights in the city. Add another day for Meissen, one day for the National Park Saxon Switzerland (if interested in scenery).

That would leave one day for an excursion - Cottbus is not really a *must*. Leipzig is very interesting (but the city centre *was* severely damaged in WWII). Yes, Erfurt has a well preserved beautiful old town.

I would, however, say that Leipzig should be your first choice for an excursion (if you are more into bigger cities than towns) since it is easily and quickly to reach and offers a variety of sights.

My recommendation would be Görlitz, probably Germany's most beautiful town (pop. 60'000, according to the chairman of the German Heritag Trust [Stiftung Denkmalschutz]) and still undiscovered by foreign tourists. 1.5 hours by train from Dresden.

Or visit castles near Dresden (Moritzburg, Weesenstein, Königstein, Pillnitz, Lauenstein, Stolpen ...) or the vineyards (wine tasting in the castles Wackerbarth and Hofloessnitz in Radebeul ...). So much more to do!

thank you very much. I also wanted to know is this area safe. I have heard of racism. We are dark skinned and we will have a child with us. I just do not want to regret it when we get their. any help please. thanks

And right on the door step of Dresden is Saxon Switzerland, a river valley whose beauty rivals that of the Mosel and Rhine though it's very different looking. Red sandstone cliffs topped by might fortresses like Konigstein which you can ascend and take a footbridge between steep pinnacles of stone - the Bastei area here features lots of sheer pinnacles. You can also see these from the train that goes along the Elbe River - one of the most scenic rail rides in Germany - and part of the Dresden-Prague route. Boats go from Dresden in season, via Pillnitz to Konigstein and Bastei areas - some are old fashioned paddle-wheel steamers i think. At the end of Saxon Switzerland is Bad Schandau, a nice resort town featuring an old tram that goes up thru the forest. Lots of walking paths in the area popular mainly with Germans as of yet - not many Americans discover Saxon Switzerland - rarely talked about on this board. An easy day trip from Dresden by train, car or boat. The Czech border is just a few km beyond Bad Schandau.
I just did a quick day trip from Dresden two years ago and want to go back and do the area in depth.
Also from Dresden there are some great steam train rides into the hills and valleys.
Dresden itself is going to be once again one of Germany's and Europe's finest cities as the Florence on the Elbe is being deftly pieced back together from war rubble. The bombing of Dresden by a 'mad' British military guy was from what i read a war crime as the city was of little military importance, was full of refugees at the time and prisoners like Kurt Vonnegut, and could have been done largely in retaliation for the carpet bombing of Coventry in England. Anyway was like bombing Florence or Paris to bits - should have never been done.